Steinberg Virtual Bassist Operation Manual

							 
Virtual Bassist
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Virtual Bassist terminology
Styles
A Style is a set of grooves and phrases (called Parts and Fills) and in-
cludes bass selection, FX and Groove Match settings suitable for a 
particular musical genre. Each Style consists of 13 Parts triggered by 
the white keys between D1 and B2 and 6 Fills triggered by the black 
keys F#, G#, Bb in the same key range.You can load a Style by dou-
ble-clicking it in the Style Browser. Virtual Bassist loads a showcase 
Style when started.
Parts
A Part is a bass groove or phrase varying in rhythmic and melodic 
structure triggered by the white keys (D1 to B2) in the Remote Range 
of your MIDI keyboard. The Parts from D1 to B1, named Basic 1 to 
Basic 6, tend to be simpler in their rhythmic and melodic nature. The 
Parts from C2 to B2, called Complex 1 to Complex 7, are more com-
plex and more Style specific. When playing Parts, Virtual Bassist will 
quantize the changes to the nearest 16th note by default. You can 
change this quantize setting on Virtual Bassist’s Settings page.
Fills
A Fill is a special kind of Part that plays for a predefined time (for ex-
ample 1 bar). After that, Virtual Bassist will return to playing the Part 
that was playing prior to the Fill. Fill Parts are found on the F#, G#, Bb 
keys of the Remote Range (D1 to B2). 
If you want Virtual Bassist to play a different Part after it has com-
pleted a Fill just hit the appropriate white key for that Part after the Fill 
key has been played. 
A Fill will repeat as many times as the Fill key has been played. So if 
you want a Fill to play three times, hit the Fill key three times. 
If a Fill key is the first key played after Virtual Bassist has been stopped, 
the Fill will play repeatedly until another Fill or Part is played. 
						

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Fills play at a predefined bar position and for a predefined length. If 
you want Fills to switch in the same way as normal Parts, select Key 
Change Quantize on the Settings page. In this mode Fills will change 
according to the quantize setting in the same way as normal Parts.
Remote Keys
Remote Keys are special functions assigned in the Remote Range 
that influence the performance of Virtual Bassist. These keys include: 
Single Note Mode (C1), Stop (C#1), End (D#1), 4/5 String Mode 
(C#2) and Chord/Note Mode (D#2).
Single Note Mode
Single Note Mode is activated by pressing C1 on your MIDI keyboard. 
Once Single Note Mode is activated all MIDI keys played in the Pitch 
Range will trigger single bass notes allowing you to play your own 
bass lines with Virtual Bassist.
Accents
Playing a MIDI note in the Pitch Range with a high velocity (125 and 
above) will start the Part with (depending on the Style) either an 
eighth or a quarter bass note called Accent. This Accent is handy for 
varying your basslines in real time.
Aftertouch Vibrato
Applying aftertouch will automatically produce vibrato in Virtual Bassist. 
To set the Vibrato rate click the Steinberg logo on the top right hand 
side of the instrument and adjust the Rate knob on the Settings page. 
						

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The Play page
This is Virtual Bassist’s main page, here you can set all of the general 
playing parameters of the instrument, load and save Styles and Parts 
and choose and modify your bass and its overall sound.
If you haven’t got a MIDI keyboard connected to your host application or 
if you just want a quick impression, you can make Virtual Bassist play by 
clicking on the frets of the bass on the Play page. The Chord Display will 
show you the pitch chosen.  
						

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Loading and saving Styles
On the right hand side of the Virtual Bassist’s Play page is a Browser 
listing the available Styles.
Load
To load a Style you can either: 
•Double-click its name in the list or …
•Click the Load button on the bottom right of the Browser and use the 
standard load dialog to locate and open the Style. 
Save
To save a Style click Save (the left button at the bottom of the 
Browser section) and use the standard Save dialog to enter a name 
and location for the saved Style.
If the Styles listing is not displayed, click the Styles button at the top of 
the Browser.
Depending on the speed of your computer a Style may take a few se-
conds to Load. The chord display will show a message saying “Loading”.  
						

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Auditioning styles
Each Factory Style comes with an audio preview. The previews were 
made using Virtual Bassist with Steinberg’s Virtual Guitarist and 
Groove Agent to give you an example of how the Style might sound 
with guitar and drums.
There are two ways of previewing:
Listen
In the Style Browser, click on a style (it becomes highlighted). Click 
Listen and Virtual Bassist will play a preview for as long as you hold 
the mouse button.
Auto
Clicking Auto activates the automatic preview mode. With Auto active 
a Style preview will play any time you click a Style in the Browser. The 
preview will play for as long as you hold the mouse button.
The Parts Browser on the Play page
Clicking on a Part in the Play page Browser displays the key assign-
ments of all of the Parts, Fills and Remote Keys used in the selected 
Style. All features in the Remote Range can be renamed and their key 
assignments changed. When a Part, Fill or Remote Key is played it will 
become highlighted in the Parts Browser.
The Parts Browser on the Play page is identical to that featured on the 
Groove Match page, see page 42.  
						

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Play page controls
Most of the controls you need to play and alter the performance of 
Virtual Bassist can be found on the Play page.
Four or five string
Use this switch to choose between a standard four string or five string 
bass (which has an additional low B string). In 5 string mode Virtual 
Bassist will play licks including notes on the low B string, whenever 
possible.
•You can switch between 4-string or 5-string mode using the MIDI 
remote key C#2.
MIDI In
The MIDI In LED lights up red to indicate that Virtual Bassist receives 
MIDI data from your host application or MIDI keyboard. When you play 
notes on your keyboard but the LED does not light up, this means 
Virtual Bassist is not receiving any MIDI data.
Chords/Note
You can switch between Chords or Note mode during a performance 
by playing MIDI note D#2 on your MIDI keyboard or host application. 
The Chords/Note mode selector determines whether a Part will play 
melodic bass lines or the rhythmic pattern of the Part using only the 
root keys and octaves of the note or chord chosen in the Pitch Range. 
Changing this setting will not affect every Part of a Style.    
						

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Latch mode
With latch mode On, Virtual Bassist will play Parts continuously from 
the moment you play the first key until you press the stop button of 
your sequencer or play the C#1 Stop or D#1 End remote keys.
If you only want to play a lick here and there, set latch mode to Off and 
Virtual Bassist will only play while the keys on your MIDI keyboard are 
held.
Latch mode is turned On or Off for the duration that your sustain pedal 
is pressed.
Using the sustain pedal in Latch mode
Using a combination of Latch settings and sustain pedal with Virtual 
Bassist will give you a lot of flexibility when arranging and performing. 
Try experimenting with the possibilities described below to get an 
understanding of how useful the sustain pedal can be.
If you don’t have a sustain pedal you can assign Latch to a different MIDI 
controller. To do this right-click on the Latch parameter and assign a 
MIDI controller from the drop-down list or use right-click and choose 
MIDI Learn, move the MIDI controller of your choice and this controller 
will be detected and used by Virtual Bassist.
Latch Mode OnSustain pedal 
pressedLatch mode is disabled for as long as you press 
the sustain pedal. While the sustain pedal is 
held any notes played in the Pitch Range will 
produce single notes. Virtual Bassist will return 
to playing normal Parts when the sustain pedal 
is released.
Latch Mode OffSustain pedal 
pressedLatch mode is enabled for as long as you press 
the sustain pedal. Any Parts played while the 
pedal is held will play until you release the sus-
tain pedal.  
						

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Retrigger mode
With Retrigger mode activated, every time a Part key is played the 
Part will begin to play again from the beginning, regardless of the cur-
rent bar position.
When Retrigger Mode is Off, Part changes will be performed playing 
the appropriate melodic and rhythmic phrasing of the Part for the cur-
rent position in the bar.
Activating Retrigger mode does only make sense for showcases or a 
quick overview of the Parts of a Style. When performing or arranging with 
Virtual Bassist, it is strongly recommended to turn Retrigger mode off.
Speed
Virtual Bassist automatically follows the tempo of your project, includ-
ing all tempo changes. The Speed parameter in Virtual Bassist allows 
you to change the playback speed to half, normal or double the speed 
of your project tempo. This can be useful for example if you happen to 
be working on a track that is 80 BPM but are running your host appli-
cation at 160BPM. It might also be quite interesting creatively to have 
your bass playing at double or half speed.
The red LEDs under the Speed control indicate the current position in 
the bar.
Half = 1/2Virtual Bassist plays at half the tempo of your project.
Normal = 1Virtual Bassist plays at the same tempo as your project.
Double = 2Virtual Bassist plays at double the tempo of your project.   
						

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Swing
Swing allows you to adjust the feel of Virtual Bassist’s performance. 
Technically speaking, Swing allows you to move the offbeats of a bar 
to an earlier or later position. Turning Swing to the left moves the off-
beats back, turning it to the right moves them forward. Virtual Bassist 
will play exact triplets when setting Swing to -100 % or +100 %.
The Swing controls on the Play page and the Groove Match page are ac-
tually the same. Swing controls the depth of the Micro Groove para-
meters found on the Groove Match page, see page 40.
Variance
Virtual Bassist’s timing and feel are always perfect and reliable. How-
ever, given that these two words are rarely used to describe the timing 
of a musician, Virtual Bassist also allows you to adjust how accurately 
the player will play. Variance adds timing and sound variations so 
every note sounds slightly different.
A setting of 0 % produces a very accurate performance, while at a value 
of 100 % the performance is loose and uneven.   
						

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Early/Late
This control is used to adjust the overall timing of the Virtual Bassist in 
relation to the rest of the instruments in your project. Turning to the left 
(Early) will give you an aggressive groove, playing slightly ahead of the 
beat, turning to the right (Late) produces a more laid back groove. 
The maximum timing deviation is very modest and will hardly be audible 
if only Virtual Bassist is playing. However, in conjunction with other 
tracks, especially those that have been quantized it will become clearly 
noticeable. 
Bass Selector
This seamless selector allows you to change the basic sound of the 
bass guitar being played. You can choose between the sound of a 
modern bass guitar with active pickups, a classic model as used in 
70’s rock and pop or a vintage bass with flatwound strings for that 
legendary Motown sound. Just move the silver sphere on the circle to 
the sound of your choice, or experiment with in-between positions.