What DAW are you using?

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Can you honesty say you've read (and tried) everything in this thread relating to bass lines?

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...037&forumid=48&

The best piece of advice I can give you is to try writing a track, starting with the bass line. You'll probably learn a lot more about what you want to acheive becuase your focus will be on the bass line first, and the restof the elements after that.

I've always done this anyway just because I was crap at music theory and found it a safe way to start a project, so for me, the bass is anything but an after thought.

Bass is the hardest part of a track to get right, and if you dont the track can never turn out good.

But tbh, i dont think it can be taught by anyone else but yourself.

Learning sidechaining can get you a long way though.

And you need the kick to play along as well, again you need to use your ears here too.

Also, low cut those lead sounds and pads, all of them!

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quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Bass is the hardest part of a track to get right, and if you dont the track can never turn out good. But tbh, i dont think it can be taught by anyone else but yourself. Learning sidechaining can get you a long way though. And you need the kick to play along as well, again you need to use your ears here too. Also, low cut those lead sounds and pads, all of them!

Good advice, but the strange thing is, I've never once used sidechain on any tracks (not for bass anyway).

Tbh mate, there is endless variations.

You can whack together a bass in 3xOSC like this in 5 mins.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ogc4ji

Pretty basic I know, but it would work for some tunes.

What sorta bass you after?

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Im using Cubase sx3

I do know how to side chain, I just mean that (and maybe I should have not said afterthought) When I write a bass it is just an oompa following the root note or just one synth playing some basic pattern. I know nothing about sub bass I hear some tracks where the sub bass appears to be moving under the bass almost driving the track. I also see people on here talking about layering basslines etc and paying attention to each frequency like having a mid bass and a low bass etc.

I also dont process my bass ever well not individually just end stage mastering. Someone on here the other day was talking about stereo image for basslines i thought they were pretty central.

All i do is pick a preset and make a pattern I get real into all the other parts of the track I just havent with bass wanted some pointers

I had not checked that thread which I am gonna do now thanks for suggesting it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lunar Phase 7 Pretty basic I know, but it would work for some tunes. What sorta bass you after?

The sort you just uploaded what did you do? What kind of pattern? that would go great with the melodic thing im trying to do now.

EDIT:1 Also did you reverse the section just before it kicks in thats a cool effect!

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Processing a highly structured and complex pattern of sensory input as a unified percept of "music" is probably one of the most elaborate features of the human brain.....understanding how music is perceived and how it may elicit intense sensations is far from being understood.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Bass is the hardest part of a track to get right, and if you dont the track can never turn out good. But tbh, i dont think it can be taught by anyone else but yourself. Learning sidechaining can get you a long way though. And you need the kick to play along as well, again you need to use your ears here too. Also, low cut those lead sounds and pads, all of them!

Nah, Bass isn't the *hardest* part to get right, id say its the composition. If you make the bass properly you won't need to side chain much.

Bass has two parts, the bass and the sub. And its easy if you seperate those tracks. The bass is the 200hz + range. The sub is down in the 0-200hz range with the kick.

I find that for the sub of the kick and the bass, if they notes don't hit on the same beat,there isn't much to worry about. And if they do, then you need to blend them. They are sub, they don't need to be distinct, and also you don't want the sub and the bass to have the same melody. The sub benefits most when its extremely simple. Most trance, or edm in general, that i have heard, the whole sub is at most 3-4 notes. in trance its usually one note. at least that is what i have noticed. the bass however is a normal melody like the lead.

in short, the bass and sub should be seperate, it makes things very easy to work with, and you don't want the sub playing all the same notes as the bass, come up with a new yet similar melody based on the root key of the bass.

I'll make an example mp3

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Composition is getting loads easier for me Im doing a course in music theory and as soon as you have a great progression the melodies etc become much easier. Interested to know what you mean by sub and bass playing different melody I would never ever in a million years do that for some reason I thought it "broke the rules" for want of a better phrase.

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Processing a highly structured and complex pattern of sensory input as a unified percept of "music" is probably one of the most elaborate features of the human brain.....understanding how music is perceived and how it may elicit intense sensations is far from being understood.

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c Im using Cubase sx3 I do know how to side chain, I just mean that (and maybe I should have not said afterthought) When I write a bass it is just an oompa following the root note or just one synth playing some basic pattern. I know nothing about sub bass I hear some tracks where the sub bass appears to be moving under the bass almost driving the track. I also see people on here talking about layering basslines etc and paying attention to each frequency like having a mid bass and a low bass etc.

Sub bass is often just a part of the bassline, its not necessarily made on purpose, its just there.
And dont layer a bassline just for the sake of it, listen and hear if it needs layering

Oh and yeah the more notes you use for the bass, the harder its gonna be to mix it, since bass often looses power on certain notes.. that can be a bitch.

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http://soundwolf.net/?page_id=153

Great info here, just read it and try to follow it all before you whine and complain.