Ephemera · the second bass
Bassic
ẍ − μ(1 − x²)ẋ + ω₀²x = D·f(t)
A nonlinear, self-oscillating bass. Bias a circuit to the edge of stability and drive it over — the runaway oscillation, from clean acid to full chaos, becomes the moving low end of a mix.
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The kernel
One equation. Three voices.
Bassic isn't a waveshaper bolted onto an oscillator — the chaos IS the oscillator. A driven Van der Pol relaxation circuit, integrated in real time. Two macros walk it from order into chaos and back.
Acid
Low Breakdown, no forcing: the limit cycle is a near-sine. Run it through the resonant acid filter and it squelches like a 303 — tight, tuneful, clean.
Neuro
Push Breakdown and the cycle sharpens into a relaxation wave — slow charge, fast dump. That asymmetry is the growl: the Reese-adjacent bite that moves a mix.
Chaos
Add the chaos forcing and the orbit period-doubles, then fractures into a strange-attractor band. Sub-harmonics bloom under the fundamental — controlled, playable noise.
Where it lives
A finished instrument, not a demo.
Bassic is a full member of the Ephemera family — playable on its own and as a live strip in the studio, with the tuning, presets, and performance controls you'd expect.
Plays like a bass
Mono / legato / poly, glide, velocity, and a full amp envelope. A resonant acid filter with its own pluck envelope sits on the output for the squelch.
A strip in the studio
Open it on its own or drop it into the Ephemera studio mixer as a live strip — it routes its voice into the mix alongside the rest of the family.
In tune at any μ
The relaxation cycle stretches as it growls, so Bassic corrects pitch against a measured period curve — dead in tune from clean acid to deep chaos.
Tempo-locked chaos
Let the chaos forcing track the note pitch, or lock it to a tempo-synced rate so the breakdown pulses in time with the track.
A preset library
Sixteen factory sounds across acid, neuro, drone, pluck, and chaos — plus undo/redo, A/B compare, randomize, and shareable patch links.
Tuning & scales
Scale-lock to any root and mode, set the reference pitch, and play from the keyboard, QWERTY, or a connected MIDI controller.
Drive it until it breaks.
The fastest way to understand a chaos oscillator is to play one. Open Bassic and walk Breakdown and Chaos up until the bassline bites.
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