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Controlling your basses

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  • 25-03-2011 3:26pm
    #1
    krd
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭


    I've been toying around with some Dubstep production.

    What's the best way to deal with the sounds/basses. I've figured out how a lot of sounds are made - they're tricky. Involving lots of fiddling with cutoffs, resonance, modulations, bitcrushes. A little twist on any parameter can radically change the sound.

    What's the best way to work with the sounds? Make them then, make samples of them. Or use them straight from the synth?


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    #2
    electrogrimey
    Registered Users Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭electrogrimey


    I often find it's best to bounce MIDI to audio as soon as possible, because with MIDI you can tinker with it forever, but once it's in audio, that's the line finished, and it helps you finish tracks, instead of constantly changing synth lines.

    Bouncing to audio also reduces CPU strain.


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    #3
    krd
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    electrogrimey wrote: »
    I often find it's best to bounce MIDI to audio as soon as possible, because with MIDI you can tinker with it forever, but once it's in audio, that's the line finished, and it helps you finish tracks, instead of constantly changing synth lines.

    I already do a mixture of bouncing stuff down and leaving stuff up - and do a mixture of cutting sound files up etc. Thing about bouncing down a whole track - is I might (I might definitely) change my mind, and want to change it - plus I'm sloppy, I create enough work that needs to be fixed. I'm using Ableton 7 - if I could duplicate the track and hide it so I could easily go back, that would be handy. Too many tracks - I get confused - I lose control of the track and track starts controlling me.

    I wish I could figure out how to use the sampler properly - so I could get the basic bass sound I'm looking for and have neatly in a sampler. A lot of the Dubstep bass sounds - you can start with a sample and then just apply a simple filter setup to get them to do the yoiks, waus, yoys - I haven't figured out how to do bork yet - might need to get a London teenager to go bork into a microphone then apply ring mod and bitcrushes etc. - those sounds are tricky enough - I don't how I should handle them - they're a pain to get right might be more usable to make samples - I don't know.

    I'm getting quicker and slicker - even if it doesn't sound like it - my tracks used to be more or less made of pipecleaners, cut up egg cartons, glitter and held together by pieces of chewing gum.
    Bouncing to audio also reduces CPU strain.

    My new laptop can take a lot more than the last one - which is strange because this one is not hugely different in spec from the last one. But the new one can take far more strain than the last. My new laptop cost me €150, with a trade in on the last one for parts - I think it was stolen somewhere in England.


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    #4
    Standman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,681 ✭✭✭Standman


    Yea bouncing it to audio is a good idea I reckon. If your using a lot of lfos it's handy to record lots of them at different rates, using different lfo waveforms, lfo amounts etc.., then when you have all these multiple audio files you can chop them up and cut and paste them in whatever order you want depending on whatever sound or rythm you want. It's a hell of a lot easier than automation imo.

    What bass vst are you using?


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    #5
    krd
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    Standman wrote: »
    Yea bouncing it to audio is a good idea I reckon. If your using a lot of lfos it's handy to record lots of them at different rates, using different lfo waveforms, lfo amounts etc.., then when you have all these multiple audio files you can chop them up and cut and paste them in whatever order you want depending on whatever sound or rythm you want. It's a hell of a lot easier than automation imo.

    That's kinda the idea of been having too - you can also apply extra filtering to a sounds you already have. I've built risers (you know the rising pads for builds) - just sitting down and using the automation to build them from synths - and bouncing them down, without building a track - then just coming back when I am and grabbing them and dropping them in.
    What bass vst are you using?

    I've tried a few fancy pants basses -- I keep coming back to using the TALs - I think the simpler the set up and the more familiar you are with it, the quicker you can get what you want. The TALs have their draw backs - but all the other ones have drawbacks too.

    A true Ninja should be able to create all the basses, snares, kicks and hi-hats they need, with nothing more than a rubber band, a spoon, a cup and a cheap microphone.


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