Pirate VST

Created by the accomplished bassist and producer Thomas Hansen Skarbye, this instrument is a faithfully sampled Fender® Precision bass, with the extraordinary authenticity that Scarbee is known for. It’s based on the highly-regarded Scarbee Blue Bass.

Features

•Playable in real time – with the exception of cross hammering and trills all of the articulations in the list given further below can be triggered without the need for any keyswitches. Eg. Hammer-on & pull-offs are triggered by legato playing and fast grace notes by fast legato playing.

•A powerful user interface that pushes the Kontakt user interface to its limits: a fretboard display gives an overview of the playing position and for each string what fret and articulation (displayed as a unique symbol) that are used & dynamically updated as you play.

•All four strings sampled, more than 4 000 samples and up to 9 velocity layers to capture the full timbre of the bass.

•Each string is monophonic so new notes replace earlier notes, giving a perfectly realistic bass.

•Automatic string selection – play and the script selects the most suitable string for you. Use keyswitches to limit the string choice or to move the active playing position (placement of left hand). The automatic string selection is tailor-made to work well with every articulation.

•Automatic alternation of right hand index and middle finger samples (can also be controlled using keyswitches).

•Convenient keyswitch mode – a keyswitch effects the following note or remains active as long as it’s pressed – making it easy to quickly return to the default mode of operation.

•Slide mode – play a note legato while holding the sustain pedal pressed to trigger a slide. The velocity will determine a slide speed anywhere between 60 to 480 bpm. Slides use real interval transitions sampled in three different speeds for realism and employ a new technique invented by Skarbye/Liberg to significantly reduce RAM usage. Slides are available for every interval up to an octave down and up from the current note. It’s also possible to play multiple slides consecutively going up and then down alternately.

•Chord mode – makes it possible for notes to be automatically assigned to the right strings even if the notes of a chord don’t arrive exactly at the same time.

•Control over release samples – random alternation between different release samples where the proportion of each can be controlled by the user. Select a default release type and use a keyswitch to toggle between the chosen default behaviour and other types.

•Pickup-hits – randomly inserted where they are most likely to occur in real-life playing. The user can set the probability of a pickup-hit to occur.

•The sound of Mr. Scarbee’s own fingers.

•Bass recorded DI to give you maximum flexibility in the sound production.

•EQ and Effect Presets – direct in the instrument user interface.

•Integrated documentation for all settings – direct in the instrument user interface.

KONTAKT version 5 and higher.

PERFECTLY SAMPLED 70S DISCO AND FUNK BASS WITH 4 AMP SETUPS
SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED is based on the highly-regarded Scarbee Black Bass created by accomplished bassist and producer Thomas Hansen Skarbye and inspired by the sound of Bernard Edwards (Chic). Bringing you the warm and creamy fingered bass sound of the 70s known from countless disco and funk recordings, SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED is an outstanding addition to our series of “Powered-by KONTAKT” instruments – ready for use with the free KONTAKT 5 PLAYER or KONTAKT 5.

The amped version includes the same content as SCARBEE MM-BASS, but provides four different amp sounds.

THE AMPS
In order to give you ready-to-use sounds for your productions, SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED offers the choice between four different amp setups.
– Fat is a round and tight bass sound specially produced for rock and pop oriented music productions.
– Heavy is an edgy and hard bass sound specially produced for heavy rock oriented music productions.
– Crunchy is a powerful and mildly distorted bass sound specially produced for rock oriented music productions.
– Pop is a fat and crispy bass sound specially produced for R&B and pop oriented music productions.

THE BASS
The SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED was recorded with flatwound strings to get that warm, creamy sound of 1970s bass lines. The full strings of the bass were sampled in order to reproduce the timbre changes that occur when you move between low and high frets – giving you rich, natural sound with all the overtones.
SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED is much more than just a collection of samples. It features an extensive set of playing techniques including sustains, mutes, harmonics, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and more. And thanks to some sophisticated scripting, SCARBEE MM-BASS AMPED comes vividly to life with features such as a dynamic fretboard display, chord recognition, random alternation between varying release samples, random insertion of pickup hits and realistic vibrato – all to put the swagger into your groove.FEATURE LIST
– Playable in real time – with the exception of cross hammering and trills, all of the articulations in the list given further below can be triggered without the need for any keyswitches. Eg. Hammer-on & pull-offs are triggered by legato playing and fast grace notes by fast legato playing.
– A powerful user interface that fully exploits the Kontakt user interface: a fretboard display gives an overview of the playing position. For each string, the current fret and articulation (displayed as a unique symbol) are dynamically updated as you play.
– All four strings sampled, more than 4000 samples and up to 9 velocity layers to capture the full timbre of the bass.
– Each string is monophonic so new notes replace earlier notes, for perfectly realistic bass.
– Automatic string selection – while playing the script selects the most suitable string. Use keyswitches to limit the string choice or to move the active playing position (placement of left hand). The automatic string selection is tailor-made to work well with every articulation.
– Automatic alternation of right hand index and middle finger samples (can also be controlled using keyswitches).
– Convenient keyswitch mode – a keyswitch takes effect on the following note or remains active as long as it’s pressed – making it easy to quickly return to the default mode of operation.
– Slide mode – play a note legato while holding the sustain pedal pressed to trigger a slide. The velocity will determine a slide speed anywhere between 60 to 480 bpm. Slides use real interval transitions sampled in three different speeds for realism and employ a new technique invented by Skarbye/Liberg to significantly reduce RAM usage. Slides are available for every interval up to an octave down and up from the current note. It’s also possible to play multiple slides consecutively to go up and then down.
– Chord mode – makes it possible for notes to be automatically assigned to the right strings even if the notes of a chord don’t arrive exactly at the same time.
– Control over release samples – random alternation between different release samples where the proportion of each can be controlled by the user. Select a default release type and use a keyswitch to toggle between the chosen default behaviour and other types.
– Pickup-hits – randomly inserted where they are most likely to occur in real-life playing. The user can set the probability of a pickup-hit to occur.
– The sound of Mr. Scarbee’s own fingers.
– EQ and Effect Presets – direct in the instrument user interface.
– Integrated documentation for all settings – direct in the instrument user interface.ARTICULATIONS AND PLAYING TECHNIQUES
– Sustains
– Mutes
– Harmonics
– Hammer-on
– Pull-off
– Fast grace notes
– Slides – in practically any speed and any interval
– Trills and trill-tails
– Buzz-trills
– Cross hammering
– Chords
– Chord slides
– Percussive slides
– Index and middle finger alternation
– Two different sets of release samples: loose and tight
– Pickup-hit noises
– Fret noises

THE CREATOR
Thomas Hansen Skarbye is a highly regarded bassist who has worked with artists such as Nile Rogers (Chic) and Alicia Keys. His sound design brand has become synonymous with quality and playability, and his sampled instruments have become the first choice of many top producers and musicians all over the world.

SMOOTH ELECTRIC BASS
– Meticulously sampled to sit in the mix perfectly
– Four amp sounds for R&B, pop, rock and hard rock
– 17 expressive articulations and techniques

Requires NI KONTAKT version 5.5 or later!