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LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:34 am
by ts engage
Now i know your going to say check the threads check the bible and all that, which i've done. But i still cant achieve this. Im trying to create a really clean but electric sort of bass and theres two problems. 1. Im trying to beef it up by doing many different things to it, many different methods but it just doesnt do the job. and 2. I just cant get power out of any notes in the C1 range, its only when i nearly get to the C2 range that i can hear it pushing hard.
...here, take Nero's new track for example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE47er6qnqg
When that bass drops theres a note they hit at 2:07 - its actually a D# on the C0 range!!?? How can it have than much punch? I dont understand what im doing wrong ive tried so many methods and read these posts like mad trying to find an answer but everything i try just flops.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:39 am
by Sirius
If the note is D# then it would be 19.45 Hz.... & ya shouldn't be hearing it! but ya could be hearing its harmonics.
!!chea
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:14 am
by ts engage
Sirius wrote:If the note is D# then it would be 19.45 Hz.... & ya shouldn't be hearing it! but ya could be hearing its harmonics.
!!chea
oh, sorry i forgot to mention i was using logic...Maybe i meant an octave higher? If you listen to the link then you'll know what note exactly im talking about from that

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:58 am
by antics
Considering that sits out of the bottom of your hearing range I think you mean an octave higher

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:17 am
by OlzaMK
Play around with eq's and make some headroom for your bass to actually have some POWER.

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:13 pm
by paravrais
Don't treat your sub and the midrange part of your bass as the same thing...if you play a sine wave at the right volume then it'll have punch on a big system. I know that's what you will have read a million times reading through the bible etc but trust me it's true. We aint lyin boy!
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 3:15 pm
by Sharmaji
C is a really tough key to work in, as you've noticed-- c1 gets down REALLY low.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:42 pm
by paravrais
Sharmaji wrote:C is a really tough key to work in, as you've noticed-- c1 gets down REALLY low.
I only usually work in C or D if I'm not making dubstep so I can play the bass around C2/D2...I dunno if that's meant to be 'allowed' but anything below E1 starts to sound sketchy even on my headphones and I like to work downwards with my melodies on my bassline quite often. If you start at C1 then you can't exactly go any lower and that limits your choices...
Stop me if I'm talking nonsense here, I don't have any equipment that's particularly good at producing really really low notes so I only make tracks I can actually hear...
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:56 pm
by Brisance
Sharmaji wrote:C is a really tough key to work in, as you've noticed-- c1 gets down REALLY low.
I find E or F the best keys, because they sit in the perfect places for subbass
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:59 pm
by alphacat
And if you use a pure C1 sine in your bassline, don't expect anybody wearing headphones of any sort to be able to hear it ever.

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:15 pm
by Genevieve
ts engage wrote:I just cant get power out of any notes in the C1 range, its only when i nearly get to the C2 range that i can hear it pushing hard.
Well, here's your answer no? Push it up another octave. The C2 range is where all the jungle bassweight is at. The heaviest sub I get around D/E/F.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:28 pm
by Sirius
F is the magic note!
!!chea
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:32 pm
by Basic A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies
Cant stress enough how useful this is as a producer. Learn a bit about what resonance is OP, and try to exploit different material's resonant frequencies to your advantage. Also, learn about how speakers work, and how psychoacoustics/subs relate, and youll realize 'low' isnt always going to be 'more powerful'
Its not a competition to see who can use the lowest tones. Its to see who can shake chests the hardest. Trust me. 19htz isnt doin it.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:48 pm
by alphacat
Basic A wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies
Cant stress enough how useful this is as a producer. Learn a bit about what resonance is OP, and try to exploit different material's resonant frequencies to your advantage. Also, learn about how speakers work, and how psychoacoustics/subs relate, and youll realize 'low' isnt always going to be 'more powerful'
Its not a competition to see who can use the lowest tones. Its to see who can shake chests the hardest. Trust me. 19htz isnt doin it.
Oh great. You've tipped him off to body-cavity resonance (approx. 7 Hz, aka the Brown Note.) We're all gonna poop ourselves when he figures it out and comes back to post up his tunes

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:42 pm
by OlzaMK
alphacat wrote:Basic A wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies
Cant stress enough how useful this is as a producer. Learn a bit about what resonance is OP, and try to exploit different material's resonant frequencies to your advantage. Also, learn about how speakers work, and how psychoacoustics/subs relate, and youll realize 'low' isnt always going to be 'more powerful'
Its not a competition to see who can use the lowest tones. Its to see who can shake chests the hardest. Trust me. 19htz isnt doin it.
Oh great. You've tipped him off to body-cavity resonance (approx. 7 Hz, aka the Brown Note.) We're all gonna poop ourselves when he figures it out and comes back to post up his tunes

fuckin sigged haha!
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:24 pm
by amphibian
Brisance wrote:Sharmaji wrote:C is a really tough key to work in, as you've noticed-- c1 gets down REALLY low.
I find E or F the best keys, because they sit in the perfect places for subbass
I really like A

I seem to write my most pleasing melodies in that key.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:33 pm
by phrex
bassweight through lowcut!
put on every - and i mean every - channel [except the sub of course] a lowcut varying from 110-150hz, depending on what you are lowcutting.
it can get tricky with the kick. i often prefer to let the kick roll out its deepness and instead i sidechain the sub. but it works the other way too.
why would you need a kick to have a sub if you already have a sub that complements the kick?
anyway: when you lowcut all your shit (even hihats!) you will get so so so much more headroom for the actual sub.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:30 am
by Basic A
vulvavibration wrote:bassweight through lowcut!
put on every - and i mean every - channel [except the sub of course] a lowcut varying from 110-150hz, depending on what you are lowcutting.
it can get tricky with the kick. i often prefer to let the kick roll out its deepness and instead i sidechain the sub. but it works the other way too.
why would you need a kick to have a sub if you already have a sub that complements the kick?
anyway: when you lowcut all your shit (even hihats!) you will get so so so much more headroom for the actual sub.
Cause kicks are suposed to well... kick.

Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:53 am
by Brisance
Soundcloud
they kick pretty well here with cutoff at ~80Hz.
Re: LOW bass with POWER
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:56 am
by Brisance
vulvavibration wrote:
anyway: when you lowcut all your shit (even hihats!)
Especially the hihats, there's so much shit and mud down there on hihat samples, that doesn't contribute to the sound of them in any way. Just grab a spectrum analyser and have a look-see.