Modern computers are so powerful; it seems like every new software instrument release these days runs, or streams, gigabytes of samples while simultaneously juggling a multitude of real-time sample-accurate playback parameters. It seems to me that the main challenge facing modern software developers is managing complexity. 

Managing Complexity

Various developers approach this from different angles. For example, you have something like UJAM instruments at one end of the scale. They are super intuitive to play. You can be up and running with them in literally five minutes. It's almost impossible to get a bad sound or a poorly played part out of their engines. At the other end, you have something like Falcon from UVI. Where every single control is laid bare for you to access. You can dive deep and build anything you dream up.

I'm not suggesting a simple binary. Good/bad. Easy/hard. Beginner/advanced. I love and use both of the instruments I mentioned in the last paragraph. So now along comes Toontrack with EZ Bass. Where does it land on this scale? 

Like many generative instruments, EZ Bass relies on MIDI as the foundation of the phrases and parts it delivers. Something like AmpleSound guitars and basses or MusicLab RealGuitars take a similar approach. Incredible sounding sample sets, with various MIDI-based pattern generators, to create parts.

Has EZ Bass upped the game? In a word, Yes. And a large part of it has to do with offering even greater complexity than we have seen previously, and with better, more elegant, interface management. 

The Basses

At the core of EZ Bass are two distinctive, fantastic sounding, sample sets. A modern Alembic bass, and a vintage Fender Jazz bass. Where a lot of interfaces fail is with tone-shaping option paralysis. It's easy to get lost down the rabbit hole of amp, cabinet, mic, and positioning choices, combinations, and options. Right out of the box, on the start-up page, are a simple set of macro controls to tweak each of the presets. It's the Goldilocks amount of power. Not too much, not too little. Just the right amount. 

When I said earlier that EZ Bass offers greater complexity than we have seen before, it begins here. They have included a fantastic palette of articulations. I'm not talking about simple finger/mute/slap choices. You have control over auto alternating fingers, or index finger and middle finger, ghost notes, harmonics, percussive taps with the right and left hand separately, ghost slaps, tapping, and slap/pops. For the power users, these are accessible via key switch notes. For the faint of heart, have no fear. EZ bass makes it EZ to integrate these playing articulations into the parts it generates. 

The Next Generation

EZ Bass provides the tools for complete independent manual control when it comes to creating patterns customized to your chord progressions. And it also provides tools for simple, intuitive "one-click" part creation.

Clicking the Add Groove button gets you into the now well developed Toontrack Song Track. All the tools are accessible to set up your song sections and chord progressions quickly. 

Once these basics are in place, the real fun begins. Pressing the Replace MIDI button brings up a browser containing a well-curated palette of rhythmic patterns to use as a jumping-off point. It's a simple matter to click and audition the patterns in place with the rest of your song. The library is easily sortable based on a variety of criteria. In addition to basics, like name and length, you have less common search criteria like intensity, family, and resolution - which I found to be particularly useful when searching for the most valuable choices. 

The grooves are also sortable by tradition filters (genre, play style, type, etc.). But Toontrack has raised the bar for MIDI pattern browsing with some genuinely stellar features. Tap2Find allows you to tap in a customized rhythm. Or record an actual sample bass line. The browser then returns results based on the proximity to the custom rhythm or part you entered. I find this to be a stand out feature of EZ Bass that makes me want to use its grooves library rather than sequencing parts in my DAW. There is also a drop zone for using MIDI files as the basis for search criteria. 

The Beat Goes On

Although the parts have pristinely programmed articulations, slides, transitions, and dynamics, you can still modify them manually in the EZ Bass Grid Editor. And make no mistake, this is a full-fledged MIDI editor. Adding, editing, or removing notes is intuitive and straightforward. So, it is easy to customize the generated grooves to fit your song's punches. 

Additionally, the Edit Play Style features make it easy to dial in velocity offsets, string damping, and note lengths. There is even a beneficial and musical "amount" knob to either increase or decrease the complexity of the part. 

Audio and MIDI

To enable you to develop the bass part you need for your song, the EZ Bass Audio Tracker provides tools to drag and drop audio files onto the interface for analysis. EZ Bass will generate a part of fit the audio. The same goes for MIDI. Drag and drop a MIDI file in the Drums & Keys tab, and EZ bass generates an accompanying MIDI bass part. All fully editable in the Grid Editor.

I love this feature because if you are unsure about the chords used in your song, this will create the chord track for you. I threw some chords at it with odd inversions, and it got them right. So, even if you don't like the bass part it creates, the chords are entered for you, and you can use that as a jumping-off point to search the Grooves library. 

My Final Thoughts

They say that no single software instrument can be all things to all people. What one person loves about a plug-in, another hates. And vice versa. I think EZ Bass does have something for everyone. For the beginner, it will hold your hand all the way. Drag and drop an audio or MIDI guitar or piano part, and EZ Bass will do the rest. If you want to customize it, you can quickly start with the knobs and menus if you are uncomfortable editing the actual notes. 

For more experienced users, it's easy to access all the articulations when programming your parts. As a not inexperienced programmer, I have to say that with the proper input, EZ Bass provided me with exciting parts I would not have thought up on my own, replete with perfectly placed articulations. I will not be ignoring this aspect of EZ Bass when I use it. 

I think EZ Bass is a big win for Toontrack. I love using EZ Keys - but for all the wrong reasons. I love it simply because I like the sample set, and it is light on the CPU. I rarely use its' song track features and MIDI pattern libraries. Same thing with EZ Drummer - I love it for all the wrong reasons. It's my goto drum instrument for a simple playable choice of great-sounding acoustic drum kits. Not for the pattern libraries. I can see now that, for me, in addition to the great-sounding basses, the EZ Bass grooves' and customizability will be a big draw.

For more info on EZbass, visit Toontrack’s website.