Skrillex reveals details on how he makes his basslines

[SAYjour]

im planning on doing a video tutorial on this entire sound, but there hasnt been too much interested expressed as of yet so i havent bothered yet.

Based on the traffic that Skrillex threads draw, I think many people would appreciate a video.

One question: wouldn't drastically modulating the EQ (to get different vowels and such) make the tune a nightmare to master?

EDIT: Ah, thanks.

And side note. I made a 90% similar Technologic bass while trying to get some Skrillex growls. \m/

[xrylex]

modulating an EQ is really no different that modulating a filter.

and in relation to this particular sound, there is still a sine under the modulated midbass.. and you are only modulating movement a couple hundred HZ in most cases to get the vowel movement.

[Digezt]

@Xrylex, I have tried to recreate the same idea in Logic, not really getting the same effect. Are you just moving all the points of the eq along in frequency, but keeping the same shape or moving the points of the EQ closer and further to get that mouth opening sound?

Thanks

[leeany]

Did I REALLY just read this guy saying that Burial inspired him to do what he does now ? And that Burial isn't actual dubstep ??!!?!

[AllNightDayDream]

Did I REALLY just read this guy saying that Burial inspired him to do what he does now ? And that Burial isn't actual dubstep ??!!?!

Plenty of people wouldn't classify him as dubstep, More garage, but then again what is it these days?

[Mannyyyyy]

im getting results using the wow filter and a notch or 2 and making the eq thats gonna make the vocal sound more prominent always moving like if i was using my mouth. moving it down and such.

[xrylex]

@Xrylex, I have tried to recreate the same idea in Logic, not really getting the same effect. Are you just moving all the points of the eq along in frequency, but keeping the same shape or moving the points of the EQ closer and further to get that mouth opening sound?

Thanks

experiment with what sounds good.

at first i tried 3 diff things modulating in the eq.
- the "top" of the "mouth" - just modulating the boosted frequency back a forth a little
- the "bottom" of the "mouth" - same thing, just modulating the frequency back a forth a little to mimic a mouth opening/closing
- the width of "mouth" - modulating the width of the Q of the cut frequency, that is in the middle of the other points.

in this example the only EQ modulation is in the cut frequency which is sweeping down with the pitch bend and then quickly back up at certain points.
Soundcloud

at that point, its really not much different that just modulating the frequency of a notch filter. except there are a couple of boosted frequencies going on as well.

[leeany]

Did I REALLY just read this guy saying that Burial inspired him to do what he does now ? And that Burial isn't actual dubstep ??!!?!

Plenty of people wouldn't classify him as dubstep, More garage, but then again what is it these days?

I'd definitely classify Burial as garage since he got the (early dubstep) 2steppy beats, basslines and a lot of space. And since when does Skrillex have the authority to judge what's dubstep and what isn't ?

[xrylex]

im getting results using the wow filter and a notch or 2 and making the eq thats gonna make the vocal sound more prominent always moving like if i was using my mouth. moving it down and such.

yeah i feel like WOW really gives some solid grit to the character of the sound. esp using the Envelope follower for the filter. interested to hear what you come up with.. i think this sound is closer to neurofunk reeses than it is to wobbles so i would think you will come up with something really solid because of your neuro produciton techs.

[Grimenoceros]

Your example soundclip was absolutely fantastic and spot on. I really wish I had EQ 8 just for those vowel presets..I used your screencap to recreate my own filter in my Waves Q10 EQ and got some interesting results automating it. Would it be at all possible to screencap the other vowel sound presets so I can try to recreate them? I don't have a handle on how they're made yet on my own, even after reading that SOS article you posted right at the end, so I'd greatly appreciate it or tips.

Hey, here is the vowels
http://postimage.org/image/31in0d2bo/full/ A - E - I
http://postimage.org/image/31iqbfrb8/full/ O - OE - U - UU

Hope that helps!

Thanks so much dude! Like Ryle said though, just after I made that request I discovered on my own that it's only a matter of automating the sweeping of one shape that really matters and not the individual filter cut outs.

I'm using FM8 and just picked an arbitrary preset to work with: automating the modulation square, pitch portamento time, and the two "lips" of my EQ peaks as well as some non-modulated WOW band reject filters stacked up and some distortion at the end, is offering some very sinister snarls. Now it's a matter of fine tuning the automation since I made random points as shots in the dark. If I get anything cool I'll upload a snippet to SC and post here. This thread has been awesome for inspiration and helpful tips.

[Grimenoceros]

Might as well post my attempt:

Soundcloud

Obviously not perfect nor very Skrillexy, but that's not my goal, just want to emulate the snarling sound he gets which I think I've gotten close to.

[zonetrooper5]

Bookmarking this thread for later, gonna be a good read.

[glueyfeathers]

i made a song a few weeks ago with an fm8 talky bass sound. was pretty straight forward and the formant filtering and effects were all done in FM8.

however it required lots of layering and automation

its a great synth tho!!! skrillex said on a blog post once that he uses it for scary monsters

the bass starts at 1:00

Soundcloud

[xrylex]

just saw techtips10 from sonicacademy and they are covering the exact formant filter/eq modulation technique we were discussing..
im gonna have to retry my techniques now that ive seen this...

but here is a better reference for the eq points.

http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/csound/ ... able3.html

[SAYjour]

Could anyone give me a few pointers? I'm working on the main Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites smooth growl. I've tried many suggestions in this thread and related threads, but I'm still having trouble nailing the growls (supposedly) as Skrillex makes them. I've been trying to create everything exclusively with FM8/Operator, Ableton EQs, and minimal FX, [.....]

EDIT: Wow. I removed my post because it's mostly garbage. Making a reese, modulating EQ formants, then mild distortion gets you at least 80% there from what I've tried.

Thanks everyone!

[jrisreal]

Could anyone give me a few pointers? I'm working on the main Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites smooth growl. I've tried many suggestions in this thread and related threads, but I'm still having trouble nailing the growls (supposedly) as Skrillex makes them. I've been trying to create everything exclusively with FM8/Operator, Ableton EQs, and minimal FX, considering the lead synth and intro bass can be closely replicated without FX involved. Also, I remember someone telling me that he knew Skrillex didn't resample, but I was very confused A) if that was even true and B) if that was supposed to mean that Skrillex didn't use distortion/etc. at all (seems unlikely to me, but idk I can get sounds on the right track without FX so I guess it's plausible for some sounds). Regardless, my starting sound needs a lot of work. My experimentation has hit a brick wall, so I thought I'd ask. I read xrylex's post religiously but I'm trying to get the sound without a lengthy chain. Maybe I'm crazy...

To me, definitely sounds like a saw is involved somewhere, but I'm not sure what else. I doubt a square is anywhere. A triangle adds nice grit that allows the EQs to work their magic, but I can't get the growl right. When I try, Ratios >2 generally sound wrong (too "harsh"?) and ratios of 0.5 get the nice guttural resonance, but they also introduce a sputtering type effect. Moderate levels of FM modulators seem to work better than high levels.

Based on the results I get, starting with a nasty FM sound then automating the EQ sounds to me like Skrillex's weapon of choice. I don't think a bitcrusher is involved.

Soundclip has original and then my attempt.
Soundcloud

My settings
http://i52.tinypic.com/34509pl.jpg
C: Triangle
B: Sin
A: Saw
I have modulation between vowels (I picked random vowels so I could focus on the sound first), and an additional low bandpass EQ that's always present so I get some low end with all the vowels.

Anyone know a few magic steps that I have wrong?

dude I have successfully and pretty accurately recreated the bass, pm me and I'll tell you how.

[Mannyyyyy]

in my sig the song showdown i do the bass pretty nicely, mostly think of it like this make a really fat reese in fm8, make it fill your spectrum all the way or most of it, and then think of what you want your bass to say really. In scary monsters its sounding like its says RRRRrrrrr R,I,Aaaaa,E,R so mostly make an eq with R and automate it that it does different letters, mostly you just made your eq and a filter which is simulating your mouth, and voilia. I also add the WOW filter to add extra grit and it gives the sound a little clearer movement

[RandoRando]

i think the basses in my song kind of are getting towards that vocal distorted monster voice (not that i was trying to sound like skrilex), but i like vocal sounds. i used it alot in my sig song cause i like it. and its all FM8 in my sig.

[Digezt]

@Manny. Really like the track in your sig. Going to try what you said and see what I can come up with.

[Augment]

This guy has DEFINETELY cracked it!

Closest I've ever heard