Which method should I be using to generate bass lines?

[Anonymous]

I just bought EZ Bass.  I understand there are multiple ways to construct a bass part for your song (e.g. audio tracker, MIDI tracker, dragging from the groove library.).  I’m not sure which method I should be using.

A few words on my recording proess.

I write pop songs.  To record them, I do the following.  First, I open Ableton and record a reference audio track of me singing while playing piano.  Next, I record a MIDI track of me  playing each bass note.  I don’t yet record the song’s final bass part, but just each bass note so that I can refer to it and know which chord goes where.  Then I play a MIDI drum part,  And then I record the rest of the song.

Option 1: The “Drums & Keys” Midi tracker

I was optimistic that because I am always so quick in my recording process to record the song’s bass notes and drum beat, that I could make use of EZ Bass’s MIDI tracker.

I’m having problems.

1. My MIDI tracks will not drag into the “Drums & Keys” tracker (is there a fix?).  To get around this problem, I tried exporting my Midi tracks as to my desktop, as Midi files and dragging them into EZ Bass’s midi tracker.  Which causes another problem…
2. The Midi tracker treats the MIDI baselines I drag into as though they’re drum parts.  That is, the MIDI tracker does not capture the changes notes.  Is it not supposed to?
3. The groove options are limited.  “Play on kick strokes.”  “Play on kick and snare strokes”.  Am I failing to understand something because all of those grooves would be too simplistic.

Which brings me to option 2…

Option 2: The “Audio Tracker”

So the plan here would be to take that original reference track of me singing while playing piano, and drag it in.  Good news.  The audio track of my piano will drag in.  And the tempo is being captured properly.

My first problem is that I’m asked to choose between converting bass audio, guitar audio, or drum audio to MIDI.  I’m a piano player.  So it’s piano audio that I drag in.  Nevertheless, I choose guitar.  The bass line that’s generated is simply unacceptable.  Notes are all over the place.  Rhythms are off.

Option 3: The “Groove Library”

So finally, I could drag a groove from the groove library, slice up the chords to the proper lengths, and manually change the chords.  This seems so laborious.  But perhaps the audio and MIDI trackers are not functional enough and this is my best option.  Is that the case?

Question about playback

When I’m in EZ Bass, how do choose a point in time to begin playback.  All that I am currently able to do is select a point in time within my DAW to start playing, and EZ Bass follows along.  I want to do the reverse.

Question about lessons

Are there instructors out there offering lessons over Skype/Zoom on how to get the most out of this product.

Thank you very much in advance for any guidance.

• This post was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by .

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[LDG]

i got stuck by the drag n drop from my daw not allowing it either, then i discovered that you can simply hit the record button in ezbass and record the midi in from your track, onto a song track, which is not the same as tracker.  i would think you should just do your temp bass midi performance then record your final edit right into the ezbass song track, avoid the exporting and dragging dropping. as u know theres more then 1 way to do things, its really a matter of finding your own workflow, but a tool like this may change it.

[andycamb]

Try holding shift when you drag the midi. That works in Reaper, might work in Ableton too.

When your midi is in Ezbass push the slider that creates more notes till it is as busy as you require, then use replace midi to find matching grooves from the grooves list. You can reduce the amount of notes too.

When you are using the midi tracker are you telling Ezbass which sort of midi you are importing? I don’t  understand why you are playing a single note bass line on your piano. Just play the chords and tell Ezbass midi tracker, that they are chords?

If you are using the audio tracker. Just play the chords on your guitar and just sound the bass notes using a clean sound. Make sure you are not distorting the input by overloading it and it should be fine.

EZbass version: 1.0.5
Operating system: Windows 10

• The post has been modified 2 times, last modified 4 years, 10 months ago by andycamb.

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