Aphex Twin-style groove in BS II

Use the new AFX mode to generate some oddball percussion grooves

We were given a chance to explore the Bass Station II’s new Aphex-centric update ahead of launch, and a particular highlight was how much it enhances the BS II as a tool for synth percussion. Set-length envelopes and retrigger counts work great for creating glitch drum sounds, but the highlight is Aphex Mode’s ability to program different sounds on each note of the keyboard, so we can spread a drum kit out across the keys and get creative with the arp or sequencer. Here’s how…

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Let’s start with a fairly percussive sound. Load up preset 20 from the BS II’s factory sounds. This gives us punchy, percussive bass that provides a nice starting point to play around with. Let’s leave this sound unedited on the keyboard’s low C. This gives us a subby, almost kick-like bass sound.

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The new overlay function lets us edit the synth’s sound for each note of the keyboard. This is done by holding down a key and making parameter changes. First though, we need to load up an empty overlay. Do this by holding Function then pressing Arp-Swing twice. Change the setting to o5, to load an empty slot.

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Let’s edit the next white key (low D). First, hold down the key and change the range of both oscillators to 2’. We’ve now got a higher percussive sound on this note. Still holding down the D, raise the filter cutoff to around mid way and edit the Amp Env to have a very short decay and zero sustain.

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On low E, use the noise source to make a ‘fizzy’ perc sound. Holding this key, turn all oscs to 0 in the mixer, and raise noise level to max. Raise filter cutoff to around 3/4 open and turn off filter modulation from the envelope. With E still held, tailor the noise perc sound with the amp envelope. A softened attack with short decay and release, plus low sustain, give a fizzy hat-like sound.

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Let’s make something a little harsher sounding on the next white key (low F). Again, hold down the key and turn all oscs and the noise source down to 0 in the mixer. Now raise filter resonance to max so that the filter self-oscillates. Remove any filter modulation. Use the cutoff knob to tune the oscillating filter to a pitch that works nicely with the rest of our perc sounds.

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Finally, let’s add something a bit weirder on the low G. Hold the note and repeat set 5 to create another self-oscillating filter perc. Tune it higher than last time, so it works well with the previous sound. Now, with the key still held, raise the amp sustain and release time, to create an elongated perc sound. Let’s add modulation to this. Introduce some filter modulation from LFO 2 to get the pitch of our oscillating filter modulating. Play around with the rate of LFO 2 – a fairly rapid LFO with a little delay at the start sound great here. Now we’ve got a basic five sound perc kit. We can save this overlay if we’d like – press Function then Arp-Swing twice and hit save.

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Now the fun part: use the sequencer to make a drum groove. Put it into Record mode. Input 16 notes, using our five drum sounds in an order you like. Now move to Play mode, press On and Latch and low C. Try the BS II’s preset rhythms for a range of drum grooves. Now tweak parameters for some real Aphex-style glitchiness. Distortion and Osc Filter Mod are great, but the choice is yours!