# ***Bass Banjo By MODWHEEL Released With Intro Deal***



## David Donaldson (May 7, 2018)

The *Bass Banjo* plus *Bang-On Sidekick DrumChum* and *Banjelis synths*!!
Yes, now everyone can enjoy the great sound of Bass Banjo.

Some history.
Back in the mid eighties, when we were struggling musicians with plenty of time on our hands, a band mate and I made a bass banjo for use in our outdoor marching band 'The Outsiders', which was basically a protest band, as at the time there seemed quite a lot to protest about. There was still nuclear testing in the pacific, nuclear armed and powered warships coming into New Zealand waters and the sinking of the Rainbow warrior by the French government being some of the issues here at that time.
The *Bass Banjo* surpassed our expectations and once it had done its job of helping New Zealand become nuclear free became a staple on many recordings and soundtracks that we've created over the years, as it has such a distinctive sound. It really is a one off.
It was made using a marching Bass Drum and an old double bass fingerboard and as well as having a unique bass sound, also has great percussive possibilities, being made from a drum. We've made full use these the drum possibilities in conjunction with the Drum Computer function within Kontakt. 
This is the *Bang-On Sidekick DrumChum* section of the virtual instrument.
But wait there's more!
We've also taken the raw material and massaged them into some weird and wonderful pads. This resulted in the *Banjelis Synth* patches.
The *Bass Banjo* is going out at the incredibly low price of US$25 until the end of May when it will go up to US$35.
Here's a promo vid of the library in action, if you watch the second half of the video you can see the midi sequence we mimed to, in case we did such a great job of miming you thought we'd played it.
For more info, purchase and download go to.
www.modwheel.co.nz


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## CGR (May 7, 2018)

Just watched the promo & walkthrough videos - love it guys. Inspirational stuff.


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## MisteR (May 7, 2018)

Purchased. Hopefully this will help me find the center of the maze.


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## SoNowWhat? (May 7, 2018)

Love your work Modwheel.


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## SchnookyPants (May 7, 2018)

_*Not another Bass Banjo... *
_
Yet again, a totally unique piece of kit from those devious Kiwis.

Well done, DaDo et al!


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## benmrx (May 7, 2018)

What the what!?! This is amazing.


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## Quasar (May 7, 2018)

This is most definitely another winner from Modwheel. Definitely in.

EDIT: Tried to buy this using PayPal, and when I hit pay, I get a screen on which the only option is to "cancel and return..." This happened once before a long time ago, and it was somehow resolved, but I don't remember how.


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## jiffybox (May 7, 2018)

Instant purchase. You folks at Modwheel always deliver inspired libraries and it's always exciting to see a new product from New Zealand pop up. Well done and cheers.


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## SchnookyPants (May 7, 2018)

Quasar said:


> This is most definitely another winner from Modwheel. Definitely in.
> 
> EDIT: Tried to buy this using PayPal, and when I hit pay, I get a screen on which the only option is to "cancel and return..." This happened once before a long time ago, and it was somehow resolved, but I don't remember how.


I, too experienced some funny business. It looked like it wasn't going to go through. So I closed-out the page, and when I came back the deal had gone through. I don't get it, but it had a happy ending. I think it has something to do with the fact that Kiwis, as well as the land upon which they stand, are upside down. Or is it downside up?

You'll never convince them, though. They think it's all perfectly normal.


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## David Donaldson (May 7, 2018)

Quasar said:


> This is most definitely another winner from Modwheel. Definitely in.
> 
> EDIT: Tried to buy this using PayPal, and when I hit pay, I get a screen on which the only option is to "cancel and return..." This happened once before a long time ago, and it was somehow resolved, but I don't remember how.



Damn! Every now and then we have this issue with Paypal and US and Canadian customers, I think it has something to do with us being in New Zealand. We're too foreign. We've spent so much wasted time dealing with Paypal.
We've set up a second payment option through Stripe. If you use the credit card option it will work....fingers crossed


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## kgdrum (May 8, 2018)

he-haw!!!


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## CGR (May 8, 2018)

Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## StillLife (May 8, 2018)

CGR said:


> Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]


All Bass Banjo + piano?


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## CGR (May 8, 2018)

StillLife said:


> All Bass Banjo + piano?


There's also a little treated guitar in the mix, and an accent shaker sound at one point, but the rhythmic bass/percussive/knocking sounds are all Bass Banjo.


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## kclements (May 8, 2018)

Once again, an instant buy for me. So creative.


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## Shredoverdrive (May 8, 2018)

Looks very inspiring. I bought it and I'm looking forward to trying it tonight.


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## Quasar (May 8, 2018)

David Donaldson said:


> Damn! Every now and then we have this issue with Paypal and US and Canadian customers, I think it has something to do with us being in New Zealand. We're too foreign. We've spent so much wasted time dealing with Paypal.
> We've set up a second payment option through Stripe. If you use the credit card option it will work....fingers crossed


Sorted, thanks. Using the debit card associated with PP rather than the account number worked, and the order went through. Re being too foreign (lol), I guess the card is less xenophobic than the actual bank account, which is not yet hip to global village inclusivity.

For the record, I also appreciate that this is for full Kontakt and pre-5.68. Looking forward to unpacking and trying it tonight as well.


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## StillLife (May 8, 2018)

I have become a modwheel fan in a very short time.


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## nordicguy (May 8, 2018)

Little Q.
Are 03 SiDeKiCk1.nki and 04 SiDeKiCk2.nki SQs made inside Kontakt that we don't have access to?
Can't hear exactly what you guy's are saying.
Don't see SQ or Arpeggiator tabs on those neither.
May be just single hits over the keyboard played via preprogrammed DAW's SQs?
Anyway, congrats for this other one of a kind instrument!


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## Patrick de Caumette (May 8, 2018)

Is the reverberant sound for the bass part ITB, or added in the mix?


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## David Donaldson (May 8, 2018)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Is the reverberant sound for the bass part ITB, or added in the mix?


That's the nature of the instrument, it's reverberant. No reverb was added to the raw samples....and it was recorded in a quite dead room!


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## nordicguy (May 8, 2018)

Hi David,
I think you missed my Q.
Was before Patrick’s reply.


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## David Donaldson (May 8, 2018)

nordicguy said:


> Little Q.
> Are 03 SiDeKiCk1.nki and 04 SiDeKiCk2.nki SQs made inside Kontakt that we don't have access to?
> Can't hear exactly what you guy's are saying.
> Don't see SQ or Arpeggiator tabs on those neither.
> ...


Thanks Nordi
The drum computer is a script object that anyone can access by clicking on the spanner (wrench) tool and then opening the script window where you will find the drum computer tab. It's a bit complicated and so for simplicity's sake we decided not to offer it as a separate tab on the gui but it is completely editable under the bonnet (hood). 






Just FYI if you want to use the drum computer on any other instrument you will find the script living in the preset dropdown menu and then within the sequencing folder.


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## nordicguy (May 8, 2018)

Many thanks for the reply.
This drum sequencer looks pretty neat (forgot about it).
So then we’r talking about single hits played via this SQ.
Sounds great!


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## David Donaldson (May 9, 2018)

nordicguy said:


> Many thanks for the reply.
> This drum sequencer looks pretty neat (forgot about it).
> So then we’r talking about single hits played via this SQ.
> Sounds great!


Yeah, that's right. You can have 12 sequences (one octave), triggered by notes on your keyboard per instance of Drum Computer. Each sequence can be made up of up to 12 patterns of 16 or 32 steps each. So each note triggers a new sequence but you can only play one at a time. You will see with Bass banjo we used two instances of the Drum Computer so you can play patterns from each of those two instances together. 
One thing worth noting is to alter the velocity levels of your patterns or they hammer away pretty hard. It's a great function that a lot of people are not familiar with. It's worth spending some time figuring out. 
I tried to find a tutorial online to post here but couldn't find one. Maybe when we get some time we'll make one.


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## bartveld (May 10, 2018)

For this price this is a complete no-brainer! What a magnificent sound!


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## David Donaldson (May 10, 2018)

Here's a tutorial.


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## nordicguy (May 10, 2018)

Great instrument!
I found the use of the “Arpeggiator” to make rhythms pretty effective/fun.
You guys did something clever again.


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## Robo Rivard (May 10, 2018)

Another great release by Modwheel. The same rich, organic sound as in the Lowdown and Humdrum.


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## David Donaldson (May 10, 2018)

CGR said:


> Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]


Great. Always good to hear how people us our stuff.


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## CGR (May 10, 2018)

David Donaldson said:


> Great. Always good to hear how people us our stuff.


Cheers David. It was a very quickly put together idea - just wanted to share it. The Bass Banjo is such a creative instrument/s and I appreciate the thought & work you have put into this.


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## shapednoise (May 10, 2018)

CGR said:


> Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]



Very tasty!


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## Quasar (May 11, 2018)

bartveld said:


> For this price this is a complete no-brainer! What a magnificent sound!


Yeah, and it's as "non-digital" as a digital instrument can be. If you want truly raw, earthy, grass-roots sounds MW is great. I think of an irreverant proto-punk, folk rock band like The Fugs, from long ago. They would love this Bass Banjo if they were transported to this era and using sample libraries.


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## SoNowWhat? (May 11, 2018)

CGR said:


> Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]


Fan-bloody-tastic. Loving the mojo in this piece. Giving me chills.
I was totally waiting for Nick Cave or Tom Waits voice to start up halfway in.


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## shapednoise (May 11, 2018)

CGR said:


> Had a quick play with the Bass Banjo today . . .
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/prelude-mw-bass-banjo-mp3.13321/][/AUDIOPLUS]



Played it again today, Seriously Loverly and Evocative.


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## CGR (May 11, 2018)

shapednoise said:


> Played it again today, Seriously Loverly and Evocative.


Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking of licensing this track - think it would sit well with some visuals.


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## shapednoise (May 11, 2018)

CGR said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking of licensing this track - think it would sit well with some visuals.



Do it…


BTW Disclosure: I'm involved in the Dev of the Bass Banjo, so if you have any feedback … Please feel free to let us know!


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## SoNowWhat? (May 11, 2018)

CGR said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking of licensing this track - think it would sit well with some visuals.


+1 to do it.


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## David Donaldson (May 13, 2018)

These guys know what's up.


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## David Donaldson (May 15, 2018)

And so does she.


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## Robo Rivard (May 15, 2018)

You guys make the best demos!


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## David Donaldson (May 17, 2018)

A great review from StrongMocha.
https://www.strongmocha.com/2018/05/11/bass-banjo-by-modwheel-review/


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## SchnookyPants (May 19, 2018)

We don't need no schtinkin' reviews. If you guys put it out, it's going to be good....


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