Wanted to kick start a train of thought based on my working pattern of late.
Since renoise got ported to linux iv got my favourite sequencer of all time back, and its made me seriously change the way i make sounds, most noticably bass lines.
I now almost exclusively use samples of synth hits and 808’s for my drums and subs, but thinking about it just using those types of bass sound is a little obvious and unimaginative.
So here it is - whats the most unusual/cleverest/unique/unexpected sample or technique to process samples for bass sounds you peeps have come across?
Feel free to show off shamelessly about how much of a ninja you are, we all fam here.
Pitch anything low or record anything that can make a low note. Mix it appropriately. Job done.
There are good threads in the Tips n Tricks forum at mixing good bass, the basic concept is that there are two tonal centres: one the sub-low part, the other being the higher harmonic content for presence. Filter the rest out, below, in between, and above. Some people use two lines simultaneously, one for each sonic part.
Additive effects can help re-texturize any input sound. Chorus and filtered delay also help to spatially position, and mono chorus can add ‘width’ to the note centre.
What notes you pick are more important that any of the above, or indeed below.
while humming a tone with your mouth closed and the air running out of your nose, sample yourself a mic down next to your adam’s apple (or where it should be, for women)
then take it down a few octaves.
HEAVY Organic Bass.
i did this years ago around the time i was first getting into drum and bass. with a 5 dollar microphone a peavey guitar power amp and a bass cabinet with a pair of 18’s and an akai SO1. very low and heavy.
somewhat recently within a couple years this was done on a popular dubstep tune. i forget the name of it at the moment but it’s very readily apparent.
Thanks Foo? but perhaps i should have explained myself better in my original post. Im not after an explanation on how to make bass, i know how to do that already, im interested peoples experiences with using unusual sound sources for bass tones, like choice’s throat bass (wonder what mongolian throat singing would sound like warped into a bass line?).
I got given a load of cheap speed and dominated this thread over a period of 24 hours, im too embarrassed to ever post there again but having the link saves me from writing it all out again at least, im posting as broken silence
the big empty plastic water bottles at business offices work well. there are multiple spots on them that make different tones. all these sound marvelous a few octaves down. not so much heavy as it is light sounding bass. i think i may still have samples of these on floppy disk formatted for my akai, around.
also, not sure if this fits but, mathematica can make very heavy bass.
Like choice suggested earlier, there’s nothing quite like the flexibility of the human voice. Why don’t you go to your local choir and find a male bass singer and sample him. If he’s classically trained the resonances and tonal strength in the sound will be fantastic.
Cool, i like the idea of the plastic bottles. You could use that as the tonal component to the sound, maby layer with a very pure sinewave sub for weight, nothing with to much character as to not obscure the tone of the plastic. HA! tone of the plastic…cage would be proud…
Edit: Could you define what you mean by mathematica?
