Question 1: Dubstep Bass Piano Roll

[dude3032]

okay so i use massive and can get some pretty sick sounds out of it but..i am having trouble making it into a bassline.
when i use the piano roll, i cant seem to get a good bassline out, it seems kind of boring.
any1 have any tips on how i should form the bass in the piano roll to make it sound good?
or should i be using something else and not even be using the piano roll?

[dude3032]

forgot to mention im using FLstudio

[Rubik]

The piano roll is fine. I use it.

There's no secret answer or short cut to making good basslines, you just have to work out what notes sound good with each other.

As a starter though try this;

Make the first note a low F. Then try using mainly F#, B, C and C#. Generally has a little attitude. Then elaborate by incorporating some of these notes: G# A# D#. Then just play around and work out what sounds good.

Getting a good starter bassline can be a pain in the arse though. It's probably the only past of writing that still ever makes me want to punch walls occasionally

[Rubik]

Oh Yeah someone else brought this up today/yesterday too and it's worth repeating: think about the placement of the notes. It's a subtle thing that makes worlds of difference

[VirtualMark]

this thread makes me laugh

[nowaysj]

Op is asking how to write a good bass line.

There is no answer for u my friend.

You have to find a process of making basslines that works for you. If you are an individual, a human, you will have a unique expression of music. Find a way to express your music. This is hard. It may take a lifetime. Start immediately, and don't stop.

It may or may not involve a piano roll, a keyboard, a mouse, a bass guitar, a microphone, a turntable, a field recorder, software, hardware...

I feel you though, sometimes the piano roll, and the mother f'ing stupid ass keyboard in general are the least inspirational channels of expression.

Something that I enjoy doing is making a bunch of bass notes with massive, recording each one to a sample, then loading those samples into a sampling drum machine, or a software equivalent, like the FPC (love it) or Poise, or Battery (which I'm selling because I own two copies, $100, it's a good deal - I love that I am putting ads in my posts now, what a dirt bag ) and playing the bass notes on drum pads. This way, you are always in key, you can access a broader range of articulations with ease, and just jam over beats without worrying about you fingering or whatever.

Or, the opposite of that, keeping it in the synth, but assigning macro controls (I use that term because you are working in massive) to a few aspects of the synth that are responsible for shaping the sound, and assigning hardware knobs to the macros, then playing the notes in real time, as you are rocking the knobs.

Keep the notes simple. You don't need a lot of notes to make the bass line move, just a few notes, listen to the beat, and work within it, and work those knobs to get the movement you want.

And THEN, maybe cutting up the recorded bassline, and rearranging it, again by assigning it to pads, or to keyboard, and just reworking it over the beat.

The whole idea is to keep pushing it, it is a process. Grow the bassline, then cut it back, replant it, watch it grow, then cut it back again. In the end, less is more, but getting to that simple perfect groove may have taken countless iterations.

Anyway, best of luck bro.

[Ldizzy]

The whole idea is to keep pushing it, it is a process. Grow the bassline, then cut it back, replant it, watch it grow, then cut it back again. In the end, less is more, but getting to that simple perfect groove may have taken countless iterations.

Anyway, best of luck bro.

that was just fantastic... seriously thats the first thing id try to do if my basslines were lame (the only cool basslines ive put out were actually made that way)...

on a more esoteric note now..

when u play in a band bass is considered rythm section.. yet its melodic... a really unique position that bass has... so bass should be apprehended as bass.. and not as just rythm/just melody...

a lot of the new kids on the dubstep block i hear on utube mix up basses and leads... because of all that midrange cack stuff happening... keep in mind its a bassline.. it should have its groove and not just display good lfo game.

i remember i was just like you smokin blunts wit my crew... until i saw a friend of mine play a bassline over a steppin beat the way even i used to do it when i made those detroit-esque rap beats... trying to hit the note in the pocket... something i had long forgotten...

then i saw those benga/rusko interviews where u NEVER see them fiddling with lfo rates... its kind of cool...

so yeah... bass is bass and its also somewhat pace...

[serox]

Does not matter what DAW you are using. Practice playing with the keyboard playing bass notes with a 2 bar drum loop on the go.

[serox]

The whole idea is to keep pushing it, it is a process. Grow the bassline, then cut it back, replant it, watch it grow, then cut it back again. In the end, less is more, but getting to that simple perfect groove may have taken countless iterations.

Anyway, best of luck bro.

that was just fantastic... seriously thats the first thing id try to do if my basslines were lame (the only cool basslines ive put out were actually made that way)...

on a more esoteric note now..

when u play in a band bass is considered rythm section.. yet its melodic... a really unique position that bass has... so bass should be apprehended as bass.. and not as just rythm/just melody...

a lot of the new kids on the dubstep block i hear on utube mix up basses and leads... because of all that midrange cack stuff happening... keep in mind its a bassline.. it should have its groove and not just display good lfo game.

i remember i was just like you smokin blunts wit my crew... until i saw a friend of mine play a bassline over a steppin beat the way even i used to do it when i made those detroit-esque rap beats... trying to hit the note in the pocket... something i had long forgotten...

then i saw those benga/rusko interviews where u NEVER see them fiddling with lfo rates... its kind of cool...

so yeah... bass is bass and its also somewhat pace...

Nice.

[HighBot]

If you happen to come up with a bass sound that's pretty messy/filthy or whatever, and you notice that the different notes you play aren't as defined as you would like because of this, try putting an autotune at the end of your bass fx chain and play around with it.
This can really tighten up your sound by quantizing it to the note it's supposed to sound like, but still keep the grit of your original sound.

Might not be so relevant to your question, but it's a usefull tip to keep in mind!

[Sinisterbeats]

a technique I have heard being used is to use just one note and write out the rhythm of the bass line, then move the notes up or down to make it more musical.

[decklyn]

a technique I have heard being used is to use just one note and write out the rhythm of the bass line, then move the notes up or down to make it more musical.

Try playing octaves too - a2, a1

[Ldizzy]

if stuff sounds lame try varying octaves for same notes... also try not starting ur line by the fundamental (''the note'' of ur beat)

[nowaysj]

a technique I have heard being used is to use just one note and write out the rhythm of the bass line, then move the notes up or down to make it more musical.

This is excellent technique. Just get that groovy timing right, and then if your lead or what not wants to move up or down, just move one or two of your bass notes along with it. But get that groove right.

Getting off of the grid, of course, is extremely helpful here.

[dude3032]

Or, the opposite of that, keeping it in the synth, but assigning macro controls (I use that term because you are working in massive) to a few aspects of the synth that are responsible for shaping the sound, and assigning hardware knobs to the macros, then playing the notes in real time, as you are rocking the knobs.

can you elaborate on this please?
im not really familiar with macros
thanks

[Depone]

Groove is in the heart

[nowaysj]

can you elaborate on this please?
im not really familiar with macros
thanks

Don't trip on the name "macros" bruv, it's just some name NI made up to sound deep. Though you can get pretty deep with macro control.

Okay, so you know how in massive you can drag the modulators (ADSR/LFO/Performance whatever its called) to various devices, and then set their range. Well in the bottom right hand of massive's interface is a section called "Macro Control" or something like that.

There are like 4 yellow arrow thingies that you can drag, they've got keytracking, velocity, aftertouch I think it is, and something else. Never mind those (FOR NOW, COME BACK LATER WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THE BASICS). To the right of that there's like a 2x4 grid of knobs, and in the upper right hand corner of each little knob is a four way arrow thingie. You can drag and drop that little arrow thingie just like you can drag the LFO's and whatnot. So drag the first knob's little arrow and drop it into one of the boxes for filter cutoff, and set the range just like you would for a modulator. Now assign that first yellow knob arrow thingie to Osc 1's amp knob. Set the range.

Now link the first macro knob to a hardware controller. I kinda remember you said you were in fruity? If so move that first macro knob with your mouse and go to fruity's main menu where it says TOOLS, go to "Last tweaked" then "link to controller" you'll get a little pop up, and just move a knob on your midi controller. (I hope you're not a cracker jack and have flstudio 9)

Now you've linked your midi controller's knob to the macro knob which is further linked to the filter's cutoff AND osc 1's amp. The point is that as you now move your midi controller knob, both the cutoff and the amp knobs will move at the same time.

So depending on how you made your nasty patch, just set a macro control or two to those elements of the synth that are making it nasty and modulate them with your hardware knob. Now in real time you can totally change the sound of your synth all from one or two knobs. Cause if you're a human, you only have two hands (hopefully).

There are like ten trillion tutorials on massive on youtube, do a search for Massive VST Macro Control Tutorial, something far more articulate than my blathering is sure to come up.

Also, load up one of their presets, they usually assign those macro controls to a bunch of different elements. Those presets are a great way to learn how shit works. Take a peep sometime when you don't feel like making music.

Peace bro.

[dude3032]

sick, thanks for tha help

[FluidMoShun]

Try using the bass roll.

[zerbaman]

Well, fl has this random melody generator

inb4 troll
I'm not, it actually exists looool