Novation Bass Station 2 Web interface

• Control your Bass Station 2 synthesizer from your web browser.
• All of the Bass Station 2 parameters are visible on screen.
• Save, load and even print your patches.
• And, for the fun, leave the application create a patch with the randomizer.

Click screenshot above for a Youtube quick demo.

Requirements & Limitations

:warning: This application requires a browser that support the Web MIDI API.

Currently, only Chrome 43+ and Opera 44+ support this standard. This app will therefore not work in Firefox, Safari or IE.

The Chrome browser is highly recommended.

This app has mainly be tested with Chrome on a MacBook pro running OS X 10.11. Some tests have been done with success with Chrome under Linux Mint 17.1. The application has never been tested under Windows. Any Windows feedback is very welcome.

Still under active development. Feel free to log bugs/issues. This is a development I'm doing during my freetime.

Usage

1. Open https://sysex.io/bs2/
2. Allow the browser to use your MIDI devices
3. If it's not already done, connect your Bass Station 2 to your computer.
4. When the Bass Station 2 is connected the application logo will glow.
5. Move a dial or a slider on your Bass Station 2, the corresponding on-screen control must move accordingly.
6. Move a knob or a slider in the application, the corresponding parameter must follow in the Bass Station 2.

The logo glows when the Bass Station is connected and recognized by the application:

Bass Station 2 is disconnected:

Keyboard shortcuts:

• A..G : play the corresponding note. Add Shift for sharp and Alt for flat.
• SPACE : play the last played note
• I : init
• R : randomize
• L : toggle latch
• O : toggle arpeggiator
• S (or P, or ESC) : stop the current note
• Up, Down, left, Right : patch up / down

Features:

Double-click on any knob's label to reset the knob to its default value.

Application Menu

Favorites

Open the Favorites panel. You can save and recall your favorites patches here. Your favorites are saved in your browser's local storage. No files are created.

A favorite is simply a URL with the following format:

http://<domain>/bs2?sysex=<sysex-data>

Example:

http://<domain>/bs2?sysex=f00020290033000000000000000000006000004804037d7e0220100f777801004340200000ff7c00000000000f78000008200000077800004000000f700000000000126000000000001a4000202004001f190f6923797c7e3f1f5f6f70017c7e403f4f6770017c7e401f4000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000f7

Init

Reset the application and the Bass Station 2 with the default values (init patch).

Randomize

Randomize the parameters according to the Randomizer settings defined in the Settings panel.

Sync

Sync the application with the Bass Station 2. This is done by sending a request-for-sysex to the Bass Station 2.

Load patch

Open a dialog allowing you to select a sysex patch file (file with .syx extension). One loaded the patch is sent to the Bass Station 2.

Save patch

Open your browser's Save File dialog to save the current patch as a sysex dump file (file with .syx extension).

Patch sheet

Open a new window with the current patch displayed in a ready-to-print layout.

:bulb: With Chrome you can even easily create a PDF file.

Midi

Open a samll window that will dump all the MIDI messages sent or received.

Settings

Open the Settings panel. Within this panel you can configure:

• the MIDI channel to use to communicate with your Bass Station 2
• the randomizer

About

Display the About dialog.

Bass Station 2 MIDI messages

The MIDI parameters are documented in the official Novation Bass Station 2 user manual.

SysEx Dump

The application is able to receive and decode SysEx dumps coming from the Bass Station 2 ("FN-Key Global: Dump") as well as .syx patch files.

The SysEx dump format is not documented by Novation. I have reverse-engineered it and you can find the result in my other project BS2-SysEx.

TODO

• Panic button/key
• Space bar to toggle play DONE!
• A-G keys to play notes DONE!
  • shift for sharp DONE!
  • alt for flat DONE!
• history undo/redo
  • record all changes over time and replay
• better patches managment
  • browse patches with auto-preview
  • S key to save as favorite with lastname+index
• better randomizer
• wheels representation
  • add sliders
• arpeggiator support
  • auto-chords (from a selected scale)

Credits

Click on About to view the list of libs used to build BS2-Web.

Trademarks

Novation is a registered trade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.

Bass Station II is a trade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited.

Useful links

• http://beta.novationmusic.com/releases/bass_station_ii/
• https://support.novationmusic.com/hc/en-gb/articles/206861739-How-do-I-Control-the-Arp-on-the-Bass-Station-II-from-an-external-Controller-
• https://support.novationmusic.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207561465-How-to-export-User-presets-on-Bass-Station-II-
• https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comments/3nh3pc/your_bass_station_2_tips_and_tricks/

Other BS2 editors

• https://cycling74.com/projects/bass-station-ii-patch-editor

Recommended tools

• https://github.com/gbevin/SendMIDI
• https://github.com/gbevin/ReceiveMIDI