Talking bass : Getting more clarity on vowels/formants

[Derkou]

Hi,

So i'm trying to do that talking bass with the automated eq technique, but whatever i do i can't seem to get the clarity they get in brostep tunes. I mean i can make any modulation from any vowel to another, that's not a problem, but i don't think the effect is as distinctive as those in the musics i listen to. The vowels i get seem more muddy, less popping out of the bass, with more shallow contours. So i thought it was a matter of eqing the sub bass, and maybe i do it wrong but it's not a fix.

How can one make the vowels in a talking bass more present and add clarity?

Thanks.

[hasezwei]

eq'ing out the right frequencies, which is depending on the sound you're after.
notches and resonant filters (resulting in peaks) are what makes a vowel most of the time.
also splitting frequencies and distorting the highs (or using an exciter) will give shit clarity.

[Instep]

definitely not modulating the sub with eq i don't think

[Hircine]

bandpass or isolate the middle frequencies and d/w it with the original signal.

[Smiles]

In ableton the eq has vowel presets so thats what i use lol. But just keep practicing and experimenting with eqing and filters and layering.

[Derkou]

Yea, i tried to layer a separate middle frequencies with more aggressive distortion and it seems to add more definition to the bass. BTW, i always keep my sub appart from the rest in order to avoid clutter and flabbiness.
What do producers try to reach in terms of waveform/texture qualities when they want their bass to talk? I mean, shall i aim for a different bass than if i didn't want it to talk (eq, layer, osc) so it could highlight the vowels?
--> i also use Abletons vowels presets and maybe that's the problem, maybe i shall tweak them to accentuate their contours but my few tries didn't lead to something good.

[ephyks]

Use a flanger and put the speed to an appropriate rate that pans throughout the sound well. Throw a vocoder on it and a chorus. Gets you a pretty basic vowel sound. The result isn't really predictable, so to get it to move how you want, you have to do some precise adjusting.