Can anyone tell me how to make a bass slide using midi? I really dont want to go buy a bass and learn to play it. Probably wouldnt be very good anyway. I am trying to reproduce the slides in the song Sideways by Citizen Cope. I have found a similar sounding bass in SI instruments synth but I cant get the slides? any help would be appreciated.

You can use the pitch bend wheel/control on your MIDI controller, if it has one, to emulate the slide motion. It doesn't sound very realistic, though. The sound source determines how far in semitones or octaves you can bend notes using pitch bend. You may have to read the manual for the softsynth to find out the range of notes.
 
Some sound libraries have slide samples for this task, so when you hit a note, a bass slide is played.

One of the things I like about NI Scarbee basses is the slide. This is triggered by the sustain pedel but is scripted in Kontakt not MIDI.

i have tried the wheel on the midi but you are right, it cannot sound real enough and it doesnt have the 1 octive range i need to reproduce the song.

@glyn
 
thanks for the tip. I saw the video for Trillion and it seems good but is 400 bucks and I am not sure that it has the bass sound that I need. i will check out scarbee

I realize you said you didn't want to purchase a bass...
But if you have access to one... it's really easy to do slides.  
 
You could nail multiple different slide takes quicker than trying to "fake it" via MIDI.  
If you don't have access to a bass, have someone track a few takes... and Email them to you.
IMO, This is one scenario where it's actually quicker/easier to go to the source.

Thanks Jim,

that's a good idea. I'll post a request, maybe someone will have pity on me and send me a wave file.

Jim had a good suggestion, but I dont know of anyone who plays the bass. I am finished with the song except for the slides. If anyone out there has a few minutes and would be willing to help a fledgling musician, the song is Sideways by Citizen Cope. the bass is simple but powerful. All i need are the slides. I think he slides to an A (and an E later in the song). The bass he is playing has a deep, smooth sound. the slides really make the difference. I want to post my cover of the song on You Tube and would gladly give a shout out to anyone who helps. My email is thedmd@charter.net  If anyone could send me a wave file, it would be greatly appreciated.

use guitar pro. there's a slide option there. convert the file to midi by importing it to sonar. you can then load the pattern to studio instruments bass. drag and drop. bounce to tracks. there you have it. an audio format bass slide.
hope that helped. 

i dont have a bass guitar too. but i'll try search my guitar tabs if i have a file of sideways. i'll try to convert it to audio.

I just happened to find a bass slide yesterday fooling around and auditioning loops in Sonar X1 . I don't remember which loop file it was in, but it's there.