GForce Software Novation Bass Station – Ol’ Bluey Returns!
The OG 303 Clone is Back!
3,3 / 5,0 | 
GForce Novation Bass Station · Source: GForce Software
GForce Novation Bass Station · Source: GForce Software
GForce Novation Bass Station · Source: GForce Software
Novation Bass Station · Source: GForce Software
GForce Novation Bass Station · Source: GForce Software
The original Novation Bass Station sought to fill the shoes of the rare and expensive TB-303 at a time when squelchy bass was all the rage. Now it’s back, bigger & better than ever.
There’s a good chance that a significant bunch of you lovely readers were barely out of your diapers when the original hardware Novation Bass Station launched in 1993. For those of you who were significantly older, like me, you will recall the massive buzz around this beauty.
Back in the Day
To understand why the Novation Bass Station was so revered, you have to remember where we were musically at that time. The 80s had been and gone. Pop music had given way to the myriad dance music genres and the kids were back in charge.
Fuelling this movement were the analogue synths of old that we older musos had foolishly tossed aside in favour of large grey slabs like the DX7, D50 and M1. Nobody wanted the old, unreliable analogue gear anymore. It was digital all the way, baby!
Unable to buy the digital trinkets of the day, the youth of the day sought to break into electronic music by hoovering up these relics and using them in new and exciting ways. The downside of all this was that the used prices of these bits of gear soon shot up. There was a gap in the market to fill.
Chief among these relics was the Roland TB-303, and very soon, manufacturers were putting out affordable clones as quick as you could say, “Aciiiiiid!”. One of the best of these was the Novation Bass Station and now it is back in a faithful yet expanded 21st Century software version.
The GForce Novation Bass Station
Aside from feeling incredibly old, the release of the GForce version of the Novation Bass Station is also incredibly exciting because we can now get to do things with it that were previously not possible. For example, it’s now 16 voice polyphonic.
There are new waveforms, frequency modulation, a noise generator, additional mod sources, a vintage knob and that gorgeous 24db filter gets key tracking. There’s also a new high-pass filter an FX section, built-in arpeggiator and sequencer and much more besides.
Beyond Bass
The Novation Bass Station is no longer a 303 substitute, it’s a fantastic powerhouse in its own right, so much so that the ‘Bass’ in Bass Station now seems a little misleading! As you’d expect, it also benefits from all the brilliant GForce “upgrades” and will respond to both polyphonic aftertouch and has polyphonic pitch bend support when used with MPE controllers.
More Information
The GForce Novation Bass Station is available as an AU/VST/VST3 and AAX plugin, as well as a standalone for Mac & PC. Grab it now for just £49.99 + VAT, its introductory price before it goes up to £99.99 + VAT.
Novation Launchkey Mk.4, FLKey and SL MK3 registered owners will get this plugin completely free. Just login to your Novation account for all the details!
*This post contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
This might also interest you
One response to “GForce Software Novation Bass Station – Ol’ Bluey Returns!”
Having owned the original Bass Station (I sold it to a studio, IIRC ), this looks like a welcome upgrade to the groundbreaking (for its time) original, which was a really solid bit of kit for its time.
It’s testament to how good an idea it was that Novation went on to keep.making them for years (the rackmount was a leap up, too), and improving the formula radically, whilst keeping the spirit of the original going.