Getting the 'right' bass sounds.

[Erebus-7]

Basically an area i think i find hardest when working on a song, i can never get my bass sounds feeling right in the track and never really get round too making them interesting for that reason. this isn't a how do i make a certain sound thread just a discussion on how you go about finding the right sounds and any trouble you also have.

Discuss !

[Basic A]

Pay attention to the vibe your setting with each element. Firs tthing I open, like clockwork, everytime I start a new project, is a kick. What kind of kick? SOmething sharp and punchy and electronic sounding or something nice and warm and boomy and organic? What kinda snare now... white noise or woodblocks? Whats the melody synth sound like? Is it a metallic sound, or something lush (keys, rhodes, ect.) ... and most importantly... what vibe do they all come together to make?

Once youve answered that, try n match the texture, the feel, the mood with your bass.

IDRK what to say to this.

[djake]

when making bass i generally just play around until it sounds like it fits within the vibe im trying to create.

[Echoi]

Yea thats it, experimentation is the key. Soon enough you'll have a specific sound in mind and be able to put it down in no time.

[kaiori breathe]

Basically an area i think i find hardest when working on a song, i can never get my bass sounds feeling right in the track and never really get round too making them interesting for that reason. this isn't a how do i make a certain sound thread just a discussion on how you go about finding the right sounds and any trouble you also have.

Discuss !

As a general rule I find using real instruments and samples does not work well with using obviously synthesized bass sounds. You can pull it off some times, but for the most part the difference between the two can be too great. Equally using a squeeky clean lead synth over a disgusting wobble might cause difficulty or a really nasty gritty lead over a sub with no mid bass might be awkward.

It's all about matching the instruments up I think. Clean sounds rarely mix with the dirtier sounds. Just as 'real' sounds will have difficulty sitting with synthesized sounds. There are tons of exceptions obviously, but that's what I've found to be a general rule.

[samurai]

usually i just use a sine wave. a triangle if i'm feeling saucy.

[narcissus]

when starting a track.. picking sounds is quite important.. perhaps the most important step of all, finding what voices are going to tell your story.

honestly what i do every time is just pick sounds which resonate in my soul at that particular time. i find a 3 or 4 drums that all feel really nice to me at the moment.. and what that is always changes, depending on what's been happening in my life and my heart.. i just make sure the sounds jive well together. from that point on, it's all about molding new elements as much as possible to all contribute to the overall 'feel' that you're trying to get your track to have... and the feel that you attempt to create should be whatever is in your heart at the exact moment, cuz that is what you know. anything else will just come across as plastic and fake. perhaps this is your problem, Grombles?

[Erebus-7]

when starting a track.. picking sounds is quite important.. perhaps the most important step of all, finding what voices are going to tell your story.

honestly what i do every time is just pick sounds which resonate in my soul at that particular time. i find a 3 or 4 drums that all feel really nice to me at the moment.. and what that is always changes, depending on what's been happening in my life and my heart.. i just make sure the sounds jive well together. from that point on, it's all about molding new elements as much as possible to all contribute to the overall 'feel' that you're trying to get your track to have... and the feel that you attempt to create should be whatever is in your heart at the exact moment, cuz that is what you know. anything else will just come across as plastic and fake. perhaps this is your problem, Grombles?

maybe, DSF Music Counseling anyone ? But yh i dunno, i think it might just be atm, i've got some much shit going on like moving to Uni and stuff that i havent had time to just sit down and try lay down some solid ideas, just been picking at old stuff to try and keep myself at it,

I just always find i'll have a decent base idea for a song with no bass line and im pretty shit at writing them too xD, might be half the problem

[alex_l]

don't feel you have to start with any particular part of the track - if you are struggling to get your bassline working, maybe make it first and try to build a track around it, or start with melody and then make a bass to match before you move on to everything else.

A couple of suggestions for variation of your sound you can run it through effects and resample the line, chopping between the different iterations of it, or have different instruments playing the same thing and swap between them

finally, I don't personally like using presets because they need to much tweaking to fit the tracks I make, and it is very annoying when working fast to have to stop to program a new patch, so I tend to have whole sessions where I make my own patches and save them for later. That way I can search for a preset and drop it straight into a track with no tweaking because I made it from scratch. I find ths invaluable with basslines

[jaydot]

Making a bassline first and then building a track around it is a good method, but that means I tend to focus on how the bassline sounds as opposed to the rest/the whole of the track.

[streetxlite]

As a general rule I find using real instruments and samples does not work well with using obviously synthesized bass sounds. You can pull it off some times, but for the most part the difference between the two can be too great. Equally using a squeeky clean lead synth over a disgusting wobble might cause difficulty or a really nasty gritty lead over a sub with no mid bass might be awkward.

It's all about matching the instruments up I think. Clean sounds rarely mix with the dirtier sounds. Just as 'real' sounds will have difficulty sitting with synthesized sounds. There are tons of exceptions obviously, but that's what I've found to be a general rule.

i did this on a newer track called Cheese on Toast near the end. There's a guitar-peggio lead that's pretty damn clean on top of the grinder wobz.
did i pull it off in your opinion? (bit is 2:45 to 3:00)
Soundcloud

[ogunslinger]

honestly I like to start off my tune with the bass, So I won't really start until I have a sound that I really like

[Hellomadame]

Yep ! Exactly like the one above me. I'd start off with the bass sound and from that point I'll imagine how I would like the tune to be sounding according to that particular bass sound.

[streetxlite]

bump

[renegadex]

As a general rule I find using real instruments and samples does not work well with using obviously synthesized bass sounds. You can pull it off some times, but for the most part the difference between the two can be too great. Equally using a squeeky clean lead synth over a disgusting wobble might cause difficulty or a really nasty gritty lead over a sub with no mid bass might be awkward.

It's all about matching the instruments up I think. Clean sounds rarely mix with the dirtier sounds. Just as 'real' sounds will have difficulty sitting with synthesized sounds. There are tons of exceptions obviously, but that's what I've found to be a general rule.

I have to disagree with this. In my honest opinion I like mixing them, and I like when producers mix them. Example: Flux Pavillion - Digital Controller. The lead sound, and even vocal is pretty clean and the melody is simple but powerful. On top of this is the nasty dirty bass, that creates two separate entities within the track. I rarely like hearing a dirty lead on top of a dirty bass on top of dirty percussion, it seems too linear and flat.

[jsills]

Pay attention to the vibe your setting with each element. Firs tthing I open, like clockwork, everytime I start a new project, is a kick. What kind of kick? SOmething sharp and punchy and electronic sounding or something nice and warm and boomy and organic? What kinda snare now... white noise or woodblocks? Whats the melody synth sound like? Is it a metallic sound, or something lush (keys, rhodes, ect.) ... and most importantly... what vibe do they all come together to make?

Once youve answered that, try n match the texture, the feel, the mood with your bass.

IDRK what to say to this.

^^^^ sound advice for sure

as for making the right bass? i just use me either a saw/square with the lpf set at like 80hz or just a sine. thats it. when i start a tune at some point i decide i like the track and that it needs that oooompph so i then add my deepest basses start building melodies or whatever around it. then change it, wobble it, pitch bend it, etc. maybe instead of finishing your tune and then adding the bass, start with the bass and add a tune around that?

[amphibian]

i'm the kind of guy that really digs percussion, so I tend to start with a beat and keep going until I'm really happy with how it's stepping and if i can dance to the beat with nothing else attached, then I'm happy to move on. Often this will change as the track gets built up as sometimes the beat doesn't suit a synth or the melody I'm working with, but it's very easy to change.

To get elements all working together, it really does come down to the feel you're going for and experimenting. I've quite often created a lead or a bass, then later on created a new synth that I thought sounded better and completely replaced it or changed it to fit the new sound. More often than not I never end up with what I had in mind at the start, and I think this is a good thing rather than an issue

[jaydot]

For a synthesis newb like myself then I think it's a case of trial and error with a few educated guesses thrown in, I still can't get "unique" basses though still.