The MirroredBass inverted answer line

bass-mid · dark · 126 BPM (118–134) · E minor · 4 bars · 64 steps

MirroredBassBassUnison bass for a line that answers itself upside down

Every patch on the KORG minilogue xd

The technique

Two bars up, two bars down. The call climbs the root, third, fourth and fifth and settles back on the root; the answer takes the same steps in the other direction, the root, then the sixth, fifth and fourth below it, and climbs back to the root.

One note at a time. Every note is released before the next is struck, and the octave the sound stacks on each key is what makes a single line read as wide.

The bar head is the loud one and it is always the root. The rest of the bar is quieter and moves; the head is where the line comes home.

The last two beats of each phrase hold. A bass line that never rests is a bass line nobody can hear the shape of.

Do not mirror in semitones. The root up to the third, mirrored in semitones, is the root down to the raised sixth, which is out of the key, and the answer should sound like the same line and not a modulation.

The notes

4 bars in E minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–4·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40
  • steps 5–6·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40
  • steps 7–8·G2·degree 3·MIDI 43
  • steps 9–12·A2·degree 4·MIDI 45
  • steps 13–16·B2·degree 5·MIDI 47
  • steps 17–18·B2·degree 5·MIDI 47
  • steps 19–20·A2·degree 4·MIDI 45
  • steps 21–24·G2·degree 3·MIDI 43
  • steps 25–32·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40
  • steps 33–36·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40
  • steps 37–38·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40
  • steps 39–40·C2·degree 6·MIDI 36
  • steps 41–44·B1·degree 5·MIDI 35
  • steps 45–48·A1·degree 4·MIDI 33
  • steps 49–50·A1·degree 4·MIDI 33
  • steps 51–52·B1·degree 5·MIDI 35
  • steps 53–56·C2·degree 6·MIDI 36
  • steps 57–64·E2·degree 1·MIDI 40

The grid

Every step below strikes the note in force at that point. The grid is where the figure is played.

  • —1, 17, 33, 49 (all vel 118)
  • —5, 9, 13, 21, 25, 37, 41, 45, 53, 57
  • —7, 19, 39, 51

On the KORG minilogue xd

minilogue xd · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a bass-mid · dark voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.

Settings

MASTER

  • PORTAMENTO0(0…127)
  • SWING0%(-75…75 %)

    0 is straight; the arpeggiator uses the same value

    EDIT MODE, PROGRAM EDIT, button 7

VOICE MODE

  • VOICE MODE TYPEUNISON

    All four voices stack into one — this patch plays a single note at a time

  • VOICE MODE DEPTH6c(0…50 c)

    Detune between the stacked voices

VCO 1 / VCO 2 / MULTI ENGINE

  • VCO 1 · WAVESAW
  • VCO 1 · OCTAVE16'
  • VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 1 · SHAPE400(0…1023)

    Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave

  • VCO 2 · WAVETRI
  • VCO 2 · OCTAVE16'
  • VCO 2 · PITCH-5c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 2 · SHAPE260(0…1023)
  • VCO 2 · SYNCOFF

    Locks oscillator 2 to the phase of oscillator 1

  • VCO 2 · RINGOFF

    Oscillator 1 ring-modulates oscillator 2

  • CROSS MOD DEPTH0(0…1023)

    Oscillator 1 modulating the pitch of oscillator 2

  • MULTI ENGINE · NOISE/VPM/USRNOISE
  • MULTI ENGINE · TYPELow
  • MULTI ENGINE · SHAPE700Hz(10…21000 Hz)

    CUTOFF — the low-pass filter on the noise

MIXER

  • VCO 1780(0…1023)
  • VCO 2520(0…1023)
  • MULTI60(0…1023)

FILTER

  • CUTOFF330(0…1023)

    Set too low and the patch may be barely audible

  • RESONANCE240(0…1023)
  • DRIVE50%

    The filter drive circuit, in three stages

  • KEYTRACK50%

    100% moves the cutoff with the key, centred on C4

AMP EG / EG / LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK0(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · DECAY520(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN600(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · RELEASE260(0…1023)
  • EG · ATTACK0(0…1023)
  • EG · DECAY420(0…1023)
  • EG · INT-26%(-100…100 %)

    Negative applies the envelope downwards

  • EG · TARGETCUTOFF
  • LFO · WAVETRI
  • LFO · MODENORMAL
  • LFO · RATE120(0…1023)
  • LFO · INT0(0…511)

    Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert

  • LFO · TARGETCUTOFF

EFFECTS

  • DEL/REV/MODMOD

    Selects which effect the two knobs below are setting; the other two keep their stored values

  • OFF/ON/SELECTOFF

    Hold SHIFT, flip to SELECT

  • DEPTH0%(0…100 %)

This block draws on the minilogue xd Owner's Manual E 9, pp.17-41; its values are starting points.