Legend4ry's sub bass tutorial

[demzone]

Awesome thread, awesome forum! First actual post but i have been learning so much here, you guys are all great!! Looking through this thread on Sub bass i figured out a lot about frequencies and where my Sub and mid bass should sit! Found out all my mid range bass had low end in it! NO more unexplained clipping! Thanks, Big up the people bringing the knowledge!

[legend4ry]

Awesome thread, awesome forum! First actual post but i have been learning so much here, you guys are all great!! Looking through this thread on Sub bass i figured out a lot about frequencies and where my Sub and mid bass should sit! Found out all my mid range bass had low end in it! NO more unexplained clipping! Thanks, Big up the people bringing the knowledge!

Careful EQing/Filtering is key for getting the biggest, cleanest sound out of the sub/mid relationship.

[jaydot]

What sort of volume difference between the mid and sub is acceptable?

Also is layering a sub just a case of duplicating the sub bass track. I tried that in my signature track lost in space and the sub seems overpowering idk though. Thoughts?

[Sirius]

What sort of volume difference between the mid and sub is acceptable?

Also is layering a sub just a case of duplicating the sub bass track. I tried that in my signature track lost in space and the sub seems overpowering idk though. Thoughts?

ya dont need to layer ya sub ay bro. if its overpowering... drop it down an octave.
tha difference in volume is at your discretion. if it sounds good do it ay!

!!chea

p.s. I cant see sigs... put a link up!

[jaydot]

What sort of volume difference between the mid and sub is acceptable?

Also is layering a sub just a case of duplicating the sub bass track. I tried that in my signature track lost in space and the sub seems overpowering idk though. Thoughts?

ya dont need to layer ya sub ay bro. if its overpowering... drop it down an octave.
tha difference in volume is at your discretion. if it sounds good do it ay!

!!chea

p.s. I cant see sigs... put a link up!

http://www.soundcloud.com/jaydot/lost-in-space

[Sirius]

What sort of volume difference between the mid and sub is acceptable?

Also is layering a sub just a case of duplicating the sub bass track. I tried that in my signature track lost in space and the sub seems overpowering idk though. Thoughts?

ya dont need to layer ya sub ay bro. if its overpowering... drop it down an octave.
tha difference in volume is at your discretion. if it sounds good do it ay!

!!chea

p.s. I cant see sigs... put a link up!

http://www.soundcloud.com/jaydot/lost-in-space

drop the level of the atmosphere, it should sit at the back more...
I cant hear any sub ay. what are you trying to sub out?

[T-Flex]

You may want to edit something. Logic Pro's EXS24 is not a synth, it's a sampler. It would be more ideal to use the ES2 synth.

[Steve_French]

You may want to edit something. Logic Pro's EXS24 is not a synth, it's a sampler. It would be more ideal to use the ES2 synth.

the exs24s default sound is a pure sine wave, it may seem far-fetched but its a common technique to use it in logic

[Steve_French]

First double post EVER!

[Steve_French]

First triple post EVER!

[T-Flex]

Hahaha crazy stuff man. Somehow I'd never tried playing the sampler when no instrument was loaded. I had no idea that it just played a sine wave.

So disregard that idea.

[stevemac]

2 quick questions:

From a gain structure point of view, what levels is a good starting point for the sub? I do plan on using my ears first and foremost, but if any of the the experienced peeps here have some suggested levels for the sub, that would be great.

Also, re compression of the sub. I currently only eq the sub but I do compress on the overall bus channel for the combined sound. In general, is this good practice or would it be better to compress the mid / high bus channel, then combine a clean sub with this in a final bus?

cheers people

[COLTMAN]

I like to assign an LFO to the amp of my sien oscillator and play with the automation... 2-12 is a nice ratio to use and then automate the amp of the LFO on and off

[fragments]

2 quick questions:

From a gain structure point of view, what levels is a good starting point for the sub? I do plan on using my ears first and foremost, but if any of the the experienced peeps here have some suggested levels for the sub, that would be great.

Also, re compression of the sub. I currently only eq the sub but I do compress on the overall bus channel for the combined sound. In general, is this good practice or would it be better to compress the mid / high bus channel, then combine a clean sub with this in a final bus?

cheers people

I generally start the sub at -13.

I'm not sure about compressing the sub. I don't really understand compression at the moment (very high up on my to-do list). I've used presets on subs before. I try to find notes that work together and hit hard, use envelops and have a proper mix down to make the sub hit hard (at the moment).

[stevemac]

2 quick questions:

From a gain structure point of view, what levels is a good starting point for the sub? I do plan on using my ears first and foremost, but if any of the the experienced peeps here have some suggested levels for the sub, that would be great.

Also, re compression of the sub. I currently only eq the sub but I do compress on the overall bus channel for the combined sound. In general, is this good practice or would it be better to compress the mid / high bus channel, then combine a clean sub with this in a final bus?

cheers people

I generally start the sub at -13.

I'm not sure about compressing the sub. I don't really understand compression at the moment (very high up on my to-do list). I've used presets on subs before. I try to find notes that work together and hit hard, use envelops and have a proper mix down to make the sub hit hard (at the moment).

cheers dude.

can anyone advise on the compression question? ie. do you compress the final bus for a sound that includes the sub? Would it simply make more sense to have 1 stand alone sub that hits when required but doesn't go to any other the other sounds bus channels? Does this make sense? So for instance, assume there are 4-5 synths that I want to add sub bass to. Should i process these all separately into their own buses, low cut them and simple have another midi track acting as sub for each element??

[Steve_French]

personally, i see no point in compressing subs, or doing anything at all to them, maybe cutting everything over 100hz and sub 20hz.
mix every low, and it you need to, have the sub high in the mix if u want it louder. compressing will only boost unwanted frequencies that are most likely unaudable.

i think the best way of processing, it to split the sounds you're using, send them to their own bus's, and sub-bus's. you may have 2 synths, one that has a nice sub to in the first place, and another you want to add a sub to. you should prehaps create a subbass synth, and send that synth and the other synth that already has a nice sub, cutoff above 100hz, mono the channel and well, thats about it really. sorry if thats quite hard to follow, its easier in my mind than on paper

[amidoinitrite]

First double post EVER!

haha.. make that your first tripple post as well



my 2 cents.. like everything else with production.. it depends on the context.
Sometimes compression can help, sometimes not so much.
Not all compressors sound the same. One compressor might make it sound amazing in a track while others make it worse. And that one might sound like crap when used on a different track.

if your sub meter is steady note to note, then there is really no need for compression other than color.

[davwuh]

sometimes I add reverb to subs, but i usually take the bass out and add a proper sub underneath it.. just an interesting effect i play with sometimes, hard to get right without it sounding shit though!

[bassinine]

am i the only one amused by a whole topic with almost 200 posts - saying use a sine for sub bass. this has to be the easiest concept to grasp in dubstep... i thought.

[psychedelicatessen]

sometimes I add reverb to subs, but i usually take the bass out and add a proper sub underneath it.. just an interesting effect i play with sometimes, hard to get right without it sounding shit though!

What I did one time (the only time I put reverb on a sub) was take a sine wave, then add a saw, for harmonics. I essentially put a high pass on the saw to get rid of the low frequencies, then put reverb on that, so the sine is untouched, but still has the reverberated harmonics, which made it sound reverberated, yet clear in the mix. I played around with the wet/dry on the reverb and came up with some cool stuff. It's completely doable, and yields some interesting effects.
It's just what I did one time, and thought it was cool. I'm sure it could be done with better results if you split the signal in two, and worked with your sub and harmonics as two seperate entities or something like that. I know I'm a noob, I've only been producing music for a matter of months.