The Sub/Low-Mid Range Bass Thread

[titchbit]

Keep this thread alive please

Don't worry m8 I won't let this thread die. I've got a new tune in the works. Should be on soundcloud in the next few days but I've been saying that for weeks.

When it's up I will explain all of the sub and low-mid range sounds in the tune.

As to the above videos you posted, I'm not sure what sound you're talking about because the sounds in the first tune sound different from the ones in the second one. Maybe you could be a little more specific?

[titchbit]

Alright guys, finally finished my tune I've been working on for a month or so. It's got a bunch of sub and low-mid that I'd be happy to explain how I created.

Soundcloud

The first bass sound you hear starts at 0:07. It's a pretty standard wobble bass. A little higher in the register than I typically like to go for, but it worked well with this tune so I went for it. I made it in massive. Took a Carbon WT with pretty much nothing else on it, not even a filter. Then I used LFO Tool to act as a filter and, obviously, an LFO. At times I automated the WT-position (such as at 0:21), but for the most part I kept it all the way to the right. I then highpassed at 105 Hz to make room for my sub bass. I also used Ableton's Auto-Filter to sweep a highpass up and down during the intro and some other sections.

Next, I made this patch in Sylenth which was basically a single sine wave with a little bit of overdrive distortion and most importantly an envelope on pitch. The envelope was put in the negative direction, and attack was brought almost all the way up. I left D, S, and R at zero. This is first heard at 0:35 (you can only hear with a sub). I used it as a rhythmic element layered underneath my regular kick to stress certain key points in the song, like a new 8-bar phrase or something like that. The pitch envelope makes the pitch fall drastically. I resampled an A and a G and put them in my kick drum rack. It's a pretty common sound that I hear in a lot of deeper dubstep. If anyone knows other ways to make this sound please let us know because I think this method is somewhat limited in terms of how fast the pitch drops, etc.

Finally, the last bass sound in my song is the sub (again, will not be audible without a subwoofer). This starts at about 0:55-0:56 and plays underneath the mid bass for basically the entire length of the song. I made it in massive with just a sine wave. No need for a filter really because it has no harmonics. I played notes in the D1-F1 range (about 70-90 Hz), which is a little high for sub bass, but whatever, I kind of like a higher sub personally.

Well there you have it. Hope that gives someone out there some ideas or teaches someone something about bass. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them!

[titchbit]

With all that being said, I've got a question that I am hoping you guys can answer. I've been trying to make a bass that sounds like the one in the tune below (0:28). It's a pretty common Skream-style bass. It's a weird bass because it's constantly present, but still has a lot of movement. I'm not really sure how he gets it to move in and out like that. I'm thinking some weak side-chaining or something? Or envelopes on something? But I'm not sure what.... Is it just one note or a few?

Let me know if you have any ideas!

[Duppy_Conqueror]

Firstly, I'd just like to congratulate everyone here, seems like a good thread.
Secondly, I'd like to congratulate Debunked for the song, it's a pretty nice vibe, one that I've been looking to create myself, a steppas kinda vibe

Thirdly, because my lack technical expertise means that I can't help much with creating good bass (though god knows I try ...) I would like to try and contribute by posting a link to somebody elses thread that seems relevant...

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=279882

And, a request of my own. It's funny you should mention Skream, because I've been trying to get that kinda mid-range sub sound that Dutch Flowerz, Request Line, Blue Eyez, Pass The Red Stripe and countless more of his songs have... You can feel and still hear it like midrange bass, do you know what I mean?
Dutch Flowerz probably being the best example...

It's a versatile sound, has a nice feel, and doesn't seem to complex... I'm guessing you start with a sine wave but beyond that...
Cheers

[titchbit]

Those tunes you mentioned are just sines I'm pretty sure. I wish we could just ask him but if I had to guess it would be a sine wave with minimal processing. Maybe some compression and EQ or very very light distortion.

[kaili]

Those tunes you mentioned are just sines I'm pretty sure. I wish we could just ask him but if I had to guess it would be a sine wave with minimal processing. Maybe some compression and EQ or very very light distortion.

do you reckon he just leaves it on its own for the sub layer or layers an actual unprocesssed sine underneath for the sub too?

[benjam]

With all that being said, I've got a question that I am hoping you guys can answer. I've been trying to make a bass that sounds like the one in the tune below (0:28). It's a pretty common Skream-style bass. It's a weird bass because it's constantly present, but still has a lot of movement. I'm not really sure how he gets it to move in and out like that. I'm thinking some weak side-chaining or something? Or envelopes on something? But I'm not sure what.... Is it just one note or a few?

Let me know if you have any ideas!

Ahhhh tune!!! Not heard this in years!!!!

[titchbit]

Those tunes you mentioned are just sines I'm pretty sure. I wish we could just ask him but if I had to guess it would be a sine wave with minimal processing. Maybe some compression and EQ or very very light distortion.

do you reckon he just leaves it on its own for the sub layer or layers an actual unprocesssed sine underneath for the sub too?

uhh could you rephrase that question? not quite sure what you're asking....

for those tunes he mentioned - dutch fowers, request line, blue eyez, (red stripe i don't remember atm), I don't really think there is any mid-range bass. it's just sine subs I'm pretty sure. that doesn't mean the sub can't have some processing. compression/EQ/tiny bit of distortion does not necessarily take it out of the sub range.

[firstboyonthemoon]

So here's my quick and dirty attempt at that "Splurt" bass:

Soundcloud

It's fair to say that it's not quite there. It sounds to me like the original is sidechained, but with a weird release that I can't figure out how to emulate. Maybe using a white noise generator as a trigger instead of a drum hit?

[benjam]

It sounds like its got an lfo as well as an envelope on the filter cutoff, add an unsynced lfo and have play

[NinjaEdit]

I posted this in another thread:

Subby reese bass with LFOing LP
layered with
hipassed bass with own LFO LP providing harmonics

Bounce and load into sampler.

[titchbit]

So here's my quick and dirty attempt at that "Splurt" bass:

Soundcloud

It's fair to say that it's not quite there. It sounds to me like the original is sidechained, but with a weird release that I can't figure out how to emulate. Maybe using a white noise generator as a trigger instead of a drum hit?

how'd you make that mate? it's really good. very close, but not exactly splurt, but that's not the point. the point is to make sick sub/low-mid patches and share em with each other

I'd love to know how you made it. What synth did you use?

[firstboyonthemoon]

I'd love to know how you made it. What synth did you use?

There is literally nothing happening in the synth. It's just a sine wave in Analog holding an F for four bars. The sound is mostly created by sidechaining Compressor to a trigger playing half notes and then running that through Saturator with the drive cranked way up and the signal being mostly wet (without opening Live, I want to say maybe 60-70%). That was the only way I could think of to get it to break up on the peaks like the original. After that, I used a (very) little bit of Chorus and rolled off the highs a little bit with Autofilter and finally a second Compressor sidechained to the same trigger to make it actually pump, since Saturator flattened out the level.

Actually, I'll just upload the .als and you can look for yourself:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0kof5uj3ngcxi ... Splurt.als

[titchbit]

I'd love to know how you made it. What synth did you use?

There is literally nothing happening in the synth. It's just a sine wave in Analog holding an F for four bars. The sound is mostly created by sidechaining Compressor to a trigger playing half notes and then running that through Saturator with the drive cranked way up and the signal being mostly wet (without opening Live, I want to say maybe 60-70%). That was the only way I could think of to get it to break up on the peaks like the original. After that, I used a (very) little bit of Chorus and rolled off the highs a little bit with Autofilter and finally a second Compressor sidechained to the same trigger to make it actually pump, since Saturator flattened out the level.

Actually, I'll just upload the .als and you can look for yourself:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0kof5uj3ngcxi ... Splurt.als

wasn't able to open that file. noticed it had .exe in the extension, and I'm on a mac

your description was pretty thorough though and that bass is sexy. i think i can figure it out. i'll report back with results

just one question - the only things you used to get the harmonics (since you said it's a sine, yet I can hear it loud & clear on laptop speakers) is saturation?

[firstboyonthemoon]

wasn't able to open that file. noticed it had .exe in the extension, and I'm on a mac

??? I don't have any idea how that could be the case. I'm also on a Mac and even if I uploaded from a PC it should still just be an .als.

just one question - the only things you used to get the harmonics (since you said it's a sine, yet I can hear it loud & clear on laptop speakers) is saturation?

Yeah. Just Saturator. I had to fiddle with the first couple of knobs in the color section to get the harmonics in the right place, but the synth is just a single oscillator playing a sine wave. You'll probably have to retune Saturator to get good results with different notes and then throw them in a sampler or whatever.

Although, I just looked at it now and I guess left the filter section on in Analog, set to LP24 with the cutoff all the way up and the resonance all the way down and the drive set to Sym1, so I guess there's some harmonics from that, but Saturator is doing the heavy lifting, with the drive cranked up to about 27 db and the wet at about 70%. Also, set the curve type to sinoid fold and turn on soft clip.

[ActionJesus]

i think these type of sounds were discussed on the "Help me make that dungeon sound" thread.

From what I remember they're low passed reeses with high resonance. Give it an envelope with attack, atuomate the lowpass and you're gold.
Pretty simple to do ONCE you make a dope reese :p

[titchbit]

this thread is NOT limited to dungeon sounds!

@firstboyonthemoon - you're right. the download was just being weird. i tried it again and now i have an als. Perfect! Thanks so much man. Btw why do you have track delay on the sidechain trigger? also what kind of sample did you use for that trigger? it's missing since i don't have it.

[firstboyonthemoon]

The idea was to make the compressor pull down the volume on the bass slightly before the kick/snare hit. The trigger is a closed hat.

[ActionJesus]

Im gonna try getting a similar sound tonight, will post if i get any results!

[Add9]

It sounds to me like the original is sidechained, but with a weird release that I can't figure out how to emulate. Maybe using a white noise generator as a trigger instead of a drum hit?

This is kind of unrelated but I really don't see the reason for ever using anything other than enveloped white noise for a side chain trigger. So much more control that way, why rely on the fixed length of a sample?