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Bass Lines and Music Theory. Progressive
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| Biatchzxz |
My question is basically a few things. In progressive house like John digweed status. What is the Key/Note usually played for the basslines. I find sometimes my basslines. I know there are plenty, but. I am playing a bass line in F I believe in Octave 0 I think. It sounds ok but not as good as it can. I need a good key to play in. for progressive house so it sounds driving. This might a be weird question , but it It makes sense please help me. And if I am in a certain key what note would I play for the bassline note. Does each Key have its own Bass Not to be played or is it whatever Key you are in it wouldn’t matter what you play. Would the root note be it?. I guess it could be a music theory question.
Any help would be great. Just let me hear some input on the situation. Thanks again in advance for the effort. |
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| dj_kane |
| dont know what your trying to say. but a bassline isnt in the same key for a particular style. i normally have it in the same key as the first note of my melody. |
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| verdonsky |
| You'd certainly want to be in a lower octave for the bassline. There is no good key, they are all equal, not sure if that's what you were wondering. A few octaves below middle C is usually where basslines are played. The most important thing is that a note sounds good with another note. You'd probably want the bassline in the same key as the rest of your song. If you posted some examples, that might clear up some stuff. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
The key of your bassline really doesn't matter that much and probably isn't the real problem, as long as it's in the same key as the rest of the song. The essential things are having a good bass sound in the first place (color), stringing together some notes that seem to "flow" naturally together (melody), and making sure that your bassline sounds good along with the other elements in the track (harmony).
If you want a song that will mix well with other progressive songs that are already out there, then you might want to write it in Cm, Dm, Em, Gm, or Am. But that isn't essential by any means. |
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| dj_kane |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
The key of your song really doesn't matter that much and probably isn't the real problem. The essential things are having a good bass sound in the first place, stringing together some notes that seem to "flow" naturally together, and making sure that you write in key.
If you want a song that will mix well with other progressive songs that are already out there, then you might want to write it in Cm, Dm, Em, Gm, or Am. But that isn't essential by any means. |
did i just see your avatar move :nervous: |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| I don't know. Did you? :) |
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| dj_kane |
| i need to stay off the acid if it didnt :crazy: |
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| /I\ |
| octave 0 :eyes: is that like subwoofer farting range :toothless |
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| Derivative |
| quote: | Originally posted by /I\
octave 0 :eyes: is that like subwoofer farting range :toothless |
Ahahah. I had to try this out so I went into fruity, loaded up impOSCar and opened the piano roll. Scrolled down to C0 and then got scared. So I lowered the master gain to about 20% and braced myself. Click. Nothing happens.
So I up the master gain to about 40% and click C0 again. Still nothing.
Up the master gain to about 80% and click on C2. The loudest fart *ever*. Nearly kills me with the blast radius.
I learned something new today - You can't hear around C0! |
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| Biatchzxz |
Derivative - Of course you can hear it. I am sure not all sounds can be heard. But ive been playing 0 octave basslines They are really deep and sometimes i feel like its not punchy enough or can be heard that much..
MrJiveBoJingles - I will try playing those keys and see how they will work. should i play them in 0 oct. or 1 oct.
Thanks for the help and information ...
I am trying to really understand music theory as much as possible also so i like to just ask questions...
I understand that the bass has to be in the same key of the song.. But does each Key have its own bass note.
I know also music has no rules except for theory. Ive just been playing around and testing things out. I will post a sample of it as soon as i Bounce it.
again Thank You |
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| pho mo |
The key does in fact matter for basslines.
Bass notes have low frequencies, and consume a lot of power. There is not much headroom in the mix the lower you go, especially with the kick down there.
Consider writing a song where the lowest bass note goes down to a very low A (e.g. A1) - this means the bass hits a 55Hz fundamental frequency. This is very low, and may put the note where the kick drum hits.
Now consider the same tune, transposed up to G2. This time the bassline would play a fundamental frequency of 98Hz at its lowest point, thus probably leaving tonnes of room for the kick.
Basically, it all depends on your kick samples and what your bassline does, but for this reason, with basslines the key does matter!
This chart link should help out :) |
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| Biatchzxz |
| Wow pho mo that is excellent. Thats what i was leading to belive and lead me to post this thread. I realized that its true what you were saying. They def are hitting the same Freq which eliminates the KICK bump and taking away from the punch of the bass. Before i really did anything to my tracks i try to match the kick and bass together before i move on to anything else.. This way i know they are tight and will leave me room for other sounds and percs. So the Key does matter.. Now does every KEY have its own BASS note.? |
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