Native Instruments Scarbee Pre-Bass, a new software instrument that provides a meticulous, highly musical rendition of the iconic Fender Precision bass

Native Instruments has announced the release of Scarbee Pre-Bass, a new software instrument that provides a meticulous, highly musical rendition of the iconic Fender Precision bass.

PRE-BASS is derived from the acclaimed Scarbee Blue Bass library, and the first release in the recently established development partnership between sampling expert Thomas Hansen Skarbye and Native Instruments.
Powered by the industry-leading KONTAKT engine and playable via the free KONTAKT PLAYER or the KONTAKT 3 sampler, SCARBEE PREBASS delivers the full sonic spectrum of the most popular bass guitar of all time, suitable for a universal array of musical styles from pop and rock to hip-hop, jazz, funk and beyond. All four strings of the original instrument have been expertly sampled in nine velocities, resulting in over 4,000 individual studio-grade samples. The sample material was recorded through a DI for maximum sonic flexibility, using round-wound strings for a bright and punchy sound. Specific “Player Profiles” for various genres as well as EQ and effect controls allow musicians and producer to further customize the sound and behavior of PRE-BASS to fit the musical context.
To preserve all the acoustic intricacies of the real instrument, PRE-BASS takes full advantage of the unique scripting features of KONTAKT, resulting in a performance that is virtually indistinguishable from that of a real professional bassist. Authentic articulations and playing techniques include hammer-ons, pull-offs, grace notes, various trills, mutes, harmonics, pickup hits and fret noises and much more, most of which are automatically triggered based on the incoming note material. The fretboard display in KONTAKT and KONTAKT PLAYER shows the playing position and articulation of each note in real-time, with intelligent string selection and index finger/middle finger alternation as well as dedicated slide and chord modes contributing to the unparalleled authenticity of the instrument.

Scarbee Pre-Bass features

Real-time playable – with the exception of cross hammering and trills all of the articulations in the list given further below can be triggered without the need for any keyswitches. Eg. Hammer-on & pull-offs are triggered by legato playing and fast grace notes by fast legato playing.
A powerful user interface pushing the Kontakt user interface to its limits: a fretboard display gives an overview of the playing position and for each string what fret and articulation (displayed as a unique symbol) that are used & dynamically updated as you play.
All four strings sampled, more than 4 000 samples and up to 9 velocity layers to capture the full timbre of the bass.
Each string is monophonic so new notes abort earlier notes, giving a perfectly realistic bass.
Automatic string selection – play and the script selects the most suitable string for you. Use keyswitches to limit the string choice or to move the active playing position (placement of left hand). The automatic string selection is tailor-made to work well with every articulation.
Automatic alternation of right hand index and middle finger samples (can also be controlled using keyswitches).
Convenient keyswitch mode – a keyswitch affects the following note or remains active as long as it’s pressed – making it easy to quickly return to the default mode of operation.
Slide mode – play a note legato while holding the sustain pedal pressed to trigger a slide. The velocity will determine a slide speed anywhere between 60 to 480 bpm. Slides use real interval transitions sampled in three different speeds for realism and employ a new technique invented by Skarbye/Liberg to significantly reduce RAM usage. Slides are available for every interval up to an octave down and up from the current note. It’s possible to play multiple slides consecutively to go up and then down.
Chord mode – makes it possible for notes to be automatically assigned to the right strings even if the notes of a chord don’t arrive exactly at the same time.
Control over release samples – random alternation between more or less tight (how quickly they are dampened) release samples where the proportion of each can be controlled by the user. Select a default release type and use a keyswitch to toggle between the default behaviour and the other type.
Pickup-hits – randomly inserted where they are most likely to occur in real-life playing. The user can set the probability of a pickup-hit to occur.
The sound of Mr. Scarbee’s own fingers.
Bass recorded DI to give you maximum flexibility in the sound production.
EQ and Effect Presets – direct in the instrument user interface.
Integrated documentation for all settings – direct in the instrument user interface.
Articulations and playing technicques – Sustains, Mutes, Harmonics, Hammer-on, Pull-off, Fast grace notes, Slides – in practically any speed and any interval, Trills and trill-tails, Buzz-trills, Cross hammering, Chords, Chord slides, Percussive slides, Index and middle finger alternation, Two different sets of release samples: loose and tight, Pickup-hit noises, Fret noises.