[TX81Z]

Lately Bass is literally worth the $250 I spent for mine off eBay. It’s just flat out the beat techno bass like there is. It’s literally the only preset I’ll ever use because nothing can improve it, it’s just perfect.

A nontrivial fraction of all living people have heard this song at least once, and it’s 100% TX81Z at the heart: https://youtu.be/9EcjWd-O4jI?si=XgkC5avENfdTmlQF

(Also, yeah, to other replies, I now realize protobuffs are not to be joked about, I repent. Forgive me.)

[cmrdporcupine]

Lately Bass (and "Solid Bass") sound perfect because you grew up with them :-) It's like the 303 or 808, deeply imprinted into the GenX psyche. I'm not sure there's anything intrinsic about it other than that they did a pretty good job (trying emulate a bass guitar is my understanding) and then everyone used it.

A long time ago I wrote a little FM synth in C++ and I went through some painstaking effort to copy Lately Bass and actually got pretty close. It's all about the envelopes. That code is lost to time though.

I think I still have a Yamaha TQ5 downstairs, which is basically a 4 op in the same vein as the TX81Z but in a form factor that looks like a 1980s alarm clock or something. Very ... shoulder pads and avocado bathtub era: https://yamahablackboxes.com/collection/yamaha-tq5-synthesiz...

[TX81Z]

It’s more how it sits in a mix so well, somehow it gives room for your bass drum, some pads, leads, and it doesn’t interfere with any of them. Usually that’s really hard to do perfectly and lately bass just magically stays in its own lane.

Also, if you can get your hands on Korg Opsix it is a lot of fun for FM. Does about as good a job at making FM closer to a subtractive synth in terms of ease of use. Of course, FM will always be way harder to deal with than subtractive, but it’s still the best attempt I’ve seen.

[cmrdporcupine]

You might like this project that I have (but, uh, never finished): https://github.com/rdaum/sidebands_vst