Novation Bass Station

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Before the famous Novation Bass Station Rack module came the small and portable Bass Station keyboard! This synthesizer uses digitally synchronized analog oscillators (DCO's) to reproduce the sounds of a monophonic dual-osc analog synthesizer with simple and intuitive controls via 17 knobs, 10 switches and 2 Moog-style pitch/mod wheels. Think EDP Wasp and ARP Odyssey.

The Bass Station can faithfully reproduce analog bass sounds similar to a TB-303, Micromoog or Pro One synthesizer. The small keyboard and monophonic architecture set this keyboard up for strict bassline, lead synth lines, and synth fx. It also transmits MIDI continuous controller data from its pitch/mod wheels, frequency cutoff, resonance, filter modulation depth, env1 attack, decay and env2 attack and decay.


Unlike the Rack version, however, the keyboard lacks basic patch storage features. There are only 7 memory patches and 1 manual patch (what the knobs are doing right now). The memory can be stored externally using MIDI SysEx dumps. But for the low price (under $500) this makes a great and compact analog bass synth for any user with simple but tasteful bass needs. It is used by Apollo 440, RZA, and Lo Fidelity AllStars.

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Novation Bassstation
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ManualDownload the original owner's manual from SoundProgramming.net.

Specifications

Polyphony - Monophonic
Oscillators - 2 DCO's with pulse and sawtooth. Can be modulated by env2 or the LFO.
LFO - 1 LFO (random, triangle, and sawtooth waveforms)
Filter - 2-pole or 4-pole switchable; 12dB resonant low-pass. Can be modulated by env2 or the LFO.
VCA - 2 ADSR envelopes: Env1 controls VCA, Env2 controls the vcf; envelope modes: auto-glide, single, and multi
Keyboard - 25 velocity sensitive keys (octave up/down buttons over 8 octaves)
Memory - 7 user patches, 1 manual
Control - MIDI In/Out
Date Produced - 1993

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