I'm making this deep sub bass using two saws, detuned, to get that reese type of sub sound. I've heard this deep sub sound in MANY tracks, but they sound really nice and consistent as far as levels go.
When I'm making mine, the levels are all over the place...like it's hitting a bass 'sweet spot' and spiking the levels before finishing a cycle and starting again. So I'm left with these big spikes of sub bass periodically as the saws are moving around. How do other producers keep basslines like this more consistent in volume, but still have that nice 'oooooooo' hum-like reese sound? If I detune the saws less, I start losing the sound I'm after. I've also tried getting the reese sound using chorus, but I end up with the same problems as far as levels go.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
If you go to this 'BETA Remix' HERE for a sample, I'm after the bass sound that comes in at 3:38...you can hear, it's nice and smooth and consistent. I got the sound, but mine goes up and down in volume like crazy.
EddieZilker
Compression
&
Shelving with roll-off
Also try narrow notching out the 250 Hz part, entirely, to cut down on mud - may be a little higher in the spectrum for some bass-lines.
Storyteller
Close to what I was going to say. Fun to see the sonitus ultrafunk fx series again. Used to be my go-to effects pack 5/6 yrs ago.
Offtopic to Eddie: You can do some really cool stuff with the wah filter when you set it to trigger on audio input. I used to filter my drumloops with that which can be really cool :).
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller
Offtopic to Eddie: You can do some really cool stuff with the wah filter when you set it to trigger on audio input. I used to filter my drumloops with that which can be really cool :).
I've actually tried that unit once or twice but wasn't getting the specific ad hoc results I needed. The next time I start a tune, though, I'll set to work with it and see what happens. Definitely heard the potential with it and I have massive love for Sonitus. Definitely a lot of goto plug-ins I regularly use. The reverbs are nice, too.
trance-ecj
I was pretty sure compression would be the answer, but if theres a significant range in volume, would that require SEVERE compression settings?
Meaning, dial in a low (low meaning, like -30/-40) threshold, a big ratio to keep everything higher than the lowest point compressed, and then dial in some makeup gain?
It just seems to me with the way it moves around now, it would take drastic compression to keep it in check, but who knows, maybe thats how it's done?
Anyway, thanks so much for the help so far!
Sample of what I made: SAMPLE This is just straight up, no compression, eq, etc. You can hear how the bass spikes pretty easily...
EddieZilker, idk if those were suggested compression settings to try, or just a pic of a compressor to say 'use compression'
trance-ecj
I guess the other thing to try would be to roll off the sub from this particular sound, and then layer in a regular old sine under this particular patch for the bottom...but something tells me I could get what I want out of the sound anyway with just the detuned saws.
I guess it's time to experiment with the compressor!
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by trance-ecj
EddieZilker, idk if those were suggested compression settings to try, or just a pic of a compressor to say 'use compression'
It's just to tell you to try using compression, based on the audio sample you provided.
I'm tinkering with your wave-form, right now. Are you using a low-pass filter with some resonance on the synth? I keep cutting frequency out and it still sounds really muddy and there's almost no high frequencies to help round out the sound. I did find a compression setting I think does well, though.
trance-ecj
quote:
Originally posted by EddieZilker
It's just to tell you to try using compression, based on the audio sample you provided.
I'm tinkering with your wave-form, right now. Are you using a low-pass filter with some resonance on the synth? I keep cutting frequency out and it still sounds really muddy and there's almost no high frequencies to help round out the sound. I did find a compression setting I think does well, though.
Thanks so much man! Really appreciate that! Yes, there's a low-pass on in the synth, would you recommend opening it up a bit?
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by trance-ecj
Thanks so much man! Really appreciate that! Yes, there's a low-pass on in the synth, would you recommend opening it up a bit?
I'd start by opening up the filter, taking down some or even most of its resonance, put it through compression (I won't be hurt if you don't use my setting), then EQ with a high-pass filter around 90 Hz or so and a notch just below 250 (there's a cool little growl that gets cut out if the notch is directly at 250 Hz).
If you were going to boil it down to a "lessons learned", for today: It's a lot easier to take stuff you don't want out than it is to put stuff you want, back in. It is a lesson that I, myself, have learned many, many, many times. :toothless
EDIT: Hang on and I'll show you what I got with your file and the EQ I used. Hopefully, you won't have to butcher it, like I did, and you'll wind up with a better result.
Also, if you're getting too much high-end because of the open filter, you can always EQ that down with a high-shelf or a low-pass filter.
Originally posted by EddieZilker
I'd start by opening up the filter, taking down some or even most of its resonance, put it through compression (I won't be hurt if you don't use my setting), then EQ with a high-pass filter around 90 Hz or so and a notch just below 250 (there's a cool little growl that gets cut out if the notch is directly at 250 Hz).
If you were going to boil it down to a "lessons learned", for today: It's a lot easier to take stuff you don't want out than it is to put stuff you want, back in. It is a lesson that I, myself, have learned many, many, many times. :toothless
EDIT: Hang on and I'll show you what I got with your file and the EQ I used. Hopefully, you won't have to butcher it, like I did, and you'll wind up with a better result.
Also, if you're getting too much high-end because of the open filter, you can always EQ that down with a high-shelf or a low-pass filter.
Man, thanks so much for your effort...workin on someone's file, then throwin it up onto something like soundcloud...big big thanks to you. The compression and eq ideas are definitely something to try out, and at the very least, are inspiring. I'm sure I'll be able to get this thing nailed.
I guess based on what you did, I'm curious about one more thing...was wondering why you rolled off so much bottom. Are you assuming a deep sub will go under this? Or is that just the appropriate amount of bass needed compared to the track I was mimicking that I linked in my original post. Just curious, perhaps it just goes to show how awful I am at working with the lower frequencies.
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by trance-ecj
Are you assuming a deep sub will go under this? Or is that just the appropriate amount of bass needed compared to the track I was mimicking that I linked in my original post. Just curious, perhaps it just goes to show how awful I am at working with the lower frequencies.
I was actually trying to balance the low frequencies out with some of the highs that were a little decimated. In the ideal world, I'd have not wanted to cut as much. The sample you provided seemed a little bottom heavy while missing some high-end detail that I heard in the song sample, the style of which you're trying to emulate. The adjustments I made were made to account for that in order to demonstrate that when you find yourself doing a lot of extra work to finesse a particular sound, you're often only left with an unresolved argument that negates the intended result of all of the adjustments you're making, in the first place.
As I'd mentioned earlier, the sample had a lot of muddiness occurring just below 250 Hz. The drastic roll-off was made to account for that. I'm not actually suggesting that you make such a massive roll-off. Rather, I'm just trying to show you the flaws in your sound-design so that you'll have something to keep in mind when you're reworking it into something more suitable.
Good sound design starts with the beginning of the device chain. I still reckon with poor decisions made at the synth level, thinking I'll be able to correct for them later on, only to have some abjectly horrific track I have to go and rework to obtain the sound I wanted in the first place. That translates into a lot of time I've wasted trying to put stuff into a track that was missing when the process was started.
studiobob
multiband compression perhaps? compress the low end heavily to tame the bass but leave the mids less controlled. just my $0.02 :)
