making bass

[Guest mobius]

Is there anyone out there who could tell me a thing or two about making good bass sounds? I can make most other sounds I want but my bass never sounds right. So if someone wouldn't mind parting with their secret recipes I'd like to hear them (I only have software gear, eg reaktor, pro52, reason etc)

[Guest psybrat]

use lowpass filter on bass ..

 

use more filters&reverbs&fx .. u mess it up ..

 

love and light,

psybrat

[Guest triplex]

all software that you use can produce good bass sounds (either as a single bass sound or a complete bassline at specific bpm)

 

some key points would be :

create a dry bass sound or bassline

lower high and middle freequencies. depending on the feel of the bass you want to make.

if you want to make a totaly SUB bass sound then just play with low pass. but remember that very much low passed bass might not be heard when all instruments are playing.

maximize your sound or apply limiters to it to make it more massive. playing with compressor is a good idea too. it always depend on the sound you want.

 

examining your sound with a freequency analyser is a good idea. getting the most out of 30-60 HZ is the way to go

this is the range where the sub-woofer 'screams' in clubs

 

you can also harmonicaly enchance your sound. this can be done using filters such as waves maxxbass. some people do not like this though.

 

last part to make your bass sound big is the wat you play it in your track. try to play it in a groovy way and make sure that it decays fast enough before the next bass note appears. if each bass sound is long enough to overlap the next bass sound, then you might not get the punchyness you want. try not to play kick and bass at the same time. at least lower the volume of the bass when this has to happen.

 

anyway... experiment

rip good tracks to .wav to see how their bass looks like. try to make bass that matches your kick sound. this is key point in having a good BASE in your track.

[Guest noctilucent]

I would recommend that you use Chorus and/or Reverb on your bassline. That gives it "phatness" and makes it sound "pro". If you pay attention to an MFG or Luminus or AP track, you will realize that they all use Reverb on their basslines. Peace. Noct.

[Guest noctilucent]

I forgot to say not to use too much. The keyword is "subtlety". Too much of it woul take up frequency space and will make it undistinguishable. Also use graphic EQ to raise the lows if necessary. peace

[Guest Raz [etnoscope]]

A great 3 step way to really get a punchy and lowsub bass,

is to use 2 difrent basses (in same key of course).

 

one clean sinesub for the ultralow roaring speakerblaster part,

(use maxxbass to be absolutly sure off killing all subwoofers).

And one punchy (or mellow depending on your preference) mid bass.

 

1) cut all frequencies above 150-350 hz on the sine with an eq,

also be sure to cut all frequencies below 20 hz,

since they mostly just eat your dynamics right up,

and won´t even be audioble on 95 % of all speakers.

 

2) cut all frequencies below 150-350 hz on the mid bass with an eq,

make sure that you don´t have overlapping basses,

cause that will produce a real nasty phase shifting effect.

 

3) run the two simultaniously to get that really phat bass sound.

Unless you´r using midi through a not-really-pro midi interface,

couse then you´l get some wierd phaseshifteffect.

 

the same can also be applied to bassdrums,

take one drum that has a decent click and one which have a phat bass.

Mix the 2 toghether with a little eqíng and you have a killer bd.

 

Happy Frequency Hunting..

[Guest Rikard]

Hehe, Raz.. theres no need to cut frequencies on sinewaves. A pure sine has no overtunes, it is just one frequency.

 

And about the reverb on bass.. i do not agree. Try to have no reverb or chorus at all at the bassline and kickdrum. Maybe it sounds good at first but when adding more layers it will make the mix sound muddy, the bass will be harder to hear if it has reverb. But hey, do whatever sounds good, if it sounds better in your ears with some reverb (and/or chorus, delay..) then use it.

[Guest mobius]

thanks everyone, this should be enough to keep me busy for a while :-)

[Guest Elysium Project]

Usually you can put some delay on a bass to make it more interesting but I prefer to keep them clean and tight....... same as women :-)

 

Don't bother to go into all those technical detail....use your ears...most synths have bass presets that you can startr with...then play (program the synth) around until you find what you want... It's not that hard once you get started.....

[Guest JC]

One trick is to create the bassline and put on a delay so that it almost doubles the sound. I came up with some nice results.

 

As musicians we are constantly experimenting. Thats why its so much fun. because its random. Ideas come from no where and some where.

 

I had your problem at one stage in my learning, so I started to only focus my efforts at making bass untill I came up with different ways that i was pleased with. The technology we use allows us musicians to come up with similar sounds using different techniques, so there is no right way of making digital type music.

 

Music is in the ear of the beholder !

[Guest Jonatan]

Most of the time, delay on bass is like sugar on icecream.

[Guest Mugmez]

I don't agree with the idea of using reverb on the bass it just makes the bass 'muddy'. Delay is funnier, there are some old trax that uses ping pong on the bass it's a good way if you want your bass groovy and 'jumpy', not very good for hard bass sounds though. last tip: listen and feel the sound, use good speakers.

[Guest N3Z]

Take a listen at Killing Joke - Love Like Blood (Deedrah Remix) and listen to the wonderful Delayed bassline!! ITs a killer!