Bass Master by Loopmasters – Review
Contents
Bass Master
Pros
- Extremely intuitive and easy to use
- Lots of presets
- Great sound quality
- Good price
Bass Master keeps the controls straightforward, which makes it approachable if you are new to bass sound design. Its two layers still give you enough room to shape a more detailed sound. Check the current trial in your DAW before buying, especially if you use a recent Mac or a host that no longer loads VST2 plugins.
Intuitive Design
The Bass Master is a virtual instrument that comes in the form of a plugin and the first thing you’ll notice is a quite simple layout. The control board looks attractive but doesn’t feature too many options. The simple design makes it easy to find the controls you need without digging through menus.
One look at the plugin’s design and you can clearly see that all essential functions are onboard. The board is divided into several sections and all controls are perfectly transparent. There are Filter and FX, as well as Master FX, Mixer, and Global Control sections. All of them are super easy to use, so tweaking seems like a breeze.
Two Layers Sound Perfect
This plugin is designed primarily for dance and electronic music and such genres are mostly about kick drum and bass. These two things are essentials for a good track and making them is pretty much all about layering. Producers usually use several layers to create a great-sounding line. With drums, that looks quite simple, considering that various plugins have been around for years.
When it comes to bass lines, many producers still prefer making these layers manually. This plugin makes things a little bit easier. It comes with two layers. One of them is dedicated to solid sub-bass tones, while the other one is reserved for higher registers, where you can also apply various kinds of effects. The two layers are also separated on the mixer, so you can adjust the gain for each one separately.
Each layer comes with different settings available. For example, the top layer allows you to offset the sample start point, as well as tons of ADSR gain envelope to adjust. On the other side, the sub-layer allows you to change octave and adjust attack and release. As I’ve already mentioned, each layer has an independent gain knob on the mixer. The Direct Out switch belongs to the sub layer: it bypasses the filter and layer effects for a cleaner low end, while the sub still passes through the Master FX Frequency Booster.
Shaping the Bass Sound
Before you start to add effects, you can shape your bass sound through the filter section, which is a typical multi-mode filter. You can choose between 13 different modes and pretty much all essentials have been covered, including low-pass, band-pass, hi-pass, comb and other types. The filter envelope and LFO are included as well, so we can definitely say that this plugin offers a lot of possibilities to shape the bass sound.
Also, there is a key tracking feature, which allows the cutoff frequency to follow the incoming note pitch. A pre-filter overdrive is included as well. The whole filter modulation compartment relies on the LFO and an ADSR envelope. Both of them feature bipolar Amount controls, for positive or negative movement. Seems a little bit rudimental, but works pretty well.
Three Essential Effects
Another great thing about the Bass Master is the effect section. There aren’t many of them but essentials are included. Practically, there are three types of effect you can use simultaneously: Distortion, Chorus, and Reverb.
When it comes to Distortion, you can choose five different types. Besides choosing different algorithms, you can also adjust the sound with two knobs: Drive and Color. Chorus has always been one of my favorite effects and this one comes with two typical knobs, Amount and Rate, which allow you to go in a pretty wide range from super thick to complete stereo widening. Four algorithms are available. When it comes to Reverb three types are available: Bright, Mid and Dark, as well as two typical controls – Level and Size.
The Master FX Frequency Booster uses three bands of compression to shape the low, mid and high frequencies. Its response depends on the signal as well as the band settings.
Great Sound Bank
A good plugin usually offers a variety of different presets and sound examples. The Bass Master is no exception. It comes with 217 waveforms for two layers, which give you almost 50.000 possible combinations in total. These sounds are mostly taken from classic hardware, but there is also a fine amount of new sounds, based on the latest synth technologies. Typically for Loopmasters products, the sound quality is amazing.
An interesting thing about these sounds is that they aren’t designated specifically for Sub or Top layer. All of them are available for both layers, though the company has classified them into several groups. There are six categories: High, Mid, Low, Percussive, Simple and Sub.
Also, there are more than 350 factory presets. With just a couple of tweaks, you can get closer to the bass tone you want. Optional expansion packs add sounds and presets, but they require Bass Master version 1.1.3 or later and are separate from the factory library.
Lack of Inspiration – No Problem
The Bass Master may be a pretty straightforward plugin but still comes with some simple and very useful features. One of them can be of great help when you are stuck with the bass line. Moments, when we lack inspiration, are less or more frequent but this plugin also features buttons to randomize the samples, which can be of huge help when you’re making a bass line from scratch. Unfortunately, you can randomize the samples only, not the parameters. However, you can link parameters to MIDI controller, which brings so many possibilities, including the ability to adjust multiple parameters simultaneously.
System Requirements
Bass Master requires a compatible plugin host to run. Plugin Boutique lists it for 64-bit Windows 7–10 as VST 2.4, and for macOS 10.12–10.15 as AU or VST 2.4. It does not list VST3 or AAX, and says Apple Silicon is not officially supported. Its compatibility notes also exclude Waveform Pro. If you use a newer operating system or a DAW without VST2 support, the listing does not establish that Bass Master will work there. Download the trial and check it in your own setup before buying. Activation uses the licence code supplied in your Plugin Boutique account.
Verdict
The overall value of Bass Master is impressive. If you are looking for something that quickly allows you to create an amazing bass track, this is a plugin you should definitely try. Simple design and impressive intuitiveness are the strongest points.
Bass Master is a great plugin, something that definitely deserves to be found on the list of your standard audio plugins.
View Price for the full Bass Master instrument. Preset expansion packs require the instrument and are separate purchases.
