chiragkotak Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 hi.. how does one layer bass ? is it two or more bass synths running together using different wave shapes?? or is it two or more oscillators with different wave shapes on the same bass synth?? how should layered bass be eq'd and compressed? or are the layers far apart on the frequency spectrum and only need to be eq'd if required?? thanks.. chirag.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsonik Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 hi.. how does one layer bass ? is it two or more bass synths running together using different wave shapes?? or is it two or more oscillators with different wave shapes on the same bass synth?? how should layered bass be eq'd and compressed? or are the layers far apart on the frequency spectrum and only need to be eq'd if required?? thanks.. chirag.. 229088[/snapback] Hey chiragkotak. This is a good question. Infact, I was stuck asking people the same thing for ages until I realised that you don't need to layer your bass to get good sound. I use AudioRealism Bassline to do the trick which is the closest software you'll get to a 303. What I did find and which nobody told me is that the structure of your bassline is very dependent on the note lengths. Make them shorter than a full 1/4 beat. If you go look at the last song I made (Dopewars) at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/6/subsonik01music.htm I can tell you how I made it... Basically you need to tune your bass synth properly to start off. Adjust the decay to 0, the resonic to 0, envmod to full and accent to 0. Make the cutoff about halfway or so. The next important thing to pay attention to is the way you equalise it. Run it through a parametric eq and take off the high end, and dropping the bass incrementally the further you get away from 90Hz. Maybe raise 3000Hz a bit to give some definition. I don't find you need to necessarily compress the bass, as I haven't at all with this song. I find a triangle wave better suited than a square wave which some people choose to use. Next what's very important to get the right sound out of your bassline is to have a good trance kick. VERY IMPORTANT as this makes the bass sound completely different depending on which kick you use. Play around with different note lenths in a pattern to put some groove into it if you like, or keep them all the same length if a flatter bassline is what you're looking for. If possible, grab them all and stretch them at the same time while you're previewing the result. Pull them to the length you desire. Make sure the notes are in the right key! And that's about all I can say really. To tell you the truth, its only lately that I've discovered how to make the basslines sound right - but once you learn the methods in the madness, it's just downhill from there. Hope this is of help. I know it's not a direct response to your question but it's what I think you should know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dryad Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 I found the best way to layer basslines is to think of the enitre bass range as two different ranges. First a sub-bass range and the second a mid-bass range. The sub bass is where you would want to put the presence of the bass, and the mid is where you create your momentum. Try putting longer 1/4 and 1/8 note sequnces in the sub-bass, and cutoff all high and mid frequencies in your eq. With the mid-bassline, that's where you would put your faster 1/16 note sequnces, and eq it with more of a MID to low presence. When the two of them are running together, just tighten up the eqs so that the mid-bass rolls off of the sub-bass, creating a layer that sounds nice. Again, the main idea is to try and think of the 2 general roles of basslines; presence & momentum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsonik Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Presence & momentum... - i like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay_spunky Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 well its good that u know the proper way to make basslines but i just take a bass sample and layer it in pianoroll thats it am i doin somethin wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dryad Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Just be careful with using samples for complex basslines, where the sample will be transposed too much. Your sound quality will stay sharper if you can actually get a patch you like and then trigger it with your pianoroll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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