Laying Basslines w/ different frequencies/octaves
Laying Basslines w/ different frequencies/octaves Posted on: 28.07.2010 by Verona Fashbaugh Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that overlapping bass sounds will cancel eachother out and cause a mess of not music. And also that I'm sorry about how long-winded this post is.Okay. I'm going to make up a number here. Let's say that at least 90% or so of the time that people listen to your music, they aren't listening to it with powered subwoofers. Therefore, they will be unable to hear your sub bass. (Actually unless they are in their car with subs or in a club, I can't imagine a great many people have decent powered subs on their home stereo systems). But, there is a certain bass frequency range that a lot of home speakers, car stereos without subs and other set-ups have. Let's say that this range is (I'm guessing) probably around 80-100Hz area. I want my songs to have decent bass on all set-ups that can push it. So, let's say, for instance, that I have my typical sub bassline coming in at about 40-80Hz. Then, could I have another bassline be an octave higher and come in at that 80-100Hz range? I could use some tight LP and HP filters to make sure there is no "bleeding" into the other ranges by each channel. Is this possible? Am I crazy? | |
| Verona Fashbaugh 28.07.2010 | Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that overlapping bass sounds will cancel eachother out and cause a mess of not music. And also that I'm sorry about how long-winded this post is. Okay. I'm going to make up a number here. Let's say that at least 90% or so of the time that people listen to your music, they aren't listening to it with powered subwoofers. Therefore, they will be unable to hear your sub bass. (Actually unless they are in their car with subs or in a club, I can't imagine a great many people have decent powered subs on their home stereo systems). But, there is a certain bass frequency range that a lot of home speakers, car stereos without subs and other set-ups have. Let's say that this range is (I'm guessing) probably around 80-100Hz area. I want my songs to have decent bass on all set-ups that can push it. So, let's say, for instance, that I have my typical sub bassline coming in at about 40-80Hz. Then, could I have another bassline be an octave higher and come in at that 80-100Hz range? I could use some tight LP and HP filters to make sure there is no "bleeding" into the other ranges by each channel. Is this possible? Am I crazy? |
| Korey Quines 29.07.2010 | Well, I just make sure the frequencies in the bass dont get higher than the rest of the track. Try to make it sound as even as possible. I also try to eq-down frequencies that stand out or ring a lot. Its pretty much like mastering a track, except that youre only mastering the bass. I always use three subgroups, bass, drums and the rest of the tune. I mix and master every subgroup first, and then feed them all into the "main" mastering devices. |
| Riccardo gava 29.07.2010 | As an over the top example your bass pattern for the sub could be based around a quarter note pattern. the next level up, 8th notes. then the top level, 16ths. No hard and fast rules about this though.. it might sound cool the other way round with long sustained high notes and a rapid fire sub bass line! Experiment and keep it fresh |
| Verona Fashbaugh 29.07.2010 | Thanks for the tips! @rjw: I was planning on using (nearly) identical patterns for now, just until I get the hang of it. Just out of curiosity, I'm assuming when you say that lower notes needs slower and longer midi patterns, you're suggesting that, say, the pattern consist mostly of longer-duration notes (ie: half notes, whole notes even...)? Or am I misunderstanding you? @Kobbe: How do you go about mastering your bass? I could spend all day on the EQ and compression, but I'm not overly familiar with the mastering process. |
| Korey Quines 29.07.2010 | When Im producing I always make 3 basslines. The first one is the main bass, below that I have two subs; two simple sines where one is lying in the octave where you barely can hear it and the other one octave above. This makes your bassline sound the way you want while gaining a hell lot of power when played on a good rig. Just make sure to master your levels, bad mastering can turn the bass into a disater. Another thing you can do with really deep basses is adding a tiny bit of overdrive to them. The higher frequencies adds a contour and makes it easier to hear the bass when listening to the track. Sorry if its hard to understand, just got out of bed. :P |
| Riccardo gava 29.07.2010 | Totally possible and not crazy at all! *Really rough guestimates on the Hz as it changes for each tune... but* ..I usually have a sub bass (sine or triangle, 30-70hz ish). A main bass (saw, square, stacked filtered whatever: 80-400hz). And a screwed up over effected layer of 'bass' (distorted lfo'd bitcrushed resampled kitchen sinked, 400hz and upwards.....) You dont need super tight filters to separate the bands (you need a bit of overlap to gel them together) 12 or 24db per octave will do well. If they all play the same notes, just shifted up octaves for each bit it can sound very phat, like a huge unison of sound. You can also play around with different (but complimentary) bass lines on each level. The lower the note the slower and longer your midi pattern needs to be. once you start going into the higher levels of hz you can use faster patterns and shorter notes! .... google up 'resampling' and 'splitting bass frequencies' <--- dubstepcommunity and DogsOnAcid are excellent for this stuff! |
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