View source for Engineering:Keyboard bass

{{Short description|Use of a keyboard to substitute for a bass guitar or double bass in music}}
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[[Image:Odyssey2 & PianoBass @ O-SETSU-Y 2010-30.jpg|thumb|165px|[[ARP Odyssey]] and [[Engineering:Rhodes piano|Rhodes Piano]] Bass]]

'''Keyboard bass''' (shortened to '''keybass''' and sometimes referred as a '''synth bass''') is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or [[Engineering:Pedal keyboard|pedal keyboard]] to substitute for the deep notes of a [[Engineering:Bass guitar|bass guitar]] or [[Engineering:Double bass|double bass]] in music.

==History==
===Early keyboard bass===
The pipe organ is the first, and the forefather of keyboard bass instruments. The bass [[Engineering:Pedal keyboard|pedal keyboard]] was developed in the 13th century. The keys for the hands are also capable of playing very low pipe tones.

===1960s===
[[Image:Rhodes Piano Bass.jpg|thumb|[[Engineering:Rhodes piano|Rhodes Piano]] Bass (1960)]]
{{For|keytar-style basses|List of keytars}}

The earliest keyboard bass instrument was the 1960 Fender Rhodes piano bass, pictured to the right. The piano bass was essentially an [[Engineering:Electric piano|electric piano]] containing the same pitch range as the most widely-used notes on an electric bass (or the double bass), which could be used to perform bass lines. It could be placed on top of a piano or organ, or mounted on a stand. Keyboard players such as The Doors' Ray Manzarek placed his Fender Rhodes piano bass on top of his [[Engineering:Vox Continental|Vox Continental]] or [[Engineering:Gibson G-101|Gibson G-101]] organ to play bass lines. About the same time, Hohner of Germany introduced a purely electronic bass keyboard, the Basset, which had a two-octave keyboard and rudimentary controls allowing a choice of [[Engineering:Tuba|tuba]] or string bass sounds. The Basset was in due course replaced by the Bass 2 and, in the mid-1970s, the Bass 3. All three were transistorized; the Basset was among the earliest solid-state electronic instruments. Similar instruments were produced in Japan under the "Raven" and "Rheem Kee Bass" {{sic}} names. 
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===1970s and 1980s===
{{multiple image |direction=horizontal |align=right |width=220
 | image1   = Moog Taurus (small).jpg
 | caption1 = [[Engineering:Moog Taurus|Moog Taurus]] (1976&ndash;1981)
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{{See also|Engineering:Minimoog}}

In the 1970s, a variant form of keyboard bass, [[Engineering:Bass pedals|bass pedals]], became popular. Bass pedals are [[Engineering:Pedal keyboard|pedal keyboard]]s operated by musicians using their feet. The guitar players or bass players of bands such as Genesis' Mike Rutherford, Yes' Chris Squire, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin during acoustic sets, Geddy Lee of Rush, The Police (bassist Sting), or Atomic Rooster (organist Vincent Crane) use the bass pedals to play bass lines. Stevie Wonder pioneered the use of synthesizer keyboard bass, notably on "Boogie on Reggae Woman". Funk, R&B, G Rap and hiphop musicians such as George Clinton & Parliament, Funkadelic, Roger & Zapp, Dr. Dre, E-40, EPMD, and Kashif used synth bass.<ref>[http://www.synthmania.com/Famous%20Sounds.htm SynthMania: Famous Sounds]</ref> During these decades the keyboard bass in its original form was still in use by some bands such as the B-52's, who used a Korg SB-100 "Synth-Bass". 
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===1990s-present===
[[Image:Novation BassStation.jpg|thumb|[[Novation Digital Music Systems|Novation]] BassStation (1993)]]

Since the 1990s, [[MIDI]] keyboard controllers, often smaller 25-note models, have been used by some groups to play bass lines with virtual instruments such as [[Engineering:Synthesizer|synthesizer]]s and [[Engineering:Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]]. Keyboard bass instruments are frequently used in hip hop, contemporary R&B, and pop music, and in electronic dance music genres such as house music. MIDI keyboards are used by bedroom producers and studio musicians alike, thanks to their affordability, portability, and the fact that they can be used to control multiple virtual instruments, rather than simply bass. As well, bassists from bands such as No Doubt sometimes perform bass lines on 25-note MIDI keyboards. Jack White of The White Stripes uses a vintage Rhodes Piano Bass live, particularly on performances of "My Doorbell". During Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour, keyboardist and bassist Lanar "Kern" Brantley played synth bass on the Roland GAIA and Roland V-Synth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roland Onstage with Lady Gaga and The Monster Ball Tour|url=http://www2.rolandus.com/community/roland_users_group/article/1168|website=Roland Users Group|access-date=7 February 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Engineering:Bass pedals|Bass pedals]]
*[[Engineering:Pedal keyboard|Pedal keyboard]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.fenderrhodes.com/models/early.php Information about early keyboard basses]
{{Bass (sound)}}

[[Category:Electric and electronic keyboard instruments]]
[[Category:Keyboard instruments]]

{{Sourceattribution|Keyboard bass}}