Toontrack EBX: Upright

The Definition of A Timeless Tone

Double-bass, standup bass, contrabass, bass fiddle, violone or, as in our case, upright bass. Although it goes by many names, it's one of those instruments that hardly needs one – you can distinguish it just at the strike of a note. The slightly muffled but still vibrantly resonant, earthy, and dark timbre of the upright bass has seeped through every tier in our music history, from its first iteration several hundred years ago until today. Honestly, only one word carries enough weight to describe its incontestable role in music as we know it: timelessness.

The Upright EBX comes with a handpicked, acoustic upright bass, sampled to capture the complex and unique hallmarks of this classic instrument. In addition to the sounds, it also includes a broad selection of presets as well as a custom content of MIDI basslines.

Measuring six feet from scroll to endpin, but with a tone like a ten-story building, this is the embodiment of an ideal instrument for use in any jazz, rock, pop, or general acoustic music composition where the bass is "plucked" and needs to cut through. Welcome to the mother of all basses - twice the size, double the action and, if you ask us, a downright upright delight.

Features

• A meticulously captured acoustic upright bass
• Recorded using an onboard piezo pickup as well as five different microphone configurations
• Includes a collection of presets covering a broad range of tones for various genres, styles, and microphone blends
• Comes with a custom MIDI library tailored for the instrument and fretless/upright playing styles

The Instrument

For any acoustic instrument, and particularly so for a one that has its predominant range in the lower frequency, projection is key. Frankly, a good instrument needs a voice that sings and cuts through. A Corsini Elite by renowned Romanian instrument luthier Calin Wultur proved to have exactly all those qualities and be the perfect match for the Upright EBX.

"Since we were after a plucked tone and a bass for a modern and 'acoustic' approach rather than a classical, a flatback seemed like the first logical step. However, the quality of an upright’s tone is a product of all of its parts combined - from the machine heads down to the tailgut - and the Corsini just sounded and felt right through and through," comments Magnus Melkersson, EZbass lead R&D technician.

The Sounds & Articulations

Seeing as this bass mainly is intended for use in jazz, rock, pop or general acoustic music compositions, it was sampled solely using the plucking (pizzicato) technique. To offer the broadest possible tonal options, both an onboard piezo pickup as well as five high-end microphones in different positions were used to capture the scope of the instrument’s monumental tone.

"To record an acoustic instrument of this stature and with this amount of body and natural low end, we experimented with numerous microphone types, positions, and techniques to finally land on the perfect combination," comments Ulf Edlund, EZbass lead sound designer.

To ensure maximum transparency and minimum ambient saturation, the bass was recorded in a relatively small room. This, combined with the elaborate microphone positioning scheme, makes for a genuinely organic, warm, and tangibly vivid sampled instrument.

The Presets

The end goal with the presets was to offer a library of tones as broad but still as natural and true to the instrument as possible. In addition to saturation in the form of effects like compression, reverb, and EQ, the presets also include mixes of microphones that blend the different natural tonal flavors they offer. Expect an array of options for anything from mellow jazz trio-type of tracks to any Americana, bluegrass, folk, indie, pop, rock, or acoustic scenario.

The MIDI

The included MIDI was created by noted player Laurence Cottle and covers a fundamental collection of basslines tailored for the unique expression of an upright bass. Expect a broad approach that touches on anything from the laid-back to the more elaborate – ready for you to hone, mold and shape using the onboard tools of EZbass.