SUB BASS HELP

[deadpostcard]

does any one have some good tips for getting really nice sub bass tones?
i mean from what kind of waves you use, filtering, to eq'ing and compression.
and how do i get it to sound fat without taking up all of my headroom???

i mostly use reason, but i also have massive and albino.

thnx for your help guys

[DZA]

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 97&start=0

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 665#916665

[connection]

HAMTOUCHINGALPACASCREAMINGFLAMEINDUCING PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!


R-E-A-D T-H-E N-O-O-B T-H-R-E-A-D.


ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!




/end rant.

[lojik]

I find using a saw wave with tons of compression and limitation on it (make sure you push it right into the red) makes the best clean sub bass. If its still not sounding phat, try cutting all the frequencies below 100hz and boost the 17.3Khz area (thats the secret sub frequency).

Good luck.

[miscreant]

sine waves, preferably two of them, one pitched down an octave or two, split the frequencies into two identical signals and low pass them both. for one of the signals add a high pass at 30 hz as well - add distortion to this signal to beef it up a bit, this way your keeping the clean deepness of one sub while getting some fatness from the distortion added to the lower frequencies of the other. Bring the amplitude attack up also to avoid the pops and clicks every time a note is triggered

Try and read the production forum stickies theyre helpful as fuck and also avoids having to read posts like the ones above.

[futures_untold]

Sub bass is the easiest tone to create, but the hardest sound to produce. A sine wave playing notes between C1 and C3 will give you sub bass/bass weight, any other waveform will add spectral content in higher frequencies.

For tonal variation, use a triangle wave, or pass a square or saw wave through a low pass filter. If you do use a lowpass filter, filter out any frequencies above 100Hz.

Some compression may be useful to keep the sub bass from interfering with the rest of the mix. Essentially, if you don't 'mix' the volumes of all the elements in your song correctly, you will hear things lose clarity (become 'muddy'). Instead of reaching for the compressor/limiter straight away, read this thread here on mixing techniques ---> http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=74832

Sine waves, preferably two of them, one pitched down an octave or two.

While this will certainly work, note that it will cause a 'wobble' effect due to phase cancellation. Experimentation is the best way to suss which techniques you like for the kinds of sounds you're after.

[macc]

Sine waves, preferably two of them, one pitched down an octave or two.

While this will certainly work, note that it will cause a 'wobble' effect due to phase cancellation. Experimentation is the best way to suss which techniques you like for the kinds of sounds you're after.

Why would it necessarily cause a wobble?

Seems identical to a harmonic to me... and they don't wobble

[dequo]

all producers use a patch called "brutal electro" for sub-bass. to get this you have to download a cracked version of massive from torrents. now ur playin with da big boyz

[futures_untold]

Sine waves, preferably two of them, one pitched down an octave or two.

While this will certainly work, note that it will cause a 'wobble' effect due to phase cancellation. Experimentation is the best way to suss which techniques you like for the kinds of sounds you're after.

Why would it necessarily cause a wobble?

Seems identical to a harmonic to me... and they don't wobble

Try it. I think the technical term is 'beating'. This is most noticable when two notes are played one semitone apart, especially at lower frequencies.

Playing two sine waves one octave apart doesn't cause noticable beating, but I am certain it is still technically present. Using two Square waves makes the effect more pronounced, even when playing one oscillator an octave higher than the other. It lends the sound a kind of 'grittiness' imo....

:shrug:

but maybe I'm wrong!!!!

[dequo]

nah octaves make waves like this no beats

[/img]

[macc]

Try it. I think the technical term is 'beating'. This is most noticable when two notes are played one semitone apart, especially at lower frequencies.

At any frequency – you must have tuned a guitar…?

The term is indeed beating , but at an octave you’re well away from it being audible as beats – you just hear two distinct frequencies. Think about it – if you generate a harmonic (via distortion or whatnot) it doesn’t wobble, it just ‘sits on top’. The two methods are completely indistinguishable in a steady state signal.

Another way to put it; The closer the two freqs, the slower the beating. As you move away it gets faster. By the time you’re an octave away the beat freq is far too fast to be audible

Playing two sine waves one octave apart doesn't cause noticable beating, but I am certain it is still technically present.

The waves still constructively/destructively interfere, yes. But I woudn’t think anyone would call it beating beyond… what, 3 semitones (complete random guess). I could try it I suppose… do a slow pitch bend of one note upwards and see when I perceive it as two notes rather than beating.

Once I’ve done that then I should prrroooobably try getting out a bit more

[3za]

two sine waves a octave apart with a bit fo saturation sounds very fat to me.

but can some one (macc) tell me way perfect 5ths sound so nice with out any "beating" but 4ths and 6ths have "beating".

thanks 3za

[futures_untold]

Interesting stuff!

Well, to the OP, pure sub is generally a sine wave, but obvisously everyone has secret recipes for bass weight!

[deadpostcard]

thanks for all the tips guys.

i know how to get sub bass, but like one of the post said "it's pretty hard to mix"

i was really trying to figure out how to get rid of that muddyness in my mix.
when i would listen to my "final" mix in my car, it would not sound right.

and i really wanted to get that fat sound without the muddyness.

once again, thank you!

[deadly_habit]

thanks for all the tips guys.

i know how to get sub bass, but like one of the post said "it's pretty hard to mix"

i was really trying to figure out how to get rid of that muddyness in my mix.
when i would listen to my "final" mix in my car, it would not sound right.

and i really wanted to get that fat sound without the muddyness.

once again, thank you!

proper eqing of all the elements and getting your individual levels sounding good

[james fox]

you probably don't need it as loud in the mix as you think you do

[lojik]

you probably don't need it as loud in the mix as you think you do

This.

It took ages to figure out but becuase the low end is usually boosted on systems, you don't need to make the bass sound boomy and phat when you mix, just make it sound balanced. Then when it gets played on a big system, the subwoofers will make it pump and you can still hear all the other elements.

[deadpostcard]

the last 3 replies are spot on!

i had lowered the volume on the sub, b/c on one of the topics somebody wrote that you should keep your sub 1db below your drum mix.

while i'm not a newbie to producing dubstep, i've always been intimidated by the actual mixing process (eq'ing/compression etc etc). once again, thank you for all your advice/tips.

[step correct]

you probably don't need it as loud in the mix as you think you do

This.

It took ages to figure out but becuase the low end is usually boosted on systems, you don't need to make the bass sound boomy and phat when you mix, just make it sound balanced. Then when it gets played on a big system, the subwoofers will make it pump and you can still hear all the other elements.

Serious shit.. now that a couple of my tunes are getting played out at local parties here I noticed my bass is a little overwhelming on account that I'm trying to get it to sound huge while I'm mixing.

[macc]

Yup - that's the joint number one thing I spend a lot of time fixing here - people wanging up their bass too far.