Basslines

4 examples. Each block is the grid as the app loads it (a . is an empty cell). Open in Chipgrid opens it ready to play; or pick it from the app’s EXAMPLES menu.

Walking bass

One note per beat, up the chord and down again: the bass “walks”. The clock 4C8 moves one step every 4 ticks and 1D4 plays it. The length 3 is shorter than the beat, so the notes don’t blur together. Rewrite CEGAFAGB: ending on a note next to the first one (B before C) is what pulls it back round.

# WALKING BASS #
.
..4C8
1D4.SCEGAFAGB
..B2.3
.
1C4
..S00*0.# hat on the off-beat #
...N010

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 118 BPM

Octave disco

The disco trick: each note jumps to its octave and back. There is no octave change here. A note cell also takes a number of semitones above C, so A = 9 and l = 21, twelve higher. Same for F/h, C/b and G/j. The letters a to g are notes, so not every octave has a letter: E’s doesn’t.

# OCTAVE DISCO #
.
..2Cg
1D2.SAlAlFhFhCbCbGjGj
..B2.2
.
1Cg
..S00*000*000*000*0
.J.N010
..S0000*0000000*000
...N530

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 124 BPM

Acid line

Rhythm and notes kept apart, the most useful pattern for a bassline. The first S says when (* = play), the second says what, and both clocks count the same 16 steps. A note under a 0 stays silent, so you can change the groove without touching the melody. J carries the bang down to P. A narrow pulse (duty 1) sounds nasal, and the drop 2 bends each note down.

# ACID LINE #
.
1Cg
..S*0**0*0*0**0*0*0.# rhythm #
...1Cg
..J..SAAAlAGAAAbDAAAGA.# notes #
...P2.112
.
1C4
..S00*0
...N010

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 128 BPM

Dub bass

Slow, with lots of space. Three long triangle notes and the same rhythm/notes split as Acid line. The silence matters as much as the notes: try removing a *. Above it, G4A32 is a short A minor chord on beats 2 and 4, the reggae “skank”. Bass this low can disappear on phone speakers: raise the octave 2 to 3 if you can’t hear it.

# DUB BASS #
.
1Cg
..S*00000*0000*0000
...1Cg
..J..SAAAAAAGAAAACAAAA
...B2.5
.
1Cg
..S0000*0000000*000
...G4A32.# chord on beats 2 and 4 #

Open in Chipgrid ↗ · 76 BPM