Good post, but the hardest part is knowing what you have to do to get the sounds you want.
------------------------ On 12 Mar 2002 at 11:32, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > ok time to give away more of my secrets (not that any of this stuff is really > SECRET, but whatever). Still, though, this will have you making fresh and > new basses as opposed to constantly ripping off other people's ideas. Stop > trying to reinvent Coca Cola and go make your own damn soda... > > First, understand the principles: > > > 1. there is no such thing as a "sound", except for a pure sine wave. Sounds > are really just COMBINATIONS OF OTHER SOUNDS (called harmonics). Actually > theres more to the nature of sound but this definition will suffice for our > purposes. A "Phat" sound is just a sound with ALOT of sounds in it. > > 2. a bass sound is just ANY LOW SOUND. For good dance music you want to make > sure that at least part of that sound (read above) includes frequencies in > the 80hz- 100 hz range, called the "sweet spot". You can go a litttle lower > than that (maybe to about 60) , but then your dealing with SUBbass, which is > difficult to hear on home systems, and, in clubs, willl be more felt than > heard. Fine if that's what you want , just know that 80 is the area for a > good, firm, "felt AND heard" effect. > > 3. All distortion and resonant filtering tweaking do is create mid/upper > harmonics that are added to the sound. (again, see, number 1). So in fact, > the sounds that you think of as "bass noises" in your favorite DnB tracks are > actually sounds with alot of mid-range and high-range sounds in them, just > with bass frequencies (80 hz or so) included. > > Now that you grasp the fundamentals, time to experiment. Here's the basic > formula: > > 1. First, grab your bass frequency- a sine wave at or around 80 hz. You can > use a saw or other wave but understand that these wave types are just sine > waves with upper harmonics already included. (When you low-pass filter a saw > wave all your doing is lowering the volume on the upper harmonics built into > it, bringing it closer to a sine wave). > > 2. Layer some upper and or midrange harmonics. Let your imagination run > wild. Make sure that the sounds you add don't overpower the bass frequency, > sound "natural" with it (not awkward), and that there is some sort of > envelope or filter sweep to keep things interesting, (even a short quick > one). These new harmonics can come from ANYWHERE- your main weapons are your > filter, volume envelope, and effects: > > the original bass sound distorted and filtered (yawn) > a horn sample chorused and resonant filtered > a conga or other drum with the attack cut off- resonant filtered and enveloped > your little sister pitched low, flanged, enveloped. > a piano layered with a square wave run through a ring modulator and resonance > 2 or 3 of these layered and filtered again > a wrench dropped in the toilet then left in the oven for a few days > > Remember: the more sounds you layer, the phatter the sound. Not all the > sounds need be the same volume level. If you use your original bass > frequency to fuck around with (filter it, etc), make sure you add another one > later- or your bass will end up having no, well, bass. Youll have to > experiment to get a sound that's interesting, new, and "convincing" (ie the > upper harmonics don't sound glued on to the side), but once you do get a good > one, it's YOUR sound and you are moved one step closer to true DnB producers > Valhalla. When you do make up that sick, fucked up, "must have" bass sound > make sure you guard it's formula with your life so that loser producers like > us can spend their hours running around trying to duplicate it. Happy > sound designing. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > --------------------- > > PS. And to think noone responded to my offer to do preproduction for them. > Forget all y'all.... Guess Im stuck making a track a year with my fuckin > dayjob... ;) > > oh yeah and big up to rob the original poster- he was dead on but he only > scratched the surface... > > --- ICQ #: 3362938 "progress doesn't come from early risers, progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things" --- --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
