sequencing/creating basslines

[Rekah]

how does everyone go about programming basslines, like i know scales etc but when it comes to actually making a bassline i find it really hard to make catchy or fit the tune, its only by random when i make an alright 1.

Does anyone have any set ways of doing it or do you just press record any just jam away on your keyboards?

[amphibian]

Practise. Also - look at the threads very top of this forum.

[jaydot]

Jamming and then deleting unwanted MIDI notes is good but not always effective

Sometimes I record say 4 different notes in a bar, each a bar long, or 8 notes 1/2 a bar long, and drag them to three seperate synths, arpeggiate, effect, bitcrush etc and see what is gwaning then. It's a simple method but some clean cut basslines can be made out of it. Check my SC...a lot of my dubstep basslines are made this way. Although lacking melody at this point, it flows well still . Ive still got to work on my melody though,

[therook]

Check out http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

Just select the key you are making your tune in and it will show you all the notes in that scale. Just use the notes in the particular scale. ???. Profit.

It also displays chords too.

[LordBid]

im all about jamming a little melody, its not hard you already instinctually know what sounds good, all you have to do is edit it and decide a key, at least thats how i do it cus im too lazy to memorize scales and the other music theory shit. And dub-step is all about how the drums and the bass mash together so im always thinking about my drums and the bass and tweaking them so they fit together.

[grooki]

^ the problem is the OP obviously doesn't have the ear for it. It takes a long time to develop this the hard way.


But really it sounds like you need to learn some musical scales. YOU NEED THIS! The whole world will open up to you.

Search it on da internetz, but for a really easy one, try starting on the key A (you know which one that is? if not, search da internetz). Play only the white keys, using A as your main note.

Seriously, learn at least the fundamentals, it will makes things many many times easier, you won't spend so much time trying to find that note which sounds right after this or that other bit.

[grooki]

[Sirius]

^ the problem is the OP obviously doesn't have the ear for it. It takes a long time to develop this the hard way.


But really it sounds like you need to learn some musical scales. YOU NEED THIS! The whole world will open up to you.

Search it on da internetz, but for a really easy one, try starting on the key A (you know which one that is? if not, search da internetz). Play only the white keys, using A as your main note.

Seriously, learn at least the fundamentals, it will makes things many many times easier, you won't spend so much time trying to find that note which sounds right after this or that other bit.

ummm, bro.....

I'm sure ya meant to say C. the key of A has three sharps ay!

!!chea

edit.... fuck forgot a natural minor is the same keys!! nevamind

[+3]

Sing along to your tune, and mouth a bassline. You'll have one very fast. Then keep the melody / wobble rate in your head, and find the notes on the keyboard. Play it out. Sorted.

[LordBid]

I would go about learning all that stuff but I feel like right now at least I know enough to where I can do more or less what I want. and a little bit of reference is all i need.

[vviiper]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

[grooki]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but if you use a G#, won't that make it some other A scale (which have been told sounds better for my purposes by someone) rather than a natural minor? enlighten me

[vviiper]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but if you use a G#, won't that make it some other A scale (which have been told sounds better for my purposes by someone) rather than a natural minor? enlighten me

Nope. You can use melodics, but they're complicated when working with composition.

[GRAYSKALE]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but if you use a G#, won't that make it some other A scale (which have been told sounds better for my purposes by someone) rather than a natural minor? enlighten me

Nope. You can use melodics, but they're complicated when working with composition.

If you use a G-Sharp it actually makes it a Harmonic minor scale - A natural minor scale is just A,B,C,D,E,F,G.

[vviiper]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but if you use a G#, won't that make it some other A scale (which have been told sounds better for my purposes by someone) rather than a natural minor? enlighten me

Nope. You can use melodics, but they're complicated when working with composition.

If you use a G-Sharp it actually makes it a Harmonic minor scale - A natural minor scale is just A,B,C,D,E,F,G.[/quote]

Why would you want to use a natural minor scale? Harmonic minors are what you should be using.

[grooki]

*Tut Tut*

You're both wrong, the key of Am uses the following:
A,B,C,D,E,F,G#

^- You won't see the G# because Am is the reletive to C, and C has no sharps/flats, which means the G# is written in accidentals and not writen in the key signiture

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but if you use a G#, won't that make it some other A scale (which have been told sounds better for my purposes by someone) rather than a natural minor? enlighten me

Nope. You can use melodics, but they're complicated when working with composition.

If you use a G-Sharp it actually makes it a Harmonic minor scale - A natural minor scale is just A,B,C,D,E,F,G.

Why would you want to use a natural minor scale? Harmonic minors are what you should be using.[/quote]

Grayskale! It think it was you that told me about that Harmonic minor business. So it sounds like I was on the right track - G is natural minor, G# is harmonic minor?

[Tomak]

Personally i think it's better to just right off Natural Minor as being a modern "lazy" phrase. If you play A "natural minor" scale there is still a pull towards the major tonic of C. You can test this for yourself by playing white notes up and down the keyboard and then deciding which paticular note feels the most resolved, bearing in mind that all those notes belong to C major and A minor (And D dorian, E Phrygian, F lydian ...).

So I just treat all relative minors as modes of the parent scale. In this paticular case A natural minor is the 6th (Aeloian) mode of the C major scale.

Learning Harmonic and Melodic Minor will really open your ears up to Minor tonality. Some fantastic diatonic chords in those scales!

[-[2]DAY_-]

There is nothing wrong with natural minor. I don't understand this type of sentiment. Obviously it all depends on your composition as a whole, but to say you "should be using" a particular mode is bollocks.

Also, pedaltone/modal basslines work great over harmonies that move around the tonal center. You could modulate to different keys a lot in one track, too.

Back to the original question: i program most basslines first by selecting/building the basics of a sound, setting polyphony to 1, turning on legato (sometimes retrigger), often a bit of portamento, and I tap a couple of keys whilst playing back drums and chord progressions. For my taste, I usually enjoy basslines with mostly stepwise motion and few large interval skips (5ths, 6ths, 7ths). Actually a lot of the time I just pitch bend half- and quarter-steps around the tonic, and then the bigger skips at the end of a phrase, as they often resolve naturally back to the tonic. Sometimes I play riffs/arpeggios in the b line. Often it is just pedaltones with LFOs churning and modulating.
Sometimes the sub is in unison with the mid bass, other times it is not.

The most important part (imho) is to compose an element of call and answer in the bassline. This works well if the first half of a mid-bass line is in unison with sub, and the second part is different, somehow restating the initial theme. Might be different sounds, different notes, or both.


edit: I also like big dive-bomb pitch envelopes on bass. And A final tidbit on how I compose/sequence bass -- by playing bass guitar.

[symmetricalsounds]

Check out http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

great link

[In The Shadows]

ive been playing bass too for about 14 years ish now, so making a bassline is one of the more natural things for me, so tbh I dont think about it much I just do it. I usually start with a sub pattern and then add in little licks of different mid range bass on top here and there untill its sounding full and rolling. Like the man said above, its just practice, an ear for it will develop with time if you keep at it. I quite like basslines that switch patches all over the place so that method works for me, but your own method will eventually form. For ages I was shit at making my own basslines, dont get disheartened if it takes a while.

If you are having trouble though Id sugest giving the following a try, forget melody all together and get the rhythm going first. Bass is as much about rhythm as melody, maybe even more so. If you are a midrange first or sub first kind of guy it doesnt matter really, Id just pick the root note of your tune and try and build a good bass rhythm on that one note. Listen to the drums and try to make the bass rhythm a part of whats going on in the beat so theyre locked together and work as a unit, think of it like another layer of drum sound. Once you got something with a good pattern rolling along you can grab individual notes and pitch them around to get a melody going, again try and use the note changes to accentuate the rhythm you got or tie in and support any melodies you may have already made. Its not a method to live by but something worth giving a shot when you are having trouble getting a good bline.