Line 6 Modelling and Some Grooves
A new modelling bass from Line 6, as part of their Variax range, has got me thinking about the possibilities for modelling technology for instrument sounds.
I was interested to read that Line 6 are annoucing the release of a Variax Bass. This follows on from their Variax modelling guitar.
Whilst modelling technology has a lot of promise and keeps improving all the time, it often fails to deliver. Too often it sounds like a pale imitation of the real thing. Worse still it feels wrong. There’s something about the feeling of playing through a modelling amp, for example, that sort of feels fake. Like the difference between plastic and wood.
So then, why am I so excited by the introduction by Line 6 of a modelling Bass?
Perhaps it because Bass is my second instrument so I might be more inclined to try something like the Variax technology without being as judgemental as I normally am about guitar sounds.
And because honestly, I hope this technology takes off. It could do a lot to open different kinds of sounds and sonic experimentation for all of us who can’t afford a studio full of different kinds of instruments.
As an aside, here is a short piece I wrote for one of my Berklee courses. It tries to fuse a Motown style bass and keyboard grooves with Samba styled guitars and percussion.
[File Missing – 2020]
