SOUND QUALITY 5 STARS
SELECTION 5 STARS
BANG FOR THE BUCK 5 STARS


FORMAT: CD-ROM (Roland, Akai, Kurzweil, Samplecell, Emu & Ensoniq formats), Audio CD.

OVERVIEW: Multi-sampled single-note basses (CD-ROM only) and phrase samples of performances by bassists Marcus Miller, Abraham Laboriel, and John Patitucci.

CONTENTS: CD-ROM (650 Mb) contains 42 volumes of multi-sampled single notes played on a wide variety of Precision, Jazz, APX, Fedora, Yamaha, 5-String, 6-String, 8 String, fretless, and acoustic basses. 39 volumes of phrases (same instruments). Each phrase sampled chromatically. Audio CD contains only the loop samples, plus demo tracks.

SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE: CD-ROM: $299.00 Audio CD: $99.00

If you like working with loops and sampled phrases but hate being limited to a certain key, this collection may be the one for you. Not only do you have three incredible bassists grooving their tails off for you (Marcus Miller, Abraham Laboriel, and John Patitucci), but they do it on every step of the chromatic scale. No pitch-shifting involved. Imagine! Bass lines that follow chord changes, songs in a variety of keys, and (dare we say it?) modulations!

The CD-ROM version also has a truckload of great multisampled basses, just in case you prefer to play your own lines, but the chromatically sampled phrases are what set this disc apart from the pack. The folks at Spectrasonics felt so strongly about this unique approach that they gave it a trademark: Chromazonesª. The phrases are from 4 to 16 bars long, and cover a variety of styles, from reggae and afro-pop to urban dance and swing. Each phrase was recorded to a particular drum track, and after the phrase sampling session was over, the single-note sampling session followed immediately, with the groove and playing style still fresh in the player's mind and the EQ settings unchanged. The result is a library of multi-sampled basses that you can combine with the looped phrases in as nearly a seamless fashion as can be expected.

I worked with the Roland CD-ROM and audio CD versions. On the CD-ROM, the multi-sampled bass volumes (Roland's name for the architectural level that contains patch and sample data) are organized by style, rather than by type of bass used. For example, the volume used on Miller's South Bronx loops is called 'Hood. The idea is that most of the time you'll be looking for a bass sound to fit a particular style, and while the individual instruments are certainly appropriate for more styles than the name indicates, you're likely to have a good match more quickly this way. Very sensible.

In fact, with so many of the basses appearing in more than one style, playing technique, or tone setting, it's difficult to describe the contents of the basic library. Between the extremes of Miller's dirty dance-style Jazz bass, Laboriel's smooth fretless, and Patitucci's rich acoustic bass, you've got alot of great bass sounds to work with. Each player provides more variety than this might indicate, however. Although Miller plays only a Fender Jazz and Fedora fretless, he's responsible for no fewer than 14 very distinct bass volumes that include the dirty Jazz mentioned above, as well as muted, picked, slapped, clean, boomy, and Jacoesque variations. Laboriel projects his energy and joy of playing into every note, his 8-string bass volume is particularly rich. In addition to the acoustic bass (which is easily the best acoustic bass sample I've ever heard on any synth or sample collection), Patitucci gets a lot of different sounds out of his various 6- and 4-string basses, including a totally distorted grunge sound. In addition to straight ahead bass line applications, there are a few specialty items like acoustic bass harmonics, which JA remarked sounds rather like a prepared piano, with "a wonderful variety of timbres from note to note."

Each instrument volume sounds highly characteristic and quite distinct from all the others. The fret and fingerboard buzzes, occasional vibrato in the upper register, and finger or pick sounds all combine to create thoroughly convincing bass patches. The low end sounds particularly good, as Spectrasonics allowed sufficient sample time for the notes to settle in before looping. The velocity switching is superb; unlike many bass samples, which sound compressed and wimpy as you bring in the popping at higher velocities, these patches rattle the walls as you play them harder. "These are really fun to play," said JA. "The velocity switching brings out nice fingerboard slaps and buzzes."

The multisampling is certainly adequate. The 6- and 5-string basses sound punchy and full all the way down to low C, and beyond. The only problem I heard was on the upper end of Patitucci's 6-string bass (which ironically goes up only to the C one octave above the open C string), no stretch for even a 4-string; other 6-string basses go up to the G or A above that). The same sample is used in this multisample from G up to C above middle C. This kind of stretch is not normally a problem, but this particular sample has a rather unique fret buzz that sounds odd when you hear it several notes in a row. According to Spectrasonics, the high range of Patitucci's 6-string was left out because it's his "solo voice", and was excluded from sampling by agreement with his record company.

Each instrument is available in at least 4 memory configurations, and usually five or six (the largest versions require 16Mb of RAM, Akai and SampleCell versions have 3 memory configurations). Each velocity layer is available in a separate patch as well. There are also little undocumented surprises tucked away within each volume, like the patch of bass body-tapping noises found in Patitucci's funk bass, the ripping slides included with his fuzz bass, Miller's chord harmonics and Laboriel's non-pitched rhythmic strumming.

Getting back the grooves: they rock, they smoke, they've got attitude. That their sampled chromatically makes this the most flexible bunch of bass loops I've encountered. Among the many highlights: Laboriel's Mandela groove (which positively exudes joy), Patitucci's monster walking, and Miller's driving R&B Groover. None of these bassists were content to merely repeat a phrase a different fret locations, however; each iteration brings wonderfully subtle variations in articulation, phrasing and even rhythm. The result is that when you string several different loops together, you've got a bass track that really sounds live. JA was impressed with the idiomatic changes from sample to sample when a single phrase was repeated in a different key.

The phrases are organized by tempo, ranging from 73 to 212 BPM. The booklet contains a table that helps you figure out how to get up to about +/-20 bpm variation out of a given loop by adjusting the coarse tuning and the transposing the sequence the appropriate number of half-steps to maintain the pitch.

In the fully chromatic patches, the phrases are mapped over a two octave range, usually C1 to C3. Depending on the phrase length, they take up from about 4Mb to 16Mb of RAM. There are also smaller versions with loops mapped to each note of each major scale; obviously they take up much less RAM than the full Chromazones.

Though the range covers two octaves on the keyboard, the original phrases cover only one octave. For the second octave, the phrases are repeated, or in some cases, alternate phrases are provided at the same pitch as in the lower octave. In the case of 4-string basses the keys below the low E play samples an octave higher.

The mapping is not always strictly chromatic; occasionally, phrases will be displaced an octave compared to their immediate neighbors. For 99% of the work you'll do with these, this is no big deal, since it's a big stride forward to be able to just have a great loop in any key. On the other hand, if you're trying for an effect similar to the Kinks' "You really got me," you'll have to compromise, since there aren't always phrases played all the way up the neck. Coarse tuning is always available, however, although the documentation advises against shifting the pitch more than three semi-tones.

Even the most time-conscious bassist would be susceptible to slight timing errors in the course of recording many different loops; the good news is that the legendary trio kept things in the pocket to a remarkable degree. Spectrasonics recommends retriggering the phrases rather than letting them play as loops, to avoid any drifting. We found only two individual loops that deviated perceptibly from a drum pattern playing at the same tempo within the length of the original pattern.

Another small anomaly occurs within Laboriel's Samba Chords groove, which features his trademark bassline and chordal tapping technique: On some notes he plays major 7th chords, on others he plays dominant 7th chords. If your just making beats, no problem, but if the harmonic implications are important to you, it could be a limitation. Or it could be a creative springboard, suggesting entire compositions to you.

Spectrasonics guarantees that all the bass loops on the disc are license-free. All they ask is that, in the event that you issue a commercial release using the material, you print a brief credit in the liner notes. If you buy the audio CD, and want to upgrade to the CD-ROM, Spectrasonics will sell you the CD-ROM version for the difference in price, provided that you return the audio CD to them. You can also exchange any CD-ROM version for another format at no charge.

This is a great disc. Spectrasonics has gone an extra mile or two to provide great sounds in a flexible, useful package. Definitely put this one on your list of must-haves.

-Ernie Rideout