hmmm production probs

fader

right ive just started producing and have fruity loops , reason and a basic midi keyboard.

however i cant create dark basslines which i wanna create..

can someone tell me how to create them or any advice
im after dark basslines like Narrows, Morph, Wire etc

cheers

ponky

Dont know anything about reason, but start off by getting some squelchy analog bass samples. The cleaner the better, naturally.

In Fruity lay out a pattern with the sound that compliments the rhythm of your beats. Open up the window with the settings for the sample, click on the "INS" tab, and set the filter to SFV. Turn the cutoff knob down low so you cant hear the highs in the sample, and turn the resonance up quite a lot, maybe 3/4 of the way??

Now create an envelope for the cutoff. Try setting the envelope to attack over a few steps (right click on the attack knob for the cut-off envelope and go: set > 4 steps. Set the amount the envelope will effect the sound, maybe have it about a quarter of the way up.

So playing your bass sound now, you should have a fat squelch that starts off low and opens up to the bwah sound of the original sample.

Then its pretty much a matter of getting the right sound with eq and fx and compression etc. Naturally you should have your bass running into its own channel in Fruity to isolate it from the other sounds.

OK! Now if you want the exact sound as Narrows or whoever you'd have to be using the same samples or synths in the same way with the same fx and eq and all the same gear.

Now I dont think the sound i've got is quite what you're after but because I am so hella nice I've made a demo of this approach in action. Theres an mp3 and a zipped fruity package with samples so you can see how i'm doing it all.

mp3 here (right click, save as - dont stream it):
homepages.paradise.net.nz/ponky/tehgarage033.mp3

zip here:
homepages.paradise.net.nz/ponky/tehgarage033.zip

Note I've used the standard fruity drum sounds (ugh) and did it in approx 25 minutes incluiding typing all this $$$$ and uploading it so its pretty rough. :-0

Hope its some help.

ponky

Yeah furthermore listening to some tunes its really a matter of starting off with the right sample, and then treating it right until you start hitting the right frequencies. That demo I did the bass has more top-end than most garage tunes - though its not a million miles from say "electro bass" by horsepower in terms of technique - the way they're playing around with the filters and envelopes I mean.

Most garage tunes seem to mostly go for the lowish mids to keep it warm, with a little bit of sub to give it some push. Or people have the bass doing the bottom-end with it totally cut off around 300-700 Hz and then double another sound over the top to give it some presence. Heaps of drum'n'bass tracks do that too...

Other stuff to try:

1. Set the samples pitch to go down (or up!) over time, you should recognise that effect ala the old jungle sine bass lines that go 'booooom boom bm bm bm boom', where the pitch decreased on the longer notes. Easy to do with a pitch envelope in fruity.

2. Modulate the cutoff or pitch with an LFO thats running over 1 or 2 steps (again easy to do in fruity), if you've got the right sample and eq you'll get that familiar wobbly sub b-line sound.

3. Sample somone elses bass sound that you like and use that. :-0

Therein lies the bulk of my b-line knowledge. hehehe...

I'd love to hear what other people do because bass is one of the real tricky parts to get sounding right in my experience.

DJ Fat Zed

Get an analogue synth.

ponky

Succinct and to the point Zed, I like that. :-)

Sen

I layer bass samples + synthesized sounds to build a composite bass sound.

Modulating/automating the filters/eq etc can really do marvels for making a bass "morph" over time, keeping it sonically interesting.

In reason, try using the MATRIX sequencer's curve settings and modulate the filter freq of a random bass synth to see what I mean.

Subtle is nice to keep things interesting without being too extreme.

For extremeness, try using a totally different sound to punctuate the bline.

I usually have roughly 3-4 bass sounds happening in one song...usally 2-3 composing the main line running at the same time and then 1-2 used to accent or fill up the change up.

fader

cheers for all the help ppl

nice 1 ponky gonna try it later and see if i can understand it a lil more then lol

how much will a analgue synth cost zed ? will it allow me 2 create dark basslines easier ?
will i need any other hardware to use the synth properly ?