Dubstepforum.com

Why is an 808 kick considered having sub bass while it peaks at about 60hz? Isn't sub bass 20hz-50hz. Are there any 50hz-ish or lower type of kicks out there?

Does sub bass has to be in tune?

Sub is anything below 100 hz imo. IF u want a lower 808 just pitch it down. It should be in tune otherwise u have a bass line thats out of tune?

a standard 808 kick will be around G which is 49 hz. the 'useful' sub bass range is more like 35-100 hz.

you can tune an 808 sample to be anywhere in this range (or outside it even), and yes it's probably a good idea to have it in tune.

I don't know about the credibility of this short article on wikipedia but it says sub bass is anything below 60hz.
About sub being in tune. There are a lot of tutorials on youtube for making an 808 with any synth. On a dubspot video this guy says Roland TR-808's kicks are made from using sine waves. Ofcourse I know that doesn't mean a simple sine wave at 50hz will be called an 808 kick. But why is it that an 808 kick doesn't sound out of tune where as a simple sine wave does?

And about pitching an 808 sample down sure I can do that. But have you guys tried it in a real project and it sounded good?

Sub Bass is simply anything below 100hz. The 808 kick is generated by overdriving a sine wave

regardless of whether your using a sine wave or 808 just pitch it accordingly

HimanshuVikal wrote:I don't know about the credibility of this short article on wikipedia but it says sub bass is anything below 60hz.
About sub being in tune. There are a lot of tutorials on youtube for making an 808 with any synth. On a dubspot video this guy says Roland TR-808's kicks are made from using sine waves. Ofcourse I know that doesn't mean a simple sine wave at 50hz will be called an 808 kick. But why is it that an 808 kick doesn't sound out of tune where as a simple sine wave does?

And about pitching an 808 sample down sure I can do that. But have you guys tried it in a real project and it sounded good?

dude just put the 808 in a sampler and play a lower note than usual and it will sound lower and have lower bass content. a sub is anything below 100. idk where 60hz came from.

60 hz is pretty high for an 808 kick. that's a B. it's probably the highest you'll see an 808 naturally come in a sample pack.

sub is really the first octave imo - from D#0 (38 hz) to D1 (75 hz), but there are varying opinions and it's not really a bright line between sub and "low bass".

usually if i want to use an 808 kick, i would make an E, F, F#, G, or G#. Anything above G# sounds a bit weird imo for an 808.

webstarr wrote:Sub Bass is simply anything below 100hz. The 808 kick is generated by overdriving a sine wave

regardless of whether your using a sine wave or 808 just pitch it accordingly

It has a tight pitch drop at the start. It's not just overdriven.

wolf89 wrote:

webstarr wrote:Sub Bass is simply anything below 100hz. The 808 kick is generated by overdriving a sine wave

regardless of whether your using a sine wave or 808 just pitch it accordingly

It has a tight pitch drop at the start. It's not just overdriven.

Yep, almost every 'kick drum' sound follows the same principal. When the drum gets hit the skin vibrates very quickly which gives it a high pitched 'pop', then it quickly pitches down as the drum skin stops vibrating.

HimanshuVikal wrote: And about pitching an 808 sample down sure I can do that. But have you guys tried it in a real project and it sounded good?

When using an 808 as a sub bass line, it's not a bad idea making it in a synth from scratch: just use a sine wave with a +2 octave pitch bend on the transient part (first 100 ms or so) and drive it slightly.

But you can do it with an 808 sample in a sampler for sure, and it will sound good. Make sure you got the root note down, which is supposed to be around G in an 808, set it in your sampler and off you go.

Thanks guys for the replies and info. I Appreciate it.