Bass Questions

[libertine]

Hi Guys

I always wondered how to get the perfect bass to my ears.
At first I tried with samples, but because they are quite limited and can't be controlled fully, I didn't get to that point where I was satisfied.

Since a couples of months I try to make my own basses in Massive and other synths, but when I hear a bass I like, I don't know where to start to recreate it.

So maybe you can help me out.

bass 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-56-nFx9p7k
this kind of "invisible" bass right from the beginning. it has a lot of pressure but you almost don't recognize it


bass 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDGH1pQiE3I
also right from the beginning. I tried with a some saws, but don't get it

What is the mystery behind these basses?

Really hope some of you can help me out. Because the bass is really a key.

greetings

[steevio]

there is no mystery behind those basses mate.
i just had a quick listen so i didnt study them much
the first is just a simple sinewave bass, the second is a probably a filtered down pulsewave, (the second is rather scruffy, and not that nice to my ears)

there is only a few things to think about with bass, the frequency, the waveform you start with, how much you filter it down, and the envelopes (the shape) on the filter and the amplitude,

well thats it for the simple basses in your examples.

you cant filter a sinewave as it has no harmonics to filter, so the only thing you can do with it is alter its amplitude with an envelope.
if you want it to have more body you can add a second sinewave an octave higher.

theres loads of threads on this forum about bass, try searching it.

one of the most important things to think about is the frequency range of your bass notes, they will have more impact if they lie in the 50HZ to 100Hz area, somewhere inbetween being best.

[habitueE]

nvm (first is just a sinewave like steevio said)

[steevio]

There are no real fast rules to making bass.
It sounds like your new to producing so its going to take a few years until everything starts to fit together.

Basically what you need is some subs and some highs so it pulls through your mix.

So a few ways you can achieve this is to use layers. Have a nice sine or triangle wave. Put a Low Pass filter on it. Then have a high bass part, even the same patch but have a high pass filter.

Or you can use a parallel chain to add the highs.
So here you have your main bass and send it through a aux and add a distortion unit to bring the highs.

i never like to question peoples advice , but i dont understand what youre saying here bro.
why would you put a low pass on a sine wave ? or use a high pass on the high part ?
it all sounds a complicated way to do something very simple.
if you are going to add a sinewave sub, you just need to mix it in at the right level, you cant filter it individually.
you could filter the mix of the two wave forms, but it wouldnt do very much, its more a case of just getting the volume balance right.
if you are using a triangle wave theres a few more harmonics to filter but not very much.
the easiest and most effective way to get a good bass sound is to filter just one pulse wave at the lowest frequency you want for your bass, and use the filter envelope to add the attack / higher harmonics.

its probably one of the easiest sounds to make and get right in synthesis.

[hydrogen]

To create great bass sounds use FM synths. you can add extra harmonics to your bass to create basses that have huge subs and pull through the mix.

I'm sure that in this track that is what is used.
They have a tight filter on it. most likely a 4 pole filter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDGH1pQiE3I

too many harmonics on that to be pure sine bass. unless maybe distorted/saturated and filtered after. but the envelope of the bass tells me that its not done that way.

you threw in the word FM very casually there and truthfully really changes the harmonics drastically enough to be void of sinewave properties. steevio is right, a filter on a sinewave is pretty pointless unless there are other harmonics in there.

[AK]

Yeah theres no point adding a lp filter to a sine wave. What are you trying to filter out? A sine wave contains the fundamental and thats it, there arent harmonics to filter out by lo passing.

[someonelikeyou]

Forgotten what I was going to say. Someonelikeyou.

[kristofason]

Forgotten what I was going to say. Someonelikeyou.

Worth it. Someonelikeyou.