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The Mother of all BASSLINES thread
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ess765
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
25
Posts :
169
Posted : Jun 5, 2007 23:12
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Seamoon,
I personally don t like the idea of right and wrong for some issues like this. There s been a lot of discussion about eq/compression chain.
The important thing is that you understand what are you doing, but the final result satisfaction is a question of your ears approval. THat can also be applied to the distortion.
I generally use the quadrafuzz plugin (which is great once it s kind of multiband distortion) from Nuendo in the first insert s slot, making it the first. But that doesn t means that I couldn t get nice results changing the chain.
Keep in mind that eq is a tool basicly for you to control/alter volumes for specific frequencies while the compressor has 2 goals: to bring louder peaks down and to raise lower signals up). The ditortion hole, is to bring new transients, making the bass sound more crispy...some people apply eq twice in this chain(before and after the other plugins)..it s all a matter of using your ears....
  Ess765 (aka Physical Absence)
Visit me at my project s page at:
www.myspace.com/physicalabsence
"when you think you know all the answers, life suddenly changes all the questions" |
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Seamoon
Seamoon
Started Topics :
23
Posts :
314
Posted : Jun 7, 2007 03:32
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thanx for your reply.
i played a little bit around and my result is to put the distortion after eqing and compression (i don't like to eq two times, cause i think often less is more).
damn i'm so happy with my bassline now (i didn't used to try distortion earlier) that i have to re-edit all my past basslines :-P |
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PsyysP
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
14
Posted : Jun 11, 2007 11:05
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Specially for psy trance :
ABL and ABL2
When You Dream There Are No Rules . |
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Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : Jun 11, 2007 16:33
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42 pages in , and still using VB-1 
newr stuff , 2007 it is after all
fresh sounds on - Nexus
funky more then all - Broomstick bass
allmighty synth - Trilogy
endless prese browse - Z2ta+
native instruments - Massive
may the bass be with you
and dont forget to cut 125hz and/or 140hz  www.sattelbattle.com
http://yoavweinberg.weebly.com/ |
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Glitch_CapeTown
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
952
Posted : Jun 13, 2007 11:11
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fuzzikitten
Annunaki
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
603
Posted : Jun 13, 2007 23:06
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Let's talk about bass, speakers, and power for a moment.
Every musical note that you hear consists of a fundamental frequency and various harmonics over top. A single sine oscillator playing the note A will produce a fundamental frequency of 27.5Hz plus harmonics at multiples of 27.5 (55, 110, etc). The fundamental frequency is the frequency with the most power, and usually can be drawn with respect to the other harmonics as such: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2001.bmp .
Those of you who have been EQing bass for a while may have noticed that making the bass more powerful doesn't always mean boosting the fundamental (lowest) frequency. In fact, a highpass filter to cut out some of the flub (subs) can actually make the bass louder and more powerful (not too much though). This 'cut to make more' is due to what bass frequencies deliver the punch, the thump, and the butt rumble.
In short:
punch is usually 150Hz and up, giving a lot of the teeth to bass
Thump is somewhere around 50-100Hz, giving the teeth of the bass some muscle
butt rumble is all that low sub energy at the lowest fundamental that is a pain in the ass to deal with, but sorely missed when it's gone.
Ok ok, blah blah blah, fundamental this and highpass that, what's the point?
Well, let's have a look at a common Bass EQ (yes, it's general, no, it won't work for your bass, yes I drew it in Paintshop): http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2002.bmp
In this example we have a highpass to cut out a lot of the butt-rumble, a notch around the punch range to give it some grrr, a notch in the 650 range to take out the mud, and then a highpass to take all those high frequencies you dont' want in bass.
Simple enough.
But now let's think about that fundamental and where it sits. From your bass synth, the single frequency with the most power is the fundamental, sitting somewhere down in the butt-rumble range. Anyone try getting a HUGE BASS by boosting all the subs? Did you get HUUUUUUUUUGE(tm) bass? Heck no, you got a quiet rumbling fart sound that was rich in low-frequency content but couldn't stand up to the quietest of leads - more than a few elements and all that low frequency power is lost amongst higher frequency leads/percussion/etc. Now try boosting the 2nd harmonic, somewhere in the thump range. Hey, it's louder, more aggressive, and audible in a busy mix. Good lord, thump is great, but that first fundamental is just wasted baggage!
Well, not quite. Besides, you're boosting instead of cutting, which is the 2nd best way to do it.
Let's revisit the sound's structure: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2001.bmp
You've got a prominent fundamental, the most powerful frequency, followed by the 1st harmonic, with slightly less frequency. We want more thump than butt rumble, which means making the fundamental LESS intense than the harmonics - the best way to do this is not to boost the thump but put a small notch cut near your fundamental, then slowly adjust until you hit that fundamental. Cut the fundamental, and the remaining harmonics suddenly sound louder.
Our traditional bass EQ: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2002.bmp
Now with an additional notch cut around the fundamental frequency: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2003.bmp
It will take time, and careful careful adjustment. Play with how much cut, the Q, and then the frequency. You're attenuating the fundamental, not completely, but enough so that the thump (next harmonic after the fundamental) has more prominence and is not secondary to the fundamental in intensity.
The result is a slightly less dominent fundamental frequency and more prominent thump, punch, etc. (see green portion of the fundamental, this is attenuated by the notch filter: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/amarano/bass%20harmonics%20-%2003.bmp)
Do this in a mix, especially with your kick playing along with the bass, and cut around that fundamental. You'll find a spot where your bass will suddenly sound a little louder, or maybe fuller, or something. It changes, in a good way, because the speakers are not wasting energy on the fundamental but get to spend more energy on the other harmonics. Use a frequency chart to 'cheat' and get an idea of what frequency your fundamental is at: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html
That's boosting by cutting, huzzah.
-fk
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Human
Human
Started Topics :
26
Posts :
61
Posted : Jun 14, 2007 00:08
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Great post, fuzzikitten, thanks a lot!
One thing though; if you have a bassline and you use say 3 different notes, do you use a single track for each note?
Because the fundamental might vary significantly if you move between different octaves..
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
Posts :
8087
Posted : Jun 14, 2007 00:17
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thanks fuzzikitten, some nice tips their, i would like to add a track with some energy in the lowend ll sound a lot better ,fatter cause you ll mix every sounds to have more space in the mix to compensate ,so don t cut too much. |
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Alias
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
32
Posts :
984
Posted : Jun 14, 2007 00:51
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Theoz
Started Topics :
1
Posts :
5
Posted : Jun 14, 2007 22:08
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AIght!
That was ...42 pages and kvr forum on basslines...damn
quite helpfull, thanks for all u posters.
Rock on!
cubase is calling...i'm out
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pavaka
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
87
Posts :
805
Posted : Jun 19, 2007 12:40
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Domi
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
444
Posted : Jun 19, 2007 12:53
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Human
Human
Started Topics :
26
Posts :
61
Posted : Jun 19, 2007 13:07
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hi domi!
very nice bassline! i can see your point, i personally would go for something in between the two, but that's just my taste.
did you use a side chain on the one with the plugins? if so, maybe set the threshold higher (closer to 0) there. otherwise; try a higher threshold in the compressor / limiter you used (i personally wouldn't use a limiter on the bassline).
that's what i would try..
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http://myspace.com/djhuman
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Domi
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
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444
Posted : Jun 19, 2007 13:23
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Domi
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
444
Posted : Jun 19, 2007 16:54
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