Toontrack EBX: Americana

The All-Round Sound

The bass, the presets, and the MIDI for anything from subtle to rocking Americana.

Although it's had its foothold deeply rooted in the folk, gospel, blues, soul, country, jazz and rock songwriting tradition, Americana music has kept evolving and become a huge umbrella under which anything that doesn't quite fit the commercial country music mold can thrive.

This EBX was tailored to bring you a workhorse-type expansion that functions in all these scenarios – for anything from small and acoustic setups to full-on electric rock instrumentations.

The Americana EBX comes with a classic American brand bass sampled in two fundamentally different ways: one by using a traditional finger playing style and the other by muting the strings with rubber foam and striking with the thumb.

In addition to the sounds, a broad collection of presets, as well as a custom MIDI library of basslines, are included.

If you're looking to boost your EZbass with a jeans-and-t-shirt-type expansion that works in any scenario, this is it.

No frills or extras, just good old rock and roll, folk, gospel, blues, and, well, the entire mosaic of styles that can be traced back to Americana.

Features

• A meticulously captured late-'60s electric bass guitar
• Inspired by Americana music of the '70s through to today
• Ideal for anything from subtle and acoustic music to full-on rock setups
• Includes finger and muted thumb options as well as a broad set of articulations for both
• Offering a range from D1 to E4
• Includes a wealth of presets for a wide range of tones
• Comes with 'Clean DI' (direct input) preset options for easy external processing
• Includes a custom MIDI library inspired by classic and modern Americana music

The Instrument

When scouring the world of basses for an instrument that could rightfully be dubbed Americana, the Toontrack Sound Design team had their ears set on one that could muster the vast range of styles that huddle up under the genre's umbrella.

"Seeing as this Americana encompasses anything from small and acoustic to loud, full-on electric rock band instrumentations, we needed a bass that had a leg in each world, so to speak," comments Ulf Edlund, EZbass lead sound designer.

The instrument in question is of course a Fender Telecaster Bass.

The specific model sampled for this EBX stems from the very first batch in this new line of basses that Fender brought to market in 1968.

Or maybe one should say reintroduced – the Telecaster was actually based on the very first and discarded rendition of the now-iconic Precision Bass from 1951.

This makes the Telecaster Bass the first-ever Fender reissue.

This original version of the Telecaster, with its hefty slab-style body, single-coil pickup, and large chrome bridge and pickup covers, lasted until the early '70s.

After that, changes so substantial were made to it that it essentially was a new instrument.

Welcome to add this chameleon of an instrument to your toolbox of tones, a bass that seamlessly can move between timid and loud without making any compromises and simply just adapts on its own terms, much like the Americana genre itself.

The Sounds & Articulations

Since the Americana EBX sets out to capture the broadest possible definition of the genre, it includes both an option sampled using the traditional fingerstyle (Finger) close to the bridge as well as one that was recorded using the thumb near the neck together with rubber foam mounted between the strings (Thumb Muted).

This gives you two completely opposite sonic approaches to the same instrument, one open and round with an abundance of sustain and one that is dry, muffled, and virtually void of any decay.

"When played a certain way, this bass has an almost acoustic quality to it and, vice versa, when played in another way, it sounds big and reverberant.

This is something I really think we managed to capture with these two fundamentally different techniques," comments Ulf Edlund.

The Presets

The included presets primarily hone in on round, warm and mid-centric settings, giving you a perfect palette of tones that can be traced back to anything from the rocking sound of Tom Petty and Neil Young to the more bare bones-type approach heard in songs by the likes of Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch.

To further give you the option of easy external processing, clean direct input (DI) presets for both the "Finger" and "Thumb Muted" options are of course included.

The MIDI

The included MIDI library presents a repertoire of basic basslines inspired by Americana music of then and now.

Expect a fundamental collection that you can use the onboard MIDI features in EZbass to customize, slice and dice to fit your already written songs or use as a creative springboard for your yet-to-be-written pieces.