Karoyfer has released a free double bass sample library, Sneakybass. Sneakybass is available in WAV and Sforzando-compatible SFZ files.
The intent behind Sneakybass was to sample a bass at low practice volumes low at night, and the resulting samples have a rich and warm timbre.
Karoyfer sampled this double bass across three separate octaves, allowing for a good deal of range and flexibility. Key switches are also present, which allow users to switch between plucks, ghost notes, and muting.
Also sampled across three octaves are fingering noises and release sounds. In testing, the bass samples had a good deal of sustain, having an almost jazzy timbre that would be at home for producers looking for a little boogie in their accompaniment. The muted and ghost note articulations, in particular, lend themselves quite well to nuanced playing.
The mute articulation has a quality similar to slap bass, while the ghost notes come across as more akin to palm muting on electric bass.
Sneakybass is flexible enough for a double bass library, but there are a few additional features, like the added unison control.
Unison adds two more voices at the same pitch. It’s using samples of higher notes returned to the pitch being played to thicken the sound.
More info about Sneakybass from Karoryfer: “Every note sampled across three octaves with four round robins for all techniques (pluck, ghost note, mute, fingering noise) except release noises which have two round robins. Concept-wise it’s just as described in the video… I mostly end up using low velocities when using my other bass samples for pizz, so I just took that idea to its logical conclusion and played things like very quiet late-night practice. Same bass as Meatbass, Vengeful Bass, etc.”
While this won’t become your go-to double bass sample library, it does make a wonderful addition to any instrument library. It is also difficult to argue with the price.
Sneakybass is available on all platforms, with loose WAV samples being available for any sampler you might run. Sforzando SFZ files are also available, which contain a variety of key switches to swap between the different sounds it can make.
Download: Sneakybass
More:
