Steinberg Virtual Bassist Operation Manual

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Loading the effect settings used in a Style 
The Amp & FX page settings used by any Style can be loaded into any 
other Style. To do this:
•In the Amp & FX page browser, double-click an effect program with 
the name of the Style you want.
or…
•Use the Load button at the bottom of the Browser.
Saving effect programs 
Since a Style loads and saves its effect settings automatically it is not 
necessary to save effect programs for the Styles you create. Virtual 
Bassist however allows you to load and save effect programs that you 
find particularly useful.
1.Edit the Amp & FX page settings to your liking.
2.Click the Save button at the bottom of the Browser on the right hand 
side of the Amp & FX page.
3.Set a name and location for the effect program using the standard 
Save dialog.
Be careful to use different names for your Effect Programs as files with 
the same names will be overwritten. 
						

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Bonus feature: Creating your own phrasings
Although you can control Virtual Bassist via any MIDI channel, the most 
common channel to use will be MIDI channel 1. However, if you send 
Virtual Bassist MIDI data via MIDI channel 16, it will behave in a totally 
different way. When playing on MIDI channel 16, all the components 
making up a Part can be accessed individually, which allows you to 
create and record your own Parts. Handling this is not very easy, but 
your patience will be rewarded if you invest a little research time.
Playing individual hits
On MIDI channel 16, the keyboard is split into two halves. The keys of 
the Pitch Range are used to select the Pitch, as usual, while the Re-
mote Range’s keys trigger the individual, single components of the 
currently selected Part. You cannot select the Part on MIDI channel 
16 but it’s no problem to trigger single components via channel 16 
and select which Part via channel 1.
Example:
1.Select a Style (e. g. 80’s Brit Funk) and set the Virtual Bassist track to 
MIDI channel 16.
2.Select a Part by clicking on it in the Part browser or by playing it via 
MIDI channel 1.
3.Hold down a note in the keyboard’s Pitch Range and play single keys 
in the Remote Range. You can play single individual components of 
the Part on each key in the Remote Range.
The notes you play on channel 16 can also be recorded on a MIDI track 
or entered into an editor which allows you to create your own part varia-
tions by defining the progression and timing of individual beats. You can 
then save these part variations as MIDI sequences and include them in 
your projects. 
						

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Plug-in version of the effect board
The Amp & FX section of Virtual Bassist is also available as a separate 
effect plug-in for the following formats: VST (for both Windows and 
Mac OSX), DirectX, Audio Units. 
You can use this plug-in on any mixer channel in your host application, 
for example for your keyboards, vocals or drums tracks. The plug-in 
version offers all of the functionality of the integrated effect board. 
All knobs and switches can be set to any MIDI controller by right click-
ing and choosing a MIDI controller from the drop-down list or using 
MIDI Learn, see page 65.
You may have to assign a MIDI input to the plug-in in your host application.
Effect presets created and saved in the Virtual Bassist instrument can be 
loaded into the effect plug-in (and vice versa) via the effect programs 
Browser.   
						

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MIDI Controller assignments
To help you get the most out of Virtual Bassist in a recording or per-
formance situation we have made many parameters available for use 
with MIDI controllers. The following table shows the factory default 
assignment of Virtual Bassist parameters to MIDI controller numbers. 
Depending on the capabilities of your VST host application, you can also 
automate many of the knobs and switches in Virtual Bassist using your 
sequencer’s automation features. This type of automation is available in 
all Steinberg host applications: Cubase SX/SL and Nuendo for example.
CC# Name Virtual Bassist parameter
1Mod Wheel Wah Pedal
7Volume Master Volume
11 Expression Bass Volume
64 Sustain Pedal Latch On/Off
71 Resonance Damp
73 Attack Attack
74 Cutoff Tone
76 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Rate
77 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Rate
78 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Rate
91 FX Send 1 Drive 
						

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Assigning MIDI controllers in Virtual Bassist
As well as the preassigned MIDI Controllers listed above, you can as-
sign many of Virtual Bassist’s features to MIDI controllers for automa-
tion or real-time control, e. g. via the knobs of your MIDI keyboard.
There are two ways to assign a Virtual Bassist knob or parameter to a 
MIDI controller:
1.Right-click the parameter and choose a controller number from the 
drop-down list.
2.Right-click the parameter, click Learn and move the desired knob or 
controller on your MIDI keyboard or sequencer host. Virtual Bassist 
will set this MIDI controller to the parameter you have chosen.  
						

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The Settings page
The Virtual Bassist Settings page provides access to all global para-
meters that affect how the instrument will play.
When you save a Virtual Bassist Style, all information on the Settings 
page is also saved. This means that if you exchange your project files 
with someone who also has Virtual Bassist, it will perform in exactly the 
same way on their computer as it did on your system. When your friend 
later uses Virtual Bassist on their own project, their usual Settings will 
be automatically active.
To select the Settings page click the Steinberg logo in the top right cor-
ner of the Virtual Bassist window.  
						

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Vibrato
All Virtual Bassists Styles have their own special vibrato settings 
found at the top of the Settings page. These vibrato parameters are 
preassigned to MIDI controllers:
The Vibrato Rate on the Settings page also controls the Aftertouch 
Vibrato rate.
The default Vibrato CC# assignments can be easily changed by right-
clicking any knob and choosing a new controller from the list or using 
MIDI Learn, see page 65.
Key Change Quantize
The Key Change Quantize parameter determines at which position of 
the bar Virtual Bassist will make a Part change. For example, if you set 
this parameter to sixteenth notes (1/16), the Part will change at the 
next sixteenth note in the bar after the Part note is played.
This makes real time MIDI triggering much easier and prevents un-
wanted Part changes.
Sustained notes are not affected by this function.
CC#76 Vibrato Rate
CC#77 Vibrato Depth
CC#78 Vibrato Delay   
						

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Fill Triggering 
In Auto mode Fills will play at a predefined bar position and for a pre-
defined length. If you want Fills to switch in the same way as normal 
Parts (for example at the next 16th note in the bar), select Key Change 
Quantize. In this mode Fills change according to the Key Change 
Quantize setting in the same way as normal Parts.
Keyboard Layout
The Keyboard Layout field allows you to swap the keyboard areas 
used for the Pitch Range and the Remote Range.
When Keyboard Layout is set to Pitch Range Right (default setting) 
the Pitch Range extends from MIDI keys C3 to B4 and the Remote 
Range from C1 to B2. 
When Keyboard Layout is set to Pitch Range Left the Pitch Range ex-
tends from MIDI keys C1 to B2 and the Remote Range from C3 to B4.
Bar Sync
By default, Virtual Bassist is set to Bar Sync Off. This means that Virtual 
Bassist synchronizes to the host tempo but not to the bar position. This 
is generally the best setting when you are working with Virtual Bassist.
When Bar Sync is set to On, Virtual Bassist synchronizes to the host 
tempo and to the host bar position.    
						

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Master Fine Tune
This parameter allows you to adjust the tuning of Virtual Bassist by up 
to ± 50 cents.
Save Defaults
Pressing the Save button saves your current MIDI Controller assign-
ments plus all settings on the Settings page, except Vibrato and Mas-
ter Fine Tune. The settings for the Latch and Retrigger parameters on 
the Play page are also saved. These settings are loaded as the default 
set anytime you use Virtual Bassist in the future.
Exit
Click the Exit button to close the Settings page and return to the pre-
viously opened page.
All your settings are saved and take effect the moment they are changed.    
						

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Credits
Bass Performance and Engineering: Detlef Blanke (www.D-Tone.de) 
([email protected])
Programming: Paul Kellett, Mario Reinsch, Benjamin Wendelstein
Audio Editing: Sascha Haske, Edi Hettinger, Malte Bieler, Jan Schmidt
Proofreading: Mark Ovenden
Graphics: Frank Simmerlein
QA: Götz Kretschmann, Wolfram Knelangen
Project Management: Helge Vogt, Lars Slowak
Executive Producer: Peter Gorges