Sub Bass Techniques

[Genevieve]

triangle sine waves... whut

On the massive wavetable there is a triangle sine..

That's 2 different waveforms and you can move from a sine (one end) to a tri (the other). If you set the wavetable dead in the middle, it'll sound like a sligtly saturated sine or a slightly low-passed tri.

I agree with the poster saying there's little point in getting rid of the harmonics and then adding them back in. Might as well start with a sinewave and saturate that.

And if you should EQ a sub or not, ask yourself.. are there any frequencies clashing with other sounds? If so, EQ something, whatever it it. Only your ears can determine that.

If it's a pure isne, don't bother EQ'ing it. It'll only cause volume problems. EQ the clashing frequency (which should only be the kick, certain effects, or in some cases, the snare)

[claudedefaren]

if you move the wt position knob all the way left, you get just a sine wave. right side is triangle.

[neonmansion]

i don't LP my "subs" because i make trap and typically they are 808 subs which need to have some high-end for the "Kick"

however, sometimes I notch out 80-120 hz because when I jump up the octave it gets much louder. so i cut the higher sub notes by a few DB.

but, if you LP a saw wave and add some RES to it it sounds DOPE.

[Hircine]

EQing or filtering a pure sine wave is the same thing as using the volume button.

[fragments]

So let me get this straight you are using trianglish wave with upper harmonics, Eqing them out, then adding it back in later with saturation? Are you trying to stop the compressor from working as hard or am I missing something?

Yes and the thing is when you saturate it's saturating those upper harmonics with it..so It would only be smart to EQ the sub so It doesn't get muddy on the high end..no one wants a muddy sub

Right...except if you already have upper harmonics I still don't get why you are EQing them out only to putt them back in with saturation. That's what I'm curious about. It seems like a pointless step.

[Today]

if it workin keep doin it. otherwise seek alternatives
i kno shit post but not rly if u think about it

[Sinergy]

Well, while we're on the topic of EQing subs...

When I produce I use headphone monitors in which can produce pretty low sub notes, so I pay little attention to which are those super loud sub notes or which ones will be exaggerated on your average car stereo/average stereo versus how they sit nicely on a massive system or monitors.

So when I car test, or listen to my tunes on my home stereo (the most inaccurate stereo ever though), some sub notes are WAY loud, and some very, very quiet in comparison.

Is this just a matter of me understanding which sub notes belong together and which sub notes I just shouldn't use, or is there a way of dealing with this?

I've tried mixing each note differently, but A. thats tedious as fuck and B. even if they sound quieter, if they're all mixed about the same they use about the same headroom, if I mix them individually my entire mix gets thrown off.

Also, I've been going with the rule; use the same sub note as the mid range/whatever note it's being layered underneath, is this a general rule? I mean, it makes pretty logical sense, and the few times i've played around with layering different notes (other than chords) it sounds pretty bad.

Not trying to hijack thread, just don't want to start ANOTHER sub bass thread.

[Artie_Fufkin]

^^we do have a thread just for sub bass discussion. these posts will probably get wub-ified into that thread but I'm sure he'd appreciate if you just post your questions in there. and the reason some notes are really loud is because of room resonance. You can do acoustic treatment to even things out or just trust the meters in your daw. lol
Fragments is on the same page with me with what I was trying to tell you. It seems like a waste of cpu imo.
How many/which harmonics do you want?

[eyeatus]

made a beat like a week ago that had a long 808 kick EQed to roll off above 60hz. duplicated that 808 MIDI to a short punchy 808, EQed cut below 60hz. sidechained the 808 sub to the punchy kick. saturated both idividually.. grouped together and compressed a wee bit and then saturated again. fuck it if it's wrong sounds good to me

[antipode]

made a beat like a week ago that had a long 808 kick EQed to roll off above 60hz. duplicated that 808 MIDI to a short punchy 808, EQed cut below 60hz. sidechained the 808 sub to the punchy kick. saturated both idividually.. grouped together and compressed a wee bit and then saturated again. fuck it if it's wrong sounds good to me

why would this be wrong? its sound design, if you like the sound of it, its right.

all you have to be aware of is what you're hearing will translate the same on other systems or if it just sounds good in the room you produced it in.

there is no right or wrong to this stuff

edit: pretty much what artie said

[Dhinojosa94]

if its a pure sinewave you should eq it anyways just in case there is crossover

[ephyks]

Ever since I can remember I've been lowpassing my sub. Always have, always will.

[Kit Fysto]

I low pass mine too in most cases. Actually high pass as well up to 20hz.

[Artie_Fufkin]

if its a pure sinewave you should eq it anyways just in case there is crossover

crossover? what is that?

I guess a boost around 30-60Hz would compensate for the fletcher-munson curves? And my car stereo actually some harmonics would be great. sometimes I turn the bass up and mids and highs down and turn up my music til the kick drum distorts. gabber remix

[syrup]

i usually roll off freqs above 100-110 Hz, to prevent the high notes sounding too loud like someone else said.

[CYRHEN]

i usually roll off freqs above 100-110 Hz, to prevent the high notes sounding too loud like someone else said.

Agreed that what I like to do every time without failure..It's a routine.

[Murtagh]

I usually cut the highs completely and only leave 10-60hz, I find the kick takes up the rest of the low end especially with the top basses which control around 150hz. I think you should always EQ it just to be safe, especially as mentioned above when you move in pitch a lot

[mromgwtf]

EQing one harmonic signal = changing the amplitude

[claudedefaren]

only when it plays that note

[MoonUnit]

Never a bad idea to create a subtractive notch in the range where your kick has "meat." Then you can boost up the bottom end of the sub to taste.