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Piccolo Electric Bass Library...... Does One Exist?

98bpm

Active Member
I just recently jumped on the NI sale offering OTS Evolution Flatwound and Roundwound bass instruments. Love them both. But I was just thinking, I haven't come across any libraries offering piccolo strung electric bass. Sure, I could tune my existing bass libraries up 12 semitones, but it's not the same since the strings are not as thick. Anybody know of any such a library?
 
It's funny you mention piccolo bass, because it's been on my mind, actually. Or maybe a tenor bass like Victor Wooten and Stanley Clarke play.
 
No, nor can I think of any bass with more than 6 strings which would have extra high strings sampled that could come close timbrally. There are some Bass VI samples out there (like my free Pastabass) with a high E string, but those will have a lot less string tension and also not sound quite right.

Among the tons of ideas I probably won't be able to pull off in this lifetime, I've thought about either sampling a regular bass with a ton of different strings from super low to super high, to make virtual 8+ string basses and stuff. Or maybe just go full troll and buy an Atlansia 1-string bass specifically for the purpose.
 
Bass solos are not something anyone should seek to emulate... piccolo or otherwise.

One time at a multi-band gig, another band also had a double bassist, who played a solo. One of my singers turns to me and asks why I don't play solos. I instantly tell her I'm too handsome and I can attract attention without solos.
 
Bass solos are not something anyone should seek to emulate... piccolo or otherwise.

One time at a multi-band gig, another band also had a double bassist, who played a solo. One of my singers turns to me and asks why I don't play solos. I instantly tell her I'm too handsome and I can attract attention without solos.
Just imagine your magnetism with a masterful bass solo. Lol:2thumbs:
 
I thought I had a vague recollection of a Piccolo Bass library, but can't find it on my list. Maybe someone here talked a few years ago about possibly creating one?

Looks like Greg will have the field to himself if he creates one.
 
No more so than Bass Oboe, when you think of how Oboe is an English perversion of the French Hautbois, which loosely means Top Wood or even Upper or High Voice when using a less literal translation.
 
It's funny you mention piccolo bass, because it's been on my mind, actually. Or maybe a tenor bass like Victor Wooten and Stanley Clarke play.

I’m finding the timing of this thread to be funny as well because I’m about to go on a European tour with a metal band called Manowar and the bassist plays a Piccolo Bass (and it’s not, in my opinion, a common thing).

To the OP, Not aware of any libraries for Piccolo Bass but would be interested in trying one out sometime.
 
fwiw the Acoustic Piccolo String Bass in the right hands is a beautiful sounding instrument.
I don't think it's been sampled for a library yet.
check out Ron Carter's beautiful performances.




 
I haven't the time at the moment to find backing documents to verify this claim, but I seem to recall that I discovered a few years ago that the term "Piccolo Bass" is not consistently applied. I think it can mean three different things (not even considering electric bass guitars for the moment).

I have seen Ron Carter live, playing a small scale instrument with a regular double bass player at hand for normal bass duties. This is what I think of as a Piccolo Bass.

Others consider it to just mean a style of playing that is primarily solo-oriented.

There is also a third connotation, where the instrument is a transposed instrument; maybe a fourth or fifth above (sitting in between the double bass and the cello).

Requinto has similar confusion; it can mean a smaller and lead-voiced Colombian Tiple that is usually paired with a regular one; a high-pitched Conga; a small-scale Classical Guitar that is usually tuned up to "A" but not always. And a few other things as well. But at least the different uses are contextually distinct.
 
I’m finding the timing of this thread to be funny as well because I’m about to go on a European tour with a metal band called Manowar and the bassist plays a Piccolo Bass (and it’s not, in my opinion, a common thing).

To the OP, Not aware of any libraries for Piccolo Bass but would be interested in trying one out sometime.
Love Manowar.
 
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