struggling to make basslines

[swishadub]

one of the main things keeping me from finishing whatever it is im working on is my lack of ability to make basslines flow. i use fl studio and almost all of my components are midi notes, and i spend a while fiddling with massive to get some patches made but they won't flow together. i'm guessing since i'm not as experienced in sound design my best bet is to bounce my patches to audio and cut/chop the synth to help them stay in sync and cross into one another, like walking in a doorway.


its frustrating because i have alot of vision with some of my tracks but having limited control has hindered me.

heres a bit of what im talking about.
Soundcloud


does anyone else have positive experiences from cutting their synths to better flow?

also ive searched the board, and also on google using dubstepforum.com as a search term, is there any good tutorials on call and response in sounds?


regards.

[Hertz]

why not use the same patch, but alter it a bit with different waveforms, fx, filters etc?...so the sounds are sorta the same, but different ya know? It all comes with learning synthesis. I am learning myself, its not easy at all. Practice practice practice.
You can do anything you want, just make it sound good (to you, hopefully to others, lol)

[Eat Bass]

to me your sounds actually sound like they fit for the most part. it just sounds to me like there thin as hell. they sound very high end with some low end. try using the same sounds but adding another osc to take up the mid rage. also once you get a nice mid/high bass...high pass it at around 110hz or so and then layer a pure sub bass under it...like a pure sine wave with a tad of distortion or a looped 808 kick like i prefer (depone tip).

but those sounds that you have sound like they can work together, to me anyway. perhaps try and add some transition sounds to help them flow into one another. you could also try automating volume to flow into one another as well as pitch. just get creative in how to make sounds flow into one another. the trick is to get different sounds to sound like 1 bass line. a coherent bass line as far as notes will help this also. you may want to try and write a bass line with just a pure sub bass to get a feel for the flow you want the bass line to have. then you can go ahead and copy those notes to different patches, if you get what i mean. i hope that helps...

in the end its all about experimentation and TIME and PRACTICE. i cant stress that enough. i dont have near enough practice as i would like but for sure as time goes on you find yourself getting better and better. just keep at it. even if your not producing, keep reading, keep making bass patches, and just keep fucking around with your daw. then when you get some inspiration make a song. even if you start off with a decent song finish it, even if it sucks, just get yourself in the habit of finishing songs. also make tons of loops when you dont have the time to try and make a whole song.

[Climax]

i agree w EB above, the sounds are all there and they fit but you need to beef them up a bit and make use of the space around them to make them flow better... maybe use some risers, crashes, cymbals, white noise, etc and beef up those basses by layering, resampling, add some more low end , etc

[nowaysj]

That snare sounds like a fart that has been very forcibly, but unsuccessfully, held back.

Time, practice, and really listening to pro tracks is all you need with your bass sounds, and maybe stop watching tutorials at this point.

[Hertz]

That snare sounds like a fart that has been very forcibly, but unsuccessfully, held back.

[Hircine]

That snare sounds like a fart that has been very forcibly, but unsuccessfully, held back.

merciless I wonder what you think of my snares

[nowaysj]

Think the claps in Gargantuan are fucking sick.

[Basic A]

That snare sounds like a fart that has been very forcibly, but unsuccessfully, held back.

stop watching tutorials at this point.

Your a dick, but a very, very honest dick, and for it

[swishadub]

you guys and gals (lol) are great!

just hearing alot of this makes for great motivation.

after a good nights rest the song sounds fresh to me again so ill be able to stand listening to it for more lengthy periods of time.

[Dystinkt]

I just fuck around with the same patch multiple times, like hertz said earlier, gives it that sense of consistency while also making the track feel like its evolving

[Hertz]

you guys and gals (lol) are great!

just hearing alot of this makes for great motivation.

after a good nights rest the song sounds fresh to me again so ill be able to stand listening to it for more lengthy periods of time.

Time to rework it then Remember to take breaks, you can seriously fatigue your ears.

[MoonUnit]

I'd totally use a filter envelope to initially bring the sounds in cause below a certain point with a low pass filter, most bass patches will sound the same, or close to.