Novation // Bass Station II 2.5 - Paraphonic Mode

CALC takes you through the key features of the brand new 2.5 update for Bass Station II.
Check out this video where we show you how Bass Station II is now a paraphonic monosynth, because you can control the pitches of each of the two oscillators separately in its single-voice architecture. Play two notes at a time rather than just one and get interesting interactions through the Ring and Filter Mod.
Discover more about Bass Station II:
novationmusic....

[@marike1100]

Bass Station II, a classic, just got even better. Great synth, and it's affordable.

[@NovationTV]

🙏🙌

[@valdiskrebs566]

That is the great thing about Novation - they keep improving their products, even the ones you already own! Big update. Great demo!

[@jasonmcgary]

Valdis Krebs how about an A station update then lol

[@valdiskrebs566]

jason mcgary Yeah, not the old stuff. I have a KS-4 and a K-Station that I would like a few features added to. 😉 K-Station would be a great iOS app - a few instances, all running in AUM... mmmm.

[@jonathanclarke2582]

i am SHOOK. THANK YOU THIS IS SO COOL

[@robroman5408]

Awesome update! I own a bass station II and this is great! Thanks for the upgrade!

[@regend762]

I've been playing a Bass Station II since its release. Have traveled on tour in the U.S. and to Latin America with this pride and joy of a synth and blow PA speakers and leave sound bwoys and gals baffled with its power. Right now it is the cornerstone in the band i play in - A Reminder - It replaced a tired nord electro 2. Looking forward to the new para-phonic mode. Cheers!

this demo is out of this world!

[@OHHnoYOUdidntMAN]

jesus CHRIST, this is an AMAZING sounding synth. So musical and moody right off the bat. It makes me think of the M83 Oblivion soundtrack. I need to get this.

[@jurajvarsanyi4447]

Great update, great synt, great demo, great company. Excellent job Novation!

[@maybetheoneyouneed]

CALC always so musical in his tutorials, thousands thanks !

[@jthorpe4droid]

That is so cool, I love playing my BSII. Thank you for the great firmware

[@GeorgeChondrompilas]

Amazing products, updates and support.

[@Foolhead303]

These updates have opened up this synth beautifully. Well done guys!

[@rafavresto7047]

I love my BS2 and I would love it even more!! Thank you Novation for such a great service

[@spacedrifter1961]

Exciting stuff. Like getting a brand new synth for free👍 Thank you Novation.

[@Matthewsavant]

Bass station 2 is probably the best deal on the market right now. The Bass station has the sauce, it’s real deal analog with nice raw oscillators and both the regular and acid filters sound rich, it can sound Moogy and it can sound Rolandy...what more could you want out of a simple mono synth...besides maybe another octave.

[@SkytekOfficial]

Wow amazing instrument

[@ZafroSoundz]

Sounds great, fantastic, can't wait to get to the studio!!

[@MaxSonicUA]

Brilliant video!

[@jeankim1679]

Big emotion at 4min !

[@igalkuperman6654]

That what was mising in this synth .great update novation 👍👍👍👍👍

[@definitelymiami7978]

wow when the sub came in!

[@Digiphex]

If you make a poly version of this I will immediately buy,

[@florianinside5666]

Me too. What about the Peak?

[@Digiphex]

Florian Inside It sounds brittle. Not at all the same sound.

[@shibbidydoowop]

I've heard the peak uses NCO's with analog filters. Probably has something to do with it.

[@florianinside5666]

@@Digiphex Thank you. Will listen to it carefully

[@0e0]

with a full keyboard..would be so great.

[@ispahan5842]

Great Demo. Thanks.

[@NinoCotonato]

Bs II is the best analog cheap synth on the market now...

[@amnesiaSa]

Thank you for this firmware. ❤️

[@palenkesoultribe]

amazing! i have one..and didnt knwo this!! mindblowing

[@Nightingale1887]

Is it me or was that like instant Deadmau5 vibes. It just needs a beat.

[@frankcerra3216]

it is

[@mach3613]

100% & no serum in sight

[@Ferrichrome]

At 2:45 it sounds very much like Strobe

[@bigsloanful]

This video proves 2 things. One. The bass station and Novation fucking rule. Two. I desperately need a Strymon Big Sky.

[@caballotecaballo188]

wooow ! thanks a lot for this great gift !

[@Matthewsavant]

The bass station was already a beast before this too

[@florianinside5666]

Fantastic! ❤️ Novation Sub-Osc is still fixed to Osc1? Is Osc1 on lower keyboard and Osc2 on upper keyboard? How to make octave shift for one half?

[@stephenBlacker]

Woohoo!

[@Paradroidx]

very generously priced 2.. this may make me buy it.

[@nx3816]

This video has me sold, it sounds amazing, which reverb pedal do you recommend? xx

[@NovationTV]

Glad you found this inspiring! We used the Strymon Big Sky 👍

[@oliverdowie]

3:32 sounds like Nils Frahm!

[@VanaVanaV]

strymon Big Sky sweetening the situation

[@johnrichardson3297]

@Novation TV can you do a demo of chiptune paraphonically

[@FrozenLonesome]

Can you send MIDI channels separately to each oscillator? I assume no, but am asking anyway. :) Thanks Novation for being awesome!

[@matt12v2]

Thanks for the inspiring demo of paraphonic mode it sounds amazing! Can you tell me if I can save and load patches in paraphonic mode? Thank you!

[@NovationTV]

Glad to hear that you found this useful! That's right, Paraphonic Mode can be saved per-patch. By default, Paraphonic Mode is off but you can switch it on by holding the Function key and pressing Osc1-2 Sync, twice. The screen will display P-0 and you can use the screen buttons to change this to P-1 to enable Polyphonic Mode or P-0 to switch it off. This will be saved with your Patch information when you save a Patch.

[@florianinside5666]

Hello Calc, i try go get the same sound like you in the video, because i really like what you do. But with FW2.5 on my BSII paraphonic mode sounds rubbish. Maybe i have to upload an example on KZbin? Can you please tell what settings you used in this video? Would helpt me. Right now it is very frustrating... Am i the only one?

[@NovationTV]

Sorry to hear that you're not getting the results you'd hoped. You can give our tech support team a call and they can help you with this: bit.ly/NovationCustomerSupport

[@nathanielmason1053]

Žižek is looking well

[@DProces]

👽❤️Nice❤️👽

[@flash92]

amazing updates, this and firmware 4! the BSII was my first synth and I've never regretted buying it. is there a way of playing the second oscillator indenpendently via MIDI, for example on another MIDI channel?

[@NovationTV]

Thanks for your support, Les! It's great to hear that you're enjoying Bass Station II. When working in Paraphonic Mode, the Oscillators can be momentary, 'separated' and played individually using either the keyboard or an external MIDI source. With a note held down, pressing another note will then 'unlink' the oscillators and allow you to voice another note, however, the oscillators aren't assigned separate MIDI channels. Like the amp and filter section, the control is essentially shared.

[@coldwar1977]

Very neat feature! But I don't understand how they managed to implement this function, as this is an analog synth?

[@NovationTV]

It's great to hear that you're a fan of this new feature! Bass Station II is indeed a digitally controlled analogue synth with two oscillators that are routed through the same voice architecture. In Paraphonic Mode, we have given you the option to have independent control of each oscillator within this single voice architecture so they aren’t truly independent voices - just independent oscillators.

[@cultmecca]

Give the Ultranova a cool update now :D

[@mr_hppd348]

Does this have a 5th octave feature like on the microbrute? Can I use it in paraphonic mode? Can I use the it in with the sub simultaneously?

[@scyhte82]

with the sub osc now also being able to controlled independently, will this paraphonic mode work with all 3 oscs now?

[@NovationTV]

Not quite. The sub osc can't be addressed independently as It remains tied to OSC 1 but can be unlinked, to allow for independent tuning.

[@noisealchemist971]

I don't suppose I'm missing anything that would make it so the release would allow both oscillators to be properly released? As of now, when you release it will switch to a single note being released. I thought maybe it had something to do with bad key release timing on my part so I tested it through midi and still got the same result of only a single voice being released.

[@NovationTV]

Afraid that isn't possible. In Paraphonic Mode Bass Station II's single voice architecture remains, but you have the option to play each oscillator independently. The oscillators share one VCA and envelope, and one filter stage, so although the two oscillators can play different pitches, they can only both be heard when the VCA is triggered so they aren’t truly independent voices  - just independent oscillators.

[@noisealchemist971]

@@NovationTV thanks for the reply :)

[@akintosh555]

Hi novation, great update, brings a whole new level to the synth! just got one problem, when paraphonic mode is engaged and i play two notes, say a C and a G together, they are working fine, playing together as they should, however when i release the two notes, there is an extra note being played, or envelope, as if it wasnt in paraphonic mode and you played two. When i play one note and release the key, the envelope decays and releases off as normal, its only when im playing two keys at once, could you advise me what to do please? thanks

[@NovationTV]

It's great to hear that you're enjoying v2.5! The behaviour that you're describing is normal and a result of the paraphonic voice architecture. With Paraphonic Mode engaged, when you press and hold a note - both oscillators are in use, voicing this note. With that note, held down, when you press and hold an additional note, the oscillators can then split and voice each note independently. Releasing one of these notes will cause this oscillator to essentially 'rejoin' the other, which will momentarily re-voice the held note.

[@JimijaymesProductions]

Is there any way to do this update offline, there is no info on the site about this the only way I can see is via components which keeps failing.

[@NovationTV]

Sorry to hear that you're having problems, Jimi. The offline, standalone version of Components is also available to download from your Novation account if you have registered your Bass Station II. Just log in, click 'Downloads & Activation Codes' and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the download link. Please give that a go and let us know how it goes.

[@TheFjMartinmusic]

Sorry,one question, is only bass synth or i bouild leads,pads or fx,thank

[@NovationTV]

You can actually use Bass Station II to create a very wide variety of sounds. Whilst it is perfect for bass duties, it is also a great choice for lead synth sounds, FX and sound design applications. As it is a monosynth, it is not ideally suited to pads, as you can only play one note at a time. When using the new 'Paraphonic Mode' featured in this video, you can play up to two notes simultaneously, by playing each oscillator independently, but they do share the same VCA/amp, envelope, and filter stage. This means that whilst you can play simple chords, lush pads aren't achievable. If you're looking for a really versatile synth that can do all of these things, you may want to check out Peak: novationmusic.com/synths/peak

[@TheFjMartinmusic]

Thank for answer soon, i think perfect with Omnisphere 2.6 very complete, Peak very expensive i am a semi Pro

[@TooSlowTube]

Where is the firmware download? I looked. Nothing.

[@peecee2000]

TooSlowTube For this you use the Novation Components website.

[@alexanderkenniethbam]

Can this be used with ableton?

[@NovationTV]

Yes. You can connect via USB to your computer and connect the audio output from Bass Station II to an audio interface to sequence and record Bass Station II from Ableton Live. Bass Station II can also be used as a standard MIDI controller for playing and controlling plug-ins and virtual instruments.

[@rcmusic35]

Make Peak unique: paraphonic mode: up to 24 notes chords, or 3 notes at unison 8 (!!!)

[@alcaloid3]

👽

[@blindguitarfox]

AMAZING this company just updated a 25 year old synth for free....

[@cannaclubchicago2476]

I love my NBSII, I feel like a mini Aphex.. Thanks fam..

[@JackPeloquin]

I’m always amazed when I power this fucker up. What’s the other pedal though? Preamp/boost?