reverb/delay on basslines

autopsy · Post by **autopsy** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 12:18 pm

would putting reverb or delay on a bassline create any issues when cutting a dub or playing the tune on a club sound system, would the fact that some delays turn the repeats to stereo be a problem?

cheerz lads

i978 · Post by **i978** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:03 pm

Verb / Delay - it's all good

When you get a plate cut, the mastering engineer will sum the bass frequencies to mono - stereo bass tends to cause the needle to fly out of the groove. On that level there will be no point in putting a stereo effect on yer bass sounds (everything below 400-500Hz, so I gather but I'm sure someone more in the know who will correct me). Verb on bass tends to muddy things up a bit tho.

"bass" sounds will have frequencies not in the bass frequency range (they are technically mid range "lead" sounds) and there's no issue in panning these all over the shop or adding whatever FX you like.

Sharmaji · Post by **Sharmaji** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:20 pm

depends on the sound of the bass, the line it's playing, its arrangement, the sound of the reverb, and the mix.

so....

if it sounds like ass-- it'll sound like ass. if it sounds great, it'll sound great.

in general reverb on a sub isn't gonna do much and very well might eat up some of your low-end. reverb on a more midrange-y bass can sound great, though.

can't remember the links but there's a lot of good info on reverb in dance music, going back to the 70s and disco and taking dub into account. google!

konehed · Post by **konehed** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:50 pm

a little reverb can add some nice presence

if you want to do effects on the bass sometimes its good to split it into a low/mono bass and another higher freq layer for the stereo stuff

just experiment

the mono thing isnt that big a deal if youre distributing digitally
a lot of club sysytems are mono anyway so it wont matter if you do it or not

misk · Post by **misk** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:00 pm

what konehead said. split the bass into two channels so you can isolate the low end. i personally think that sub with reverb/delay would just sound muddy and create phasing.

But the upper harmonics of slightly distorted/warm bass properly verbed can sound really dope, just look at vex'd.

docwra · Post by **docwra** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:44 pm

reverbs , effects etc are always on the top end. U want to ave as much control over your bass as u can. That way u can process each layer individually as its own.

autopsy · Post by **autopsy** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:29 am

safe! thanks for the help guys, im more using a touch of delay to accent parts of the bassline when the drums drop out for instance. il definatly start experimenting with cutting the b-line into frequency groups, i need to learn more about moulding sounds with eq seems like this could be a good place to start

konehed · Post by **konehed** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:05 pm

a spectral analyzer helps a lot

docwra · Post by **docwra** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:59 pm

use your ears, only way u learn and progress

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:04 pm

If possible, record the reverb from the send and then eq that so that it doesn't clash with the original signal. Usually best to hi-pass it at a higher frequency than where the mid bass has been highpassed.

xi · Post by xi » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:24 pm

^^^^^^^

Best way ive found,
in fact ill even just put the EQ right at the beginning of the send effects chain when applying reverb or delay to the top end of my bass sounds. Saves you from having to print to track etc.

Littlefoot · Post by **Littlefoot** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:42 am

make sure you keep mega careful with your stereo spectrum when doing this, remember reverbs/delays are almost always stereo and you dont want one speaker taking the bulk of the bass, even for just a second, coz your gonna cloud your mix up big time!

autopsy · Post by **autopsy** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:48 am

if i only connect the left ins and outs of a reverb or delay in reason does it create a mono effect?

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:21 am

yes mate.

flip the rack round and use only the ins and outs you need. use 'spider' splitter / summing units to customize the signal flow.

sully_shanks · Post by **sully_shanks** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:15 pm

yeh shonkys got the right idea

reverb/delay on basslines

reverb/delay on basslines

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