Adding a bass line
Let's not overcomplicate things: it makes things vibrate, and that's fun.
Turn the Bass on and every chord you play gets a bass note underneath it, on its own port, so you can put a proper bass sound on it. It plays the root of each chord, holds it while the chord rings, and moves with you as the progression changes.
It plays one note at a time, the way a bass player does. If a strum starts on the bottom string with a different note, the Bass plays that note instead, right as you pick it, so slash chords like C/E come out right.
On the beat
A strum that's a fraction late still lands with the beat it was meant for, and a strum that's early waits for the next one, so the bass line stays in time with a strum that's a little off. See Landing on the beat.
It plays as hard as you strum, and leans on the 1 of each bar.
Octave
Octave sets how low the bass sits: from C0, C1 or C2 upwards. C1 is the default. Note names follow the Middle C setting in Settings → Appearance. These are for the default, C3 (Yamaha). With C4 (Roland) the same notes read an octave higher.
Moves
Moves sets what the bass does when you strike the same chord again, so a chord you hold for a while still has a line moving under it.
- Off plays the root every time, for a solid, simple part.
- Fifths alternates the root with the fifth, the classic root-fifth bass. This is the default.
- Octaves alternates the root with the octave above, for a bouncier part.
Pickups
With Pickups on, the bass plays a passing note into each new chord just before it lands, from below when the line goes up and from above when it goes down, so the changes join up like a bass player walking into them. It's on by default.
Legato
Legato lets each note slide into the next on a bass sound set to glide, for smooth, synth-style bass lines. It's off by default.
Octave, Moves, Pickups and Legato are in the Bass settings at the bottom right of the stage, and in Instrument → Bass.
MIDI
The Bass plays on MIDIpad Bass, on channel 2 under MPE and on channel 1 otherwise. See MIDI.
Turn the Bass on and play a few chords to hear it follow.