Dubstepforum.com

So I was reading Bassnectars' liner notes for the new album Vava Voom, and while reading the notes for the song "Pennywise Tribute" I stumbled across something that peaked my interest.

Lorin Bassnectar wrote:Seth Drake was extra vital in the mastering phase due to this song hitting such extremely low notes. At first the sub bass was inaudible due to its low frequency, so he developed a "ghost bass" harmonic algorithm to create a sensation of bass when listening on a home stereo, and still an utterly massive experience when played at a club. TEAM WORK!

I use Ableton and would like to try to recreate something similar. I'm think he means writing a bassline at C1 (32.7hz) or some note down there, which most people without a really nice sound system can't hear. Then throwing another sine wave an octave higher (C2 65hz) which would sound alright on most systems. What do you guys think???

it is certainly possible but it's not the same as simply playing 2 octaves. i've noticed at many times in my adventures with sound that i can hear a note lower than what should be there, due to two waves playing together and summing in just the right way. i noticed the most pronounced effect on a distorted electric guitar. perfect fourths and fifths seem to do this. i'm not sure if would give the same illusion of extending your sound system's frequency response in the same way.

i'd bet if you don't want to buy Waves MaxxBass there is probably some free plugin out there with that utilizes a similar algorithm