Bass

Bass occupies a position somewhere between drums and rhythm. In rock bands, bass and drums are considered the 'foundation.' Bass helps keep the beat, but also fills out the low end of the sound with notes which can enhance the melody. Bass can be covered by a variety of instruments: piano, tuba, cello, bass guitar, etc. Of course through the magic of midi, we could assign low notes to any instrument, but let's stick to what would be possible in the real world and use a bass guitar on our bass track.

  1. So first create a new track: Track > Create > Instrument Track.
  2. Now name your track by clicking on Track Name in the Mixer window.
  3. Select an instrument by clicking on Instrument in the Mixer window.
  4. Press the 'Compose' button.
  5. In the composer window, click 'Add Sounds' and select 'G2' for the lowest note, and show at least 7 notes. \

Using 1/4 notes you can enter this basic pattern, and paste it in all eight measures.

fj_bass1.gif

 

For a little variety, you may wish to make measures 5&6 look like this:

fj_bass5_6.gif

Play back your song. Does it sound like this?

Can you see how the bass is helping to keep the beat? Now let's add some chords.

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Forward to Rhythm