Distorting your sub bass?

[dj0045]

Man, I know I'm going to sound like a troll here, and no one is going to listen, but there is no reason why you would ever need to EQ a sine wave, or for that matter compress a synthesized sub (or at least... it would be very unlikely to be necessary). I got bashed for saying something along these lines a few months ago, but it just kills me to read this stuff over and over again.

Why would you compress something when you can just adjust it's dynamics? Need more punch, lower your attack, and sustain, while keeping a short decay. Need more body, raise the sustain. What purpose would a compressor serve? Obviously, if you screw up your synthesis you might need to compress, but that's only if you didn't design the waveform properly in the first place. Obviously, some people have their own habits and ways that they work, but you certainly don't always need to compress a sub, nor should it really be suggested as a normal course of action. (You can of course compress it with your bass after the fact, and if that was the post's intent, ignore what I just wrote... compressing two instruments together can often make sense).

And as far as EQ'ing a sine wave, there is no purpose. Sines have no harmonics, there is nothing to remove. A clean sine wave will be exactly one frequency. If you eq it, you will only remove that one frequency, or in other words you could just turn it down for the exact same effect. The reason people always talk about EQ'ing sines is because the sines aren't pure and therefore really aren't sines at all. (BTW I still don't think sines are the best way to make subs, but I'm not getting drawn into that argument ever again... lol).

[budsteq]

sine wave by itself is just kinda boring

fixed haha

[zerbaman]

I cut frequencies below 30 and above 200 hz
Then I compress and level

[inspaise]

its all about splitting the low-mid-and highs
ALL ABOUT IT

[amphibian]

Using compressor on a sine wave sub bass makes absolutely no sense at all. It's doing nothing but increasing the volume. As mentioned previously, if you need it to hit harder, make the sustain a little lower and give it a fast attack.

[zerbaman]

Using compressor on a sine wave sub bass makes absolutely no sense at all. It's doing nothing but increasing the volume. As mentioned previously, if you need it to hit harder, make the sustain a little lower and give it a fast attack.

The reason I use compression is to keep it at a constant volume throughout the track.

[Ldizzy]

Using compressor on a sine wave sub bass makes absolutely no sense at all. It's doing nothing but increasing the volume. As mentioned previously, if you need it to hit harder, make the sustain a little lower and give it a fast attack.

^ just as zaberman just said .... compressors dont only work in microdynamics... they also help balance a signal macrodynamically

so... that depends on ur bassline... if it spans over a couple octaves... u might want to use some types of compression...

[Traxione]

Using compressor on a sine wave sub bass makes absolutely no sense at all. It's doing nothing but increasing the volume. As mentioned previously, if you need it to hit harder, make the sustain a little lower and give it a fast attack.

^ just as zaberman just said .... compressors dont only work in microdynamics... they also help balance a signal macrodynamically

so... that depends on ur bassline... if it spans over a couple octaves... u might want to use some types of compression...

THANK YOU^
To discount something as "making no sense at all" is a bit extreme. I think used in the right context compression can do wonders, especially when bussing sub with another sound in the mid-frequency range (i.e. some wobbles...)

[benjam]

Btw the current issue of computer music has a ' good sub guide '.