Synth Bass in worship is becoming more and more common in Sunday morning environments.
Many people want to incorporate these into their worship sets, but don’t have the gear or know where to start. Finding the best worship synth bass can be an intimidating task, which is why we put together this blog this week. To help you get out of the weeds and narrow down what’s going to be best for you and your church.
There’s two different approaches when it comes to synth bass.
Software or Hardware. Plugins or Hardware Synthesizers. We’re going to explore options in both the hardware and plugin world. Both are phenomenal and at the end of the day comes down to if you want to use your computer to generate the sound or do you want to have a physical device that produces the sounds itself. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
We wrote an entire blog dedicated to this very thing – What’s Better Hardware or Software Synths?
I HIGHLY suggest you read it to help you determine what approach towards synths you should take.
Below we are going to dive into a bunch of different amazing options in both the hardware and software category that you can choose from. These synth basses are options currently in use by fellow worship musicians. So whatever you decide to go with, we know it will work in an amazing way for your church!
Synth Plugins
If you plan to use a laptop or iOS device for generating your synth bass sounds, then plugin world is for you. There are tons of advantages to using a laptop (you read more in-depth about what they are here)!
Arturia Mini V – $149
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Based off of the Moog Mini, this thing packs a major punch! When it comes to bass synths that I’ve used throughout the years – songs I played using this plugin would always get the most amount of compliments.
Minimoog Model D (iOS) – $29
What this thing is capable of doing for $29 is truly insane. And on top of using it in something like Ableton or MainStage, it’s iOS compatible too! Which listen, I know most people don’t have an iOS friendly keys setup. But I’m telling you this synth bass app makes it worth getting into iOS performance; or at least worth heavily considering it.
Trilian – $299
When it comes to a literal all in one bass catalog, you kinda can’t beat Trilian. They have the Moog library, Juno library, 808s, acid bass sounds, huge epic sounds, truly all you could ever want. Plus for fun there’s real electric basses and uprights too. Obviously the price point is pretty high in comparison to the rest of the list. But for all that’s going on within the plugin, $299 is a major steal.
808 Studio 2 – $49
This is an amazing 1 trick pony of a plugin. If you’re looking for something that has that juicy pluck tone, to add definition and rattle the room this is your move. To have a complete library that covers the typical worship synth bass landscape, I would pair this with the purchase of Minimoog.
Hardware Synth Basses
The first thing that you’ll notice is the price point is higher than any of the plugins listed about. What you have to keep in mind with that is this is a standalone device that generates the sounds within itself. Price is a factor, but I personally prefer hardware over software & think it’s the best call for worship synth bass players. Read here to know why plus all the other things that makes hardware synth bass a great choice.
Moog Sub37 – $1899 or Moog Sub25 – $1199
The Sub37 is the meca, all time, unreal synth. I truly think this is a synth that you can’t make sound bad. Every sound that you could ever want for any song ever, you can get out of this synth! That’s why you see it on stage at almost every worship recording.
The main difference (obviously there are others) between it and the Sub25 is there are parameter controls on the Sub25 that can only be adjusted via computer. For the average worship synth bass player, that is not worth the extra $700 to get the Sub37. So if you want on-board control of everything and the option for a lot more presets, go Sub37.
Behringer Poly D – $699
From a tonal perspective, the Poly D can do the trick for the majority of what you would need in a worship synth bass. It truly sounds so unreal! The one thing to keep in mind is, it doesn’t have the ability to save presets. Which might sound like a big deal! BUT if it’s going to stay on stage and setup at all times, you can dial in a sound that only requires a few adjustments.
Novation Bass Station II – $499
I personally don’t have experience with this synth, but I’ve seen it pop up a lot throughout the years and it does the trick! It doesn’t look super cool, so some people might not be into it. But when it comes to a hard driving synth and the nice smooth quiet song vibe, it can easily achieve all you need.
You truly can’t go wrong with any of these as your worship synth bass!
Getting involved in the synth bass world is a big undertaking. So what I suggest that you do is watch some demo videos and try to hear someone using the synth bass in a way that you’re looking for. Buy one and try it out for a few weeks and then return it if you don’t like it. So start with this list and happy synth bassing.
- Worship Synth Plugins vs Hardware: The Ultimate Pros & Cons Walkthrough
- Everything Worship Piano Players Need to Know to Crush Playing at the End of the Sermon [VIDEO]
- The 9 Best Keyboards for Worship
- 3 Ways to Become a Better Piano Player (No Matter Your Skill Level)
- The Dream Tracks Rig I Used on Tour Opening for Twenty One Pilots
- The 4 Things Every Great Worship Keyboardist has Nailed Down
- Creative Synths & Spontaneous Keys with McKendree Tucker [Keyboardist for Kari Jobe]
