Funky Bass sound question

[pidge]

Anyone know how to make that funky bass sound as heard in a lot of skweee tunes. Im startin to think it might be sampled coz it sounds so real.
Some clips of what I mean
http://www.speedyshare.com/733404849.html
http://www.speedyshare.com/866170756.html
I use Reason 4

cheers

[moodswing]

Its definitely a slap-bass. I have no idea where it might have come from. Its probably sampled but although the quality of the mp3 doesn't allow for detailed analysis i would say i can hear a certain FM (frequency modulation synthesis) quality there. Reminds me of the slap patch in the Yamaha DX-7 (a vintage hardware synth from the 80s). If so good luck trying to emulate on reason (FM synths like the DX-7 were a devil to program and that's why most track in the 80s sounded so similar to one another : people were using the presets as they were). Then again the reason library is full of funk samples (and there are many free funk refills out there) so search the library for slap bass sounds and you'll get close to it. If you want to try to emulate the exact same sound switch to cubase or logic or ableton and try the awesome NI FM7 or FM8 which are both very good emulations of the DX-7. (well you can't say that the FM8 is a DX-7 emu but it is mainly an almighty FM synth based on the principles of the DX series)

[hugh]

first off you're gonna need some portamento if you are gonna synthesise this. This will need to be automated to control when and how the pitch slide runs over the notes as they are being played. The pluck sound is a simple short attack and decay time (very little to no sustain) and a bit of release. The amount of these will probably have to be automated and ur gonna need at least some kind of velocity control on the notes as well to give it some dynamics. Thats just the start.
Alternatively you could just sample it or record it from yourself playing a guitar.

[moodswing]

Well you managed to make me curious enough so I took a deep dive in the vinyl bag and dug up the LP to listen to We Could Be Skweeeroes properly. So after I listened to it a couple more times I stand by my story. It definitely sounds exactly like the DX-7 slap bass patch with some heavy EQ to take some of the hollowness of FM away.

So while the advice above by Hugh is sound for all and any bass-guitar emulation on a synth the automation required to make it sound slappy enough and authentic would have to be ridiculously detailed and minuscule (and probably time consuming and extremely boring) I would have to second the emotion that your best bet is to sample it. You could try to play it yourself on a bass guitar but slapping is a special bass-players technique and I wouldn't think someone who is not a bass player could play it easily (and if u were a bass player i guess you wouldnt be asking for it ,would you).

I think it doesn't pay to be a synth-purist when it comes to real instruments. That's what samplers were invented for : playing any kind of (sometimes quite obscure) instrument on a keyboard. And reason gives u two of them and one (the NN-XT) is one of the most powerful in the market. So i suggest you use that and either find a slap-bass nnxt patch in the reason lib or download some slap-bass wavs and create ur own patch.

[pidge]

Thanks guys, luckily my mate is a session bassist and my dad is a funk & disco DJ so it shouldnt be to hard to get a good 'slap' somehow. One more question though isit just reason where its near on impossible to make that sound or do you know of any slap bass VSTs?

[scooterjack]

the Bass Legends refills


great stuff in there

[mycota]

yes funk = slap bass end of conversation

[moodswing]

Thanks guys, luckily my mate is a session bassist and my dad is a funk & disco DJ so it shouldnt be to hard to get a good 'slap' somehow. One more question though isit just reason where its near on impossible to make that sound or do you know of any slap bass VSTs?

Spectrasonics Trilogy VST . IMO the best sounding electric bass plugin out there. Plus you get very good upright/double bass and some excellent synth bass sounds . Some of the analog classics like the minimoog or the moog taurus in all their multisampled glory. Quite a beast sizewise (more than 3 gigs) and also quite expensive but for the realism it offers nothing can beat it. But with a session bassman at your disposal you don't really need it ,do you. Just sample your mate cause nothing can beat the real deal when played by a pro. And since it's your mate he won't cost you a penny. That's good value.