Automatic bass line

[Robert Deluce]

Only 300+. I am 74 years young but find requests for obscure little known songs to be occasionally problematic.  I am a guitar vocalist, not a karaoke artiste.

[Robert Deluce]

Here is a block diag of what I think my thoughts look like:

 

[John Vere]

Backing tracks you made yourself are a far stretch from Karaoke. It is a true one man band. 
Karaoke is a full band and backing vocals and often has no solid beat.  

My tracks are Drums, me playing bass and then some keyboards or horns if needed. 

The bass and drums are tight and mixed to be punchy and get people dancing. I also have to be very together with my guitar playing. My singing and guitar playing are what is upfront. Nobody generally notices that I use tracks. 
The videos may seem like Karaoke but they are really just my digital song book similar to using OnSong. 
Bass is important for dancing. Are you playing at dances? 
If what you’re doing is just coffee house gigs then just play your guitar with a boost on the EQ around 300-400hz. 
 

Don’t get me wrong as I really like your idea and yes all the technology is sort of there but these days the focus is on making music with electronics and it is all synchronized using a laptop, synths and drum machines. 
Keyboards make ideal interfaces because they output digital data but with a guitar you first need to convert the audio to midi data. 
Your drum machine would need to be synchronized to whatever creates the bass.  
 

Edited May 23 by John Vere

[Glenn Stanton]

in theory, you could already use VI like Toontrack EZ Bass which has MIDI input from keys (or MIDI guitar) and drums to create accompanyment... also the TT Audio Sender plugin let's you send audio to the EZ Bass Audio Tracker input. combined with a decent library of styles and instruments, this might be worth looking into. i use it to create basslines by creating the song in the standalone app, use the libraries to select what i like foro a given section, then export the MIDI for use in the DAW.

Edited Sunday at 02:44 PM by Glenn Stanton

[Robert Deluce]

Hi (again)
Its great to discover that other musicians also have an interest. I will certainly try some of your ideas. Some of the proposed solutions definitely require more investigation with respect to my own specific requirements.
As you say, the technologies exist. It is just a matter of convincing one of the techno companies of the potential demand for such a self contained device. About 40 years ago I tried one of the first available harmonizer units whilst playing with a band in Saudi Arabia. It worked using midi technologies. This worked well with a keyboard but lesser so with a midi guitar. I now have a couple of TCHelicon harmoniser units which no longer require midi technology. Providing you keep your guitar well in tune, play chords with precision and are careful with various potentiometer levels they work well for backing harmonies. Perhaps there is a solution to a bass box without the need for midi connections.
With regards to your comments about synch with a drum machine: I think the ideal answer would be to have the drum machine built into the box making it a single unit (one less box to carry on stage and one less to plug in and set up). I already have an ALESEIS and a ZOOM drum box. The ZOOM has an integrated bass generator but this does not change pitch to the prevailing chord.   

[John Vere]

On 5/25/2025 at 6:30 AM, Robert Deluce said:

With regards to your comments about synch with a drum machine: I think the ideal answer would be to have the drum machine built into the box making it a single unit (one less box to carry on stage and one less to plug in and set up). I already have an ALESEIS and a ZOOM drum box. The ZOOM has an integrated bass generator but this does not change pitch to the prevailing chord.   

Yes that is what I was thinking about too. The bass and drums in this box. As you said it is already available on a $50 Casio keyboard but then how to connect it to a Guitar. 
 

I just saw a guy playing solo at the Farmers Market and he was using a harmonizer and an old vintage suitcase was his kick drum. It added some low end and I thought he sounded really good. The vintage suitcase gave it a Lo Tech look. He was sitting down however and I prefer to stand. So that concept would have me falling over! 

Edited Wednesday at 12:43 AM by John Vere

[Robert Deluce]

Hi (again).
Sounds like we are thinking along the same lines. I bought a used (cheap) bass drum and pedal from a junior kit. I have used it for a couple of gigs and it did add some low down umph to my performance. That was what got me to thinking about using keyboard preset bass lines. I have been experimenting manually with an old Casio which provides usable bass lines but poor percussion. I have also complemented my performance with a Roland midi pickup and “analogue to digital” box. A keyboard is large and a bit of a nuisance to carry round so I have built a small keyboard which doesn’t have any keys but is midi controlled and has all the electronic features of a keyboard. It works well for e.g with sing-a-longs using honky-tonk piano or the sitar in “Paint It Black”.     

So come on TC Helicon, Behringer, Casio, Roland, Bose, Custom, Zoom, Boss, Eventide, Digitech, Mooer, Akai, Korg, Alesis, Yamaha, Panasonic and the rest of you audio-techy wizards (if you read and take note of specialist forums) pull your fingers out and develop a device that people want. If you can’t do it then release sufficient technical information for us to design something ourselves. I’m long retired but I do have a Master of Science Degree in electronic engineering and so maybe I can make a start on something.