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how are psy basslines made?
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| greenskydj |
| Fast, broken, kinda sounds like an arp used, but probably not. Any tricks to psy basslines? |
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| luizmenezesjr |
Basically for Full-on style (about 140bpm) it's:
| K b b b | K b b b | K b b b | K b b b |
(K = kick, b = bass note)
(use a 1/32 quantize, leaving one space between each note)
you can do any variations on the bass note, but try to mantain the note time position... |
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| thoughtlessjex |
| Also, I find it helps to run the bass through some distortion. That makes the sound a bit harder and more grumbly. |
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| Derivative |
most psy basses are either:
1) a 303 or 303 clone (like audiorealism bassline)
or
2) steinberg VB-1
protoculture uses a 303 type sound for nearly all his basses (like in silicon sound and silicon sunrise). thats just a saw wave teebee with no resonance, set to play 1/16ths (even on the kick drum) with an accent on the 3rd, 7th, 11th and 15th note. just make sure you stick a compressor on the bass and duck the threshold between -10 and -25db with the ratio on 2:1 or greater.
other examples of psy 303 basses are: fatali - city of god, space cat - deep rising, beathackers - transpose, cosma - cusanem, hallucinogen - LSD (this one is a square wave, not saw wave)
cosma uses VB-1 for alot of basses. its a bit lame but most of them use the 'synthie' preset and stick it through a load of valves and exciters to beef it up. but im not complaining because cosma's tracks deliver on the bass anyway. VB-1 sounds quite 'solid' even when you play it below C3. it still sounds quite solid on C2 whereas most other synths tend to break up in this range. but VB-1 is a real 1 trick pony and it is so limited in programming terms there isnt that much you can do with it.
examples of psy VB-1 basses: voice of cod - just a ride, cosma - people on hold, cosma - the time has come
nearly all psy basses will have processing on it. in the case of just a ride, theres a load of post processing to get VB-1 sounding that good.
normally this will be with some degree of compression and overdrive. also run it through some tubes of valves or low frequency exciters to warm it up a bit if it is lacking. although with 303 basses, less is more. cosma's bassline for cusanem sounds like a saw wave teebee with a touch of distortion and thats it. |
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| IDarkISwordI |
Hey. Funny this thread pops up like this :). Just a few days ago I got bored and tried to make a psy song :P. Not sure if its worth checking out but I used that stuttered kick like everyone is mentioning and it sounds pretty psy if you ask me. It goes K b b b K b b b and so on. The bass instrument needs to have pretty much a square envelope with no release (or very little) and for variation, you might mess with the decay and sustain. I used 24th notes in the stutter (or in other words, there was a 32nd rest in between the bass notes). I didnt use a 303 sound for the bassline though but hey, I'm not big into psy and I'm definitely not a psy producer so :P.
My Take On Psy
Cheers,
Zac |
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| greenskydj |
| I love this board. Thanks for all the info. Track sounds good Zac, good intro, smooth , I can tell you are a good producer. I have LSD + a Hallucinogen disk, never thought of it as psy, always thought of it as techtrance cause of the other sounds he uses, but yep, Kbbb! |
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| gr8ape |
A 303 bassline isnt really psy.....its more acid if you really exploit the 303 sound.
But in the end......as diginut would say......there are no rules |
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| gr8ape |
Well first of all the kick isnt strong enough, its kinda weak. And second the abss sounds really static and unalive.....so the trick is to play with the filters with automation, so with resonance it sounds like its moving. heres something i did in 2 minutes:
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=...OD37GJYN5LWGFSI
and delay on the bass works with acid but usually not with fullon psy basses. Reverb and delay should be applied carefully on bass, coz it can amke your song sound muddy |
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| greenskydj |
| gr8pe, that's nice movement. Seems like you'd have to work the rest of the song around it, you'd maybe use slow sweeps if you had a lead + other things going maybe? or just be good about your automation timing., |
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| Axolotyl |
Heres a sample from a track I've been working on. Uses the VB-1 with simple compressor to give it some oomph.
www.ionization.net/psybass.mp3
I prefer to use the VB-1 or Vanguard (Nu-Nrg or Direct Punch patches are good starting points) 303 clones tend to sound more like goa as far as I'm concerned which is cool, but dont really give that low end oomph from the ones I've messed around with. |
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| greenskydj |
| quote: | | Originally posted by Axolotyl 303 clones tend to sound more like goa as far as I'm concerned which is cool, but dont really give that low end oomph from the ones I've messed around with. |
I hear that. I'm going to bust out something with the vb-1 after work, I'll check out your example too. |
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