The Novation Bass Station II is a staple of synth-based music — a compact, digitally controlled analog monosynth that growls, howls, and invites infinite sonic shaping. The moment Music Experience's synth crew saw this Bass Station II Swifty Edition, they knew Ian "Swifty" Swift’s signature visual style — informed by his groundbreaking design work with the Mo' Wax and Talkin' Loud record labels and Straight No Chaser magazine — was all over it. Of course, the Bass Station II has always been more than what its name implies — it’s capable of producing scorching lead sounds and mesmerizing sonic textures. Novation has taken the Bass Station II even further, collaborating with Aphex Twin to develop the groundbreaking AFX mode, which is available via a free firmware update. By allowing users to assign a unique patch to every key, AFX Mode expands the Bass Station II’s sound design capabilities, transforming it into a powerful drum module, chord organ, and much more. Along with its sequencer and arpeggiator, the Bass Station II represents a perfect platform for generative music making and endless sonic exploration. Better yet, it's Swifty Edition livery makes the perfect visual inclusion for fans of Swift's synergetic UK electronica expertise.

Novation Bass Station II 25-key Monophonic Analog Synthesizer at a Glance:

• The right ingredients for epic, expressive sounds
• Get creative with built-in arpeggiator and step sequencer
• Two filter designs for two very distinct sounds

Advanced sound-sculpting tools

On top of its patch-per-key functionality, the Bass Station II offers a bevy of advanced sound-sculpting features. These include microtuning editing for pushing the boundaries of scale-based music, fixed duration envelopes to tighten drum patches, independent sub-oscillator tuning, and oscillator glide diverge for adding distinct portamento characteristics by slowing down the glide time of oscillator two relative to oscillator one, which creates dramatic divergences. Also included in the latest firmware update, filter tracking opens up the filter cutoff as you move higher on the fretboard, adding brightness and bite; an oscillator error effect peppers in a small and random amount of detuning as you strike the next key, mimicking the sound of an unstable vintage analog synth; and the Bass Station II's new envelope retriggering function is its sound-design secret weapon. By retriggering the envelope after the decay stage, you can develop loping or insistent rhythms to manipulate amplitude, pitch, filter cutoff, and PWM. Additionally, the Bass Station II’s new paraphonic setting allows you to play two notes at a time, with separate pitches for the oscillators — an ideal feature for laying a droning pedal tone under a melodic line or ripping a lead over a repeating bass figure!

The right ingredients for epic, expressive sounds

The Bass Station II delivers classic synthesis controls for crafting leads, pads, and effects, but it truly excels at pumping out heavy-hitting bass. Two main oscillators can be hard-synced for tighter, punchier tones, and a sub-oscillator is on hand to fill out the bottom end. Given its 25-note keyboard supports aftertouch, you'll find it easy to put some expression in your performances. The Bass Station II packs two discrete filter designs, each with an overdrive circuit for seriously distorted tones. The Classic filter is based on the original Bass Station synth, giving you LPF, HPF, and BPF modes. Lastly, the Acid filter is a diode ladder design that can get very squelchy — think 303 and you've got the idea.

Get creative with a built-in arpeggiator and step sequencer

When you switch on the Bass Station's arpeggiator, you can choose from 32 different rhythmic patterns in different directions, with control over the octave range. You can also play up to four of your own patterns into the step sequencer and play them back using one of the 32 rhythms. The step sequencer also records legato and rests, so you can create more expressive sequences on the fly compared to note on-off sequencers found on other synths.