Teach me thursday: virtual version of the novation Bass Station

You have undoubtedly heard that Novation partnered with analogue-modelling pioneers GForce Software to create the definitive virtual version of the Bass Station. GForce Bass Station is included for free with Novation Launchkey MK4, SL MkIII, and FLkey MIDI keyboard controllers, and can be purchased directly from GForce. But do you know about the rich history of the Bass Station?

Released in 1993, the original Bass Station synthesiser was the second piece of hardware ever created by Novation and it's now hailed as one of the most important in the company’s history. The success of Bass Station resulted in a demand for more, leading to the release of Bass Station Rack in 1994. This was much more than just a key-less version of Bass Station and featured several huge improvements. The next addition to the range, Super Bass Station, featured a sub oscillator that greatly expanded its sonic palette. A ring modulator and a white noise generator further increased Bass Station’s sound design abilities.

Now a classic in its own right, the latest addition to the Bass Station family has all of these famous qualities distilled into one feature-packed unit. Bass Station II is a fully analogue monosynth with digital control for instant patch storage and recall. In 2019, Novation released the Bass Station II Firmware v4.14 update, the headline feature of which came about through a direct collaboration with electronic music legend Richard James, aka Aphex Twin.

The result was AFX Mode, whereby any Bass Station II patch could be modified on a key-by-key basis to introduce subtle changes up and down the keyboard; divide the keyboard into multiple zones, each playing its own sound; or create entire drum kits in a single preset. A truly inspiring system, AFX Mode opened Bass Station II up to a whole new world of sound design and performance possibilities.

The Bass Station range has featured in many popular productions, used by artists including Massive Attack, Orbital, Everything Everything, Josh Wink, Nine Inch Nails, Super Furry Animals, Underworld, Apollo 440, RZA (Wu Tang Clan), Radiohead, Jimi Tenor, Laurent Garnier, and Sneaker Pimps to name just a few. Add the classic Bass Station sound to your production, either with the hardware Bass Station II or the plugin version included with your Launchkey MK4, SL MKIII or FLKey controller.