Thinking about a lot of responses on trance forums, one of the most common pieces of advice is to use several basses on one track.

For example;

A sub

A low bass (but not sub)often made of more than 1 osc

A rolling mid bass - typicaly made of several osc's

mid bass that mirrors the notes of the low and sub bass - to bring them out

A snycy screaming noord type sound to accompany the bass closely (I don't mean a lead - I mean a bass co - partner that is typically heard in an intro)

IS THIS OVERKILL I'M THINKING?


Lately I'm wondering whether this is the best approach for pro results, or whether to chose one good bass sound and let it do most of the work, with perhaps a rolling bass to.

When I listen close to tracks by above&beyond, thier basses seem very simple actually, yet on forum post after post you see this 'layer it-up' advice.

Any thoughts?

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Last edited by Richard Butler on Oct-01-2009 at 09:18

Layer!
Afterall , do you believe that Andy Blueman used only one synth to construct his mid basses?
I dont know about low basses .. I always thought that was kinda unessential(Look at Fast Distance - Big Ben , It only had a rolling mid bass , and a deep sub bass)

The trick in doing these types of basslines is getting sounds that fit together!!!

Yes i do layer my basslines, i always have a sub bass going on just to give the sound deph. but the sub bass does not have to be a sine wave. i choose whatever fits the track..

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hey guys this isnt exactly on the topic, but im pretty new in terms of production and getting those 'trancey' sounds, but on what you guys are talking about, how do you go about getting trance sounding basslines happening? e.g a rolling bassline, and do you use midi notes/step sequences/arps etc? any help would be fantastic

Whatever sounds good. If the synth is good, it can sound great on its own. But if you're using a bunch of crap, you may have to layer for it to sound half decent. It'll probably still sound like crap, though.

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quote:

Originally posted by alanzo Whatever sounds good. If the synth is good, it can sound great on its own. But if you're using a bunch of crap, you may have to layer for it to sound half decent. It'll probably still sound like crap, though.

Yeah. +1 to that.

quote:

Originally posted by alanzo Whatever sounds good. If the synth is good, it can sound great on its own. But if you're using a bunch of crap, you may have to layer for it to sound half decent. It'll probably still sound like crap, though.

Yes, and keep in mind... using 2 oscilliators or more on a single patch is also a sort of layering.

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Let me add a question on this thread.

what is the "right" method to do the bass layering?

-example 1

subbass-->eq+compression and/or the process you want
+
mid-bass-->eq+compression and/or the process you want
+
high-bass-->eq+compression and/or the process you want

all this routed to a group bus where it's processed again, with eq+ and/or any other process and sidechain (if you use it)

-example 2

same as above but without routing to a subgroup, processing all the basses in their respectives channels.

I tried both and "example 2" works better for me.

I know there is no rule to do this but wanna know what is the method used mostly.

thanks in advance

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quote:

Originally posted by alanzo Whatever sounds good. If the synth is good, it can sound great on its own. But if you're using a bunch of crap, you may have to layer for it to sound half decent. It'll probably still sound like crap, though.

+1. I've made great tracks with a 4 layer bass line, and I've made great tracks with a single layer bassline.

Assuming you guys are talking about layering by laying 2 or more plugins, I would say you should only layer bass when needed. If you can achieve the effect you want with just one bass then do so.

But like Subtle, using 2 or more osc is sorta like layering.

Assuming you guys are talking about epic/uplifting trance then it seems to have become a standard to have at least 2 layers, but it isnt always needed.

The more you can simplify the amount of processing the better IMO.

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quote:

Originally posted by meriter Your primary focus should be making good music. That's all. No one gives a shit how you do it. And the people that do are fags.

Layer is good, be it to create one bass sound or more than one bass sound playing different patterns to create the bassline itself.

Depends on what you are aiming for.

It's not unusual for me to use 6 bass patches for one song, generally 2 saw basses, a sub bass and 3 rolling mid-basses.

Though at the same time I've made trance tracks with nothing but a sub bass, as it's already been said, it depends on what you're looking for.