Organising sounds in a bass drop?

[Kasshern]

you're welcome

[Tiger Blood]

you're welcome

do you have a track where you have done this? (sorry if your sig one has it i havent had time to listen)

[Kasshern]

Yes the track in my signature use that technique and the 2 last track on my soundcloud use it too.

[blinx]

1. write a basline.
2. ccreate 3-5 bass patches... they can more or less be copies of each other with something changed in each different instance so they all sound similar but still different. Maybe try processing them differently to achieve more diverse but coherent sounds.
3. chop your bassline into 3-5 different pieces and spread them over you 3-5 bass synths. 1-2bar phrases for each synth and just juggle what synth plays what part and switch them up to create even more diverse sounding bassline even though your just rinsing the original riff anyway.
4. group all the basses to gether and maybe compress them a little to get the exact sound/choesivness your looking for.

No easy way just have to DO IT. Try to make sure your sources all sound the best they can before processing anything, cant polish turds.

[Tiger Blood]

when you guys say write a bass line do you mean write out the whole pattern then play that pattern across like 4 synths?

Do you then add a lead over this aswell?

Also a lot of tracks just throw in other synths rather than just using 1 bass line dosent the same pattern over 4 synths just sound boring with the same thing and 4 different sounds?

Sorry if im not getting the explanation any tracks that use the method so i can hear it would help !


Thanks

[Kasshern]

Yes the track in my signature use that technique and the 2 last track on my soundcloud use it too.

Yes we mean write the whole pattern with a bunch of variations in the pattern himself to keep it interesting.
You can also replace a synth by a lead and then using the lead to play a part of the pattern.

[Dublicious]

Sorry for the messy explanation.
What i would like to say is:
1.Find a good bassline with one synth
2.Open the synths you want to have in your drop(one wobble , one groar , one uplifter ,etc...)
3.Chop your midi bassline into short notes but in the same order as your original bassline.
4.Place the notes you have chopped into your synth.
For Example the bassline is : C,A,C,D
The first C note will go ine the wobble synth.The A note will go in the uplifter synth , the second C note will go Go in the groar synth and the last note (D) in the wobble synth again.
I don't know if it is clear this time , my english is not as good as i thought.

Cheers for making an effort mate, very reasonably especially if english isn't your first language

[Kasshern]

Thanx!yeah i've been lurking on this forum for almost a year now but i always wanted to contribute.
Yesterday i did it and it was a bit more complicated thant i thought But i'm happy to help if i can!an btw i'm french

[Tiger Blood]

thanks for the help guys,

are there any vids tutorials on this subject?

Ive been looking around but cant find any and its proven quite a popular topic.

[wub]

Reso's CM masterclass video is a good one.

[Kasshern]

Sorry but i dind't see any video on that topic.

I figure it ou myself by trying to understand and listening to some strutures on tracks i liked.
And then trying to recreate them in ableton.It is a good way to fully understand how a track work.

Edit: i didn't see reso CM vids but i will try to see it

[jaydot]

Less is more, cut your drums out a bar between the drop and intro and don't overcomplicate.

[Tiger Blood]

Reso's CM masterclass video is a good one.

yea i watched this twice now and have a load of notes on it, just cant seem to recreate it though. Ill go back for a third time i think.

[blinx]

lol maybe you should just write a really solid, expressive bassline that spans 16 bars and doesnt just repeat itself before you try doing the chop up and rearrange thing. Learn to crawl before you try just sprining through a track.

[ChadDub]

That Zomboy track is exactly the same as Kill Everybody (Zed Remix)...

[tecshaun]

This is my number one problem with music lately. I've been trying to find out a "system" or way of getting nice drops with high energy but tend to stick to my melodic same ol' same ol' with sometimes a taster of the elements I want.

It's been very hard to break the mold of my more chill / melodic stuff to try and get some aggressive drops.

I don't think designing the sound is really the problem, it's more the sequencing. Anyone else have any advice?

[Toolman4]

the best way to "get" your head around this is to create a bunch of bass patches and work every day to make basslines out of them. In my learning experience so far, I've come to realize that contrast of sounds and their characteristics are what really keeps the interest alive. Ill gates has his ill methodology guide that goes into a descent amount of detail about this. Also TST dubstep bassline series of videos explains a bit at the end, utilizing the call and response system. And brain of trifonic explains a more advanced version of call and response using all the instruments in the track to create more interest in his tutorial videos. And then of course, practice. I have yet to get remotely good at this but I 'think' I understand HOW it's achieved. I also have come to learn a few things that seem to remain consistent that if someone could confirm or deny for me, would be great...Say you want to sequence a few sounds together to make a bassline. Say you start with a "drop" type sound (pitchbend), then move to a growl (filter cutoff opening), then to a sustained note, then finishing the fourth beat with another drop-type bass sound. What I have learned is that if you do this slowly(or even slower)say, over the course of a bar where each sound finishes the cycle of it's movement at the end of the beat, you want the sounds to be tonally different. If that means playing a different note in the scale (hence why others are telling you to create a bassline so that you have tonal variation already), or they are different effected variations of the sound, etc....however you do it, make sure they contrast well.

Now here's the other important thing i've noticed. If you do that same 4 sequence of sounds much quicker say over the course of a half bar, you don't want too much variation, be it tonal or whatever, that fast. The brain wouldn't know whether to like anything because none of the sounds resonate long enough to be enjoyed. HOWEVER!...the movement can be experience erratically and fast, just not the novelty of what we hear. If you want to sequence those four sounds quickly, make them tonally closer so that the bass can resonate inside the listener. This is what I have come to understand anyways...I'm always open to being corrected or enlightened.

[acrap]

the best way to "get" your head around this is to create a bunch of bass patches and work every day to make basslines out of them. In my learning experience so far, I've come to realize that contrast of sounds and their characteristics are what really keeps the interest alive. Ill gates has his ill methodology guide that goes into a descent amount of detail about this. Also TST dubstep bassline series of videos explains a bit at the end, utilizing the call and response system. And brain of trifonic explains a more advanced version of call and response using all the instruments in the track to create more interest in his tutorial videos. And then of course, practice. I have yet to get remotely good at this but I 'think' I understand HOW it's achieved. I also have come to learn a few things that seem to remain consistent that if someone could confirm or deny for me, would be great...Say you want to sequence a few sounds together to make a bassline. Say you start with a "drop" type sound (pitchbend), then move to a growl (filter cutoff opening), then to a sustained note, then finishing the fourth beat with another drop-type bass sound. What I have learned is that if you do this slowly(or even slower)say, over the course of a bar where each sound finishes the cycle of it's movement at the end of the beat, you want the sounds to be tonally different. If that means playing a different note in the scale (hence why others are telling you to create a bassline so that you have tonal variation already), or they are different effected variations of the sound, etc....however you do it, make sure they contrast

Now here's the other important thing i've noticed. If you do that same 4 sequence of sounds much quicker say over the course of a half bar, you don't want too much variation, be it tonal or whatever, that fast. The brain wouldn't know whether to like anything because none of the sounds resonate long enough to be enjoyed. HOWEVER!...the movement can be experience erratically and fast, just not the novelty of what we hear. If you want to sequence those four sounds quickly, make them tonally closer so that the bass can resonate inside the listener. This is what I have come to
understand anyways...I'm always open to being corrected or enlightened.

Thank you!! Very good contribution

[lukevoice]

I've been searching and searching for this info on this thread. Thanks all. Im surprised there isnt that many tuts online

[highgain]

I've been searching and searching for this info on this thread. Thanks all. Im surprised there isnt that many tuts online

Doesnt seem like tuts are focused on sharing creative ideas more so they are on achieving instant success with someone elses sounds, You should try what I've been doing and see if it helps spark ideas. I like to A/B with a favorite track of mine when I finally go into mixing to get ideas of structure.

Basicly load up the mp3 of the tune next to yours and scope out the structure to see how they build/release tension