The Sound Board

As part of their anniversary clelbration 1K multimedia is having a 25% off sale. Which would not be a big deal if it didn't include the Modo Bass, a seemingly very realistic modeled bass. In fact many basses in one plugin (VST2, VST3, AU, AXX, Mac or PC) with the ability to adjust strings, playing style, and even pickup selection and mounting. Amplification and fx, with presets to get you started.



If you use "Group" at JRR shop, they give you another $36 off in cart, making the final cost $188 for the full version.
https://www.jrrshop.com/ik-multimedia-modo-bass

Better yet if you own a 1K multimedia product over $99, you can get another $75 off with this crossgrade version:
https://www.jrrshop.com/ik-multimedia-m ... crossgrade

Here is a review, I got to believe the playability is one of it's strong points.

After pick this up and going through the presets I must say I'm very impressed. 39 presets of just fingered basses (another 38 picked, 22 slapped, and 16 Extreme- some that even get into synth territory) well organized and easy to flip through. And this is the biggest point, playability is very responsive (what I pianotec does for piano) and presets load quickly because there are no samples, yet it sounds like the real deal. The responsiveness doesn't come across in the videos but becomes a major feature when you play it. CPU is around 12% for me, not too bad.

And even cooler is the ability to grab the pickups and move them up and down the bass as you play. Allowing you to quickly find the sweet spot as your song plays (there are small glitches as you drag it, but quickly corrects). Between the model of bass (12 bodies but many preset sounds are made from these), Playing style, String selection, Electronics, Amp/fx selection, and customizable keyswitch controls. Wow. And they make it pretty simple to figure out without the manual. Kudos to IK. Lots of clarity and bottom possible with no noise, kind of ideal.

Flipping through the presets feels like your getting 115 basses for $1.50 each at this price, that all play really well and can be easily customized. Very cool. I'll have to compare to my Trilian and other Kontakt basses, but with the playability and clean, clear tone it's winning me over. Cheers.

Hmm, I so so don't feel I need another bass library between my real bass and Trilian but.... damn. I'm twitching.

Posted a few Modo Bass videos in this thread.

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I'd been meaning to pick this up.

Guy Rowland wrote:Hmm, I so so don't feel I need another bass library between my real bass and Trilian but.... damn. I'm twitching.

I have to say I own Trilian and a number of other basses (Chocolate Audio, Scarbee, NI Rick) which I like, but as Blakus and Piet mention in the other thread, it plays better and seems to fit into a mix easier than any of the others. Ironic considering the sound seems a little more raw than trilian, not so slick sounding, but perhaps that is key. The clarity pokes through without drawing attention to itself, and the tone is very easy to mold, with moving pickups and settings that seem to have endless variety (thus the advantage to a modeled bass). And I have to say, sounds like the real thing, not a hint of synthyness I hear from other modeled instruments. Pretty amazing.

Just the ability to pick the bass and playing style, then customize it for the song easily seems worth it (GUI is easy to learn without the manual, Kudos to IK). Like Pianotec, once you play it for a while then go back to samples, you notice the difference. Trilian sounds nice but this seems to have a few things that bump it up another notch. I liked the idea of it but wasn't sure at $299, but now at $188 I have to say it was well worth the purchase. Considering there is a nice Rick and Fender models included, I probably won't be reaching for my Kontakt basses again. (except possibly the Chocolate Audio V bass). I can see the day where I say goodbye to sampled basses.

Has anyone used Modo Bass to complement Project Sam's Swing More (which I definitely will get this month). Opinions?