June 15, 2023
Blog by Thomas Lack

The Basstard is Now Available!

This is one of my favorites! The Basstard is a string bass that was played and recorded in every way imaginable: with forks and knives, rubber mallets, bowed with a baseball bat, and much more, the carnage of which led to the bass’s demise. Needless to say, many of the playing styles would be impossible to reproduce live, assuming you wanted to play the bass again.

I think I love this overall concept so much because it emphasizes the magic of sampling: it isn’t trying to sound like a real bass, but instead, it does things with the instrument that you simply cannot do in “real life.” It’s a sonic playground assembled from the broken pieces of an otherwise beautiful instrument, and it really vibes with the freedom and imagination afforded by Soundpaint. If you pick up the basstard, I hope you’ll have some time to really play around with it and see what you can make, too.