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I just read this interview from KoRn and there is a part where they talk about a technique the producers (Skrillex, Noisia, Excision, etc.) used:

"They basically magnify the soundwave on the computer so you can see it really big and instead of the kick drum landing with the bass and guitar, each one lands so slightly off that there’s enough air space for everything to sound boom and hit together. So we side chained all the stuff chained all the stuff so when you hear the bass drum and the guitar hit together, you’re actually hearing the boom and then the guitar go rrrrmmmmm. But when you speed it up to normal speed, it sounds like everything’s hitting together. When you magnify all this stuff, each instrument has its own little space and it’s a trip."

Anyone know about this? I didn't. I'm just posting this to tell people who don't know.

Yeah. People sometimes use that technique when layering snares/claps. Offset each snare just a bit to get a bigger sound

They do that with their normal production?

I hear it a lot in Hip Hop these days.

how far apart? milliseconds?

if you zoom in it`ll measure 1mm

I'm sure there are times when producers go out of their way to align things slightly off of each other, but this also happens when you have studio musicians recording as opposed to programming things in. Most of the time in traditional music, these delays in hit (in milliseconds) is variation in how the musician is playing, but producers also do this in EDM for lots of reasons, humanizing grooves, controlling peaks, etc.

lmao @ Jon Davis' mind being blown over the basics

"we wanted everything to sound boom together, you know?"

basically korn invented dubstep

Skrew wrote:I hear it a lot in Hip Hop these days.

All of the wu-tang clan beats in the 90s were based on this concept

ogunslinger wrote:basically korn invented dubstep

They were playing dubstep before there was dubstep.

But this is actually good info...I never realized they did that. I wonder how perceivable it really is though.

it works.. as junyah pointed out, its highly effective on layered claps

can this be done when working with midi? would just sliding the bass slightly after the grid line where the kick is work? or am i misunderstanding this?

Eat Bass wrote:can this be done when working with midi? would just sliding the bass slightly after the grid line where the kick is work? or am i misunderstanding this?

Yes.

tragiclifestories wrote:

Eat Bass wrote:can this be done when working with midi? would just sliding the bass slightly after the grid line where the kick is work? or am i misunderstanding this?

Yes.

ok i thought so. idk the quotes are acting like its cunning edge technology and methodology lol.

btw im guessing sliding the bass maybe 1/32 or 1/64 note over will allow enough room for the kick transients to get through?

Eat Bass wrote:can this be done when working with midi? would just sliding the bass slightly after the grid line where the kick is work? or am i misunderstanding this?

That's how I'm messing with it right now.

Eat Bass wrote: ok i thought so. idk the quotes are acting like its cunning edge technology and methodology lol.

It is easy to impress Korn.

btw im guessing sliding the bass maybe 1/32 or 1/64 note over will allow enough room for the kick transients to get through?

One or two of whatever the smallest unit your DAW can muster, really. John Davis is right - zoom right in. It's an effect you shouldn't notice (I think your brain will interpret sounds that start within 12ms as the same sound - that's about a tenth of a 16th-note. The character of the sound will be different as you move things about in that range...gotta love psychoacoustics!)

tragiclifestories wrote:

Eat Bass wrote: ok i thought so. idk the quotes are acting like its cunning edge technology and methodology lol.

It is easy to impress Korn.

btw im guessing sliding the bass maybe 1/32 or 1/64 note over will allow enough room for the kick transients to get through?

One or two of whatever the smallest unit your DAW can muster, really. John Davis is right - zoom right in. It's an effect you shouldn't notice (I think your brain will interpret sounds that start within 12ms as the same sound - that's about a tenth of a 16th-note. The character of the sound will be different as you move things about in that range...gotta love psychoacoustics!)

don't know much about psychoacoustics but I'm going to read up on it for fun.

and yeah i can imagine it would change the sound quite a bit. ill play around with it...im guessing a bit less than a 64th note will do the trick then.

I just did a 64th note seperation between the sub and the kick and it was not even noticeable once I closed my eyes. It also took off a whole 2 db which is killer awesome.

ChadDub wrote:I just did a 64th note seperation between the sub and the kick and it was not even noticeable once I closed my eyes. It also took off a whole 2 db which is killer awesome.

hmm maybe a 64th note will be the prime placement then.