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Trance Bass revealed. Motorcycle- ATRC (avb mix) dissected.

Since good, rich basslines have troubled me since the start of my producing days, I've decided to help you guys out and dissect the bassline from the AvB remix of As the Rush Comes.

Here's how it works:

http://flamevault.com/~celerity/atrc%20sub%20bass.mp3
First we have the sub bass. This is the part of the bassline that actually thumps on the subwoofers. No note will fall at the same time as a Kick, otherwise you'll blow your speakers (unless you're using a kick that has no bass in it, but that's not how it works in this case). This was created with the Junglist VSTi, using the first preset and changing the ADSR envelope on the Amp and making a few other small tweaks as necessary. EQ it with a subwoofer handy.

http://flamevault.com/~celerity/atrc%20echo%20bass.mp3
Next we have the part that gives the richness/fullness to the bass. This is echoed with a 2 tick delay on the left channel and 3 tick delay on the right. A highpass filter is run over this cutting everything below 650hz, thereby allowing the notes to echo to your hearts desire without making it sound like shit and have bass everywhere. This was used with the VoidSynthII that comes standard with buzz, with small tweaks to one of the presets on it.

http://flamevault.com/~celerity/atrc%20perc%20bass.mp3
Next we have the high part of the bass; pretty self explanatory. Again, this is run through a highpass filter to get rid of the bass. This was made with the RGC TriangleII VST, which is free. It's a modification of the "dotted brief" preset.

http://flamevault.com/~celerity/atr...ass%20notes.mp3
Finally we have the 3-note bass stab that kicks in. This is tricky to master as it's still bassy sounding and starts at the same time as the kick. In this case, I have it mastered so that it's above the frequency of the kick by using a highpass filter set to around 340hz. The resonance is also turned up on the filter to make it stick out more. This was also made with the TriangleII, with a tweaked version of the bass007 preset.

http://flamevault.com/~celerity/ATRC%20intro.mp3
This is how it sounds when you put it all together.


Voila, a pretty much identical copy of the bassline that Armin uses.

w@ up.. gee

Great tutorial.. People should be placing more tutorials liek this that explains in full detail how to achive something ...
2 thumbs up + to toes up......

I don't hear much "AVBness" to this bassline and while your process isn't incorrect, it is very tedious, nobody goes through this much trouble in creating a bassline most of the time. Addmitedly layering is essential in creating interesting sounds, what you've done is overkill.

awesome tutorial man!
and DC-, shut up man, he wrote a nice tutorial, and yes lots of people spend a long time on basslines and layer them aswell, this is no overkill

quote:

Originally posted by DC- I don't hear much "AVBness" to this bassline and while your process isn't incorrect, it is very tedious, nobody goes through this much trouble in creating a bassline most of the time. Addmitedly layering is essential in creating interesting sounds, what you've done is overkill.

Armin: http://flamevault.com/~celerity/avb%20sample.mp3
My ripoff: http://flamevault.com/~celerity/ATRC%20intro.mp3

The only thing that sounds a little off is the sub-bass, and that's a 2 note pattern change.

If you can make the same thing in a less tedious manner, then I'm sure we'd all be more than happy for you to enlighten us as to how it can be achieved!

I'll just end this before it goes out of hand.

You were right, I was wrong.

I make you my subject of the week in my kingdom

Cheers dude, thats awesome, I cant wait to get home and start mucking about with em, as I have all those vsti's

really great tutorial...this is what we really need in the forums today instead of all thoose tedious how do I start produce questions

and DC-...you'd be suprised of how much work there is to basslines, imo 3 bass-sounds is a small amount of layering

quote:

Originally posted by dj-sean Armin: http://flamevault.com/~celerity/avb%20sample.mp3 My ripoff: http://flamevault.com/~celerity/ATRC%20intro.mp3 The only thing that sounds a little off is the sub-bass, and that's a 2 note pattern change. If you can make the same thing in a less tedious manner, then I'm sure we'd all be more than happy for you to enlighten us as to how it can be achieved!

it sounds like if you use some penning or even alittle delay it will sound even closer, no?

great tutorial... thank's

quote:

Originally posted by Flotser it sounds like if you use some penning or even alittle delay it will sound even closer, no?

on which part?

Great tutorial yoof! quite fancy doing one of my own now...

that a great and good one mate!!! it give me more idea on producing the tracks! GOOD WORK!

quote:

Originally posted by DC- while your process isn't incorrect, it is very tedious, nobody goes through this much trouble in creating a bassline most of the time. Addmitedly layering is essential in creating interesting sounds, what you've done is overkill.

Exactly...they use PRESETS!! Why go through all that trouble when a Japanese engineer did it for you! j/k Not to stick it to DC but it's true, people often cheat.

Barbs aside, judging by the Armin sample, dj-sean's approach looks about right. Whatever the method you use, the underlying concept is separate treatments for the subs range and the mids upward.

But even after layering the basslines, we're STILL not finished:

- Compression! That final mix file still sounds a mite scrawny (and the delay could be a hair louder IMO).
- Attention to note lengths. The original bassline goes da-dum dum da-daaaah. It's not all staccato.

Nevertheless, nice work!

this is great, i'm gonna try this out right away

I wish I could dissect great basslines like that

quote:

Originally posted by Taz But even after layering the basslines, we're STILL not finished: - Compression! That final mix file still sounds a mite scrawny (and the delay could be a hair louder IMO). - Attention to note lengths. The original bassline goes da-dum dum da-daaaah. It's not all staccato. Nevertheless, nice work!

Thanks for the comments. Compression is still something that I haven't really grasped, or at least gotten good at. Out of curiosity, what type of compression would you do to the final mix to beef it up? What would you use to do so?

Cheers =)

very nice tutorial...

all i have to say

regarding compression: Use anything, as long as it's not too much of it.

Set it so it's way too extreme, adjust the time so it sounds rhythmically nice and bouncy, and then back off on the amount to something normal.

Thanks for the compression tip!

As for blowing the speakers, it was perhaps a poor choice of words. I didn't mean that it would literally blow your speakers, but rather that the kick and the low part of the bassline most likely (and in this case they do) share some frequency range, so playing them at the same time would cause levelling issues that could be easily avoided by simply not having them overlap. An alternate solution would be to EQ them such that they no longer share similar frequencies in any abundance.

As for polyphony; yes, of course. If you had a really nice hardware synth like a Virus then I'm sure you could whip something like this together in no time. My objective was to use tools that were either free or really cheap, such that anyone can get close to a "pro" sounding bassline without investing thousands on equipment and the aid of a japanese sound engineer, as one person put it =)

Sound: You should stop by my clubnight some time and chat. Check the Western Canada forum for more details.

As Vizay said, this type of post really is what makes these forums what they are. Really dj-sean, fucking blinding to see ppl share their knowledge with people that aren't as clued up, such as myself.

Fairplay to your good self

Glad I could help =) I would have killed for a post like this 6 months ago, so instead of doing what most producers do and keep hard-earned secrets to myself (no disrespect, I can see why this stuff is largely secret), I figured I'd share. The more solid production tips shared, the more quality trance releases for me to play =)

quote:

Originally posted by dj-sean Glad I could help =) I would have killed for a post like this 6 months ago, so instead of doing what most producers do and keep hard-earned secrets to myself (no disrespect, I can see why this stuff is largely secret), I figured I'd share. The more solid production tips shared, the more quality trance releases for me to play =)

Now THAT is what I like to hear *gives you 2 thumbs up*

Wow, this guide is really nice. It's good to see members sharing their experiences/techniques.
I once read in an interview that Armin uses the same synth for all his basslines, but I can't remember the name of it. However I do think you have made a great copy of it. Maybe you need a bit more compression on the bassdrum and bassline and it will all sound better.

awesome post man. Bringin' back life to the forum. Couldn't stand the weekly "how to start production thread" anymore

Motivates me too to share some secrets...


(to be continued)


Trancevision

Can someone please put the individual samples online again?

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