|
[Tutorial] Trance Basses (uplifting style)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Nautica |
As is usually the case with sounds in dance music, what you hear in the final track is quite different from the raw presets or patches in your synth, be it hardware or software.
What we are going to look at in this tutorial is creating a trance bass sound. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it will hopefully give you an idea of what's involved in getting the sound.
For the examples I'm using Reason 3.0, but obviously the methods can apply to any setup.
First of all we start with the "bare" patch. I'm using "DiscoBass.sxt" from the Reason Factory Sound Bank, which despite the name isn't really a funky disco bass, just an FM-ish tone with a nice twang to it.
For now it's a simple C2-C3 alternating pattern. Pretty boring but we'll switch to something more imaginative at the end - this will demonstrate the difference it makes. The basic sound:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut1.mp3
It's quite a bright bass sound but not a very deep one so we'll combine it with something to add a little bottom end. For this I'm using "Sub Bass 1", a single osc triangle wave again from the Factory Sound Bank:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut2.mp3
The two combined:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut3.mp3
Now it has the dynamic range so it's case of spicing it up. First of all we add some reverb. Most types of dance music don't use reverb on the bass, but trance is an exception. In this case the RV-7's "Hall" preset:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut4.mp3
It's starting to sound a little better now but what really helps is delay. A 3 step delay, 1/16:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut5.mp3
Now for some compression. -18db threshold, 2.8:1 ratio, 4ms attack, 97ms release, 3db output gain:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut6.mp3
Now we tweak the EQ. A 30hz low cut, 2.3db gain at 137hz and a 9db gain at 890hz.
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut7.mp3
By adjusting the EQ you can make it sound quite different. Here we boost by 10db at 3.4khz:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut8.mp3
Now we'll make the pattern more interesting:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...l/bass_tut9.mp3
Let's see how it sounds with our rhythm track:
http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb.../bass_tut10.mp3
There we go! From flat to fat in 10 easy steps.
You can vary the sound a lot with EQ, or by using a different sample / patch as a starting point.
What's that? You want the Reason files as well? Oh go on then. I've assembled it all into on Combinator patch: http://www.expure.com/music/tranceb...trance_bass.cmb
I think every producer finds some parts really easy and others very difficult. Basses is one thing I've never had a problem with so I hope this is of help to those that are finding things tricky! :) |
|
|
| Thois |
| hmmmm this tutorial is pretty good |
|
|
| DeZmA |
| Agreed with most of the things except the reverb |
|
|
| Rikki |
Thanks for the post, seems so simple when broken down but obviosuly you know what you are doing there mate.
R. |
|
|
| Aquarian |
| Basses have always been my one biggest difficulty. I'll have to try out this trick as soon as I get the time. Thanks for sharing! ;) |
|
|
| SouthernDJ |
thank you man, the guide helped me in some steps
 |
|
|
| Eldritch |
Good tutorial, thanks.
| quote: | Originally posted by DeZmA
Agreed with most of the things except the reverb |
Putting reverb on basslines is fine as long as you EQ out the lower frequencies of the reverb. |
|
|
| xmotleyx |
That was exactly what I was looking for. I needed to hear the difference between the starting and end points. Now it all seems clearer...
Anyone got some additional tips for more proggy or deep house basses?
cheers... |
|
|
| Azza Robinson |
| awesome post mate |
|
|
| knight54 |
| Works a treat mate, I'm a newb & this was fantastic for me - thanks so much. |
|
|
| mylespower |
thanks alot for that... i am just getting into production and i have just started playing around with various soft synths wondering why the raw sounds from the synths don't really sound as i want them to... what you have shown was a tasteful use of effects and a combination of sounds to produce a nice fat bass
thank you and i look forward to reading another of your tutorials in the future |
|
|
|
|
