Creating sliding portamento basslines through a clean sub or a reece? OR BOTH

[W3st]

Hey guys,

Been getting into the rolling style portamento bassline found in for example M & F's new single Magnetic Eyes

Here was my attempt at it:

Deepest Bass patch sylenth 1 on mixer chan 1 w/mono portamento
EQ all highs out up till 100hz
Hi pass 25 Hz
mono compress
add distortion (tube)
and maybe other crap i cant see right now (im in class)

Problem is it sounds good on better headphones but not on, for example, ipod headphones. However, the bassline in Magnetic Eyes is heard on said ipod headphones

So here's the question: do you producers out there use distorted subs (maybe with the izotope exciter) for those portomento basslines or do you prefer a reece? and if it is a reece, do you layer with a sub sine?

Anyone who can point me in the right direction would be the man!

Cheers

 

[lostnthesound]

For starters, hi pass at 30Hz. There's nothing under 30Hz that will help your overall mix, only harm it.

Personally, I'd add the distortion before your compression so you're adding that thickness to the sound prior to squashing it.

Speaking of the compressor, adjust your settings on it. Part of the problem could be that you're sucking out some of the dynamic range that gives it "character."

As far as subs go, recently I've been creating two "subs," one that is between 30Hz and 80Hz (depending on the key of the song) and a second, "higher" sub somewhere in the midrange area (500Hz). (Note: These numbers are not set in stone and depend on several factors including song key, peak frequency of other sounds/hits, as well as the frequency relationship of other instruments in your song. Use the numbers as a guide only.) That second, "high sub" is probably sound that you can hear when listening to a track on your iPhone or speaker buds. The thing is, you don't want that second "high sub" to be too obvious, moreso, you want to layer the two subs together so that they're working harmoniously so you can hear it on a non bass heavy system, but aren't overwhelmed with it when listening to a bass heavy system.

As far as distorting subs, I sometimes add a bit of overdrive to the raw sub and then EQ accordingly. I don't think there is really a "rule" about adding some grit to your sub bass, so long as it doesn't eat up the low end and turn it into a muddy mess.

Hopes this helps a bit.

Cheers.

 

[W3st]

sorry never responded to this lost, gonna bump it anyway to refresh it and maybe get more input.

I like the 2 sub idea tho, been working with that since I saw your post and its been working nicely. still not at the magnetic eyes bassline cause I cant seem to figure out the stereo placement (working in mono but its not sounding right) and the clean mid it has.

any other suggestions/guidance would be appreciated

 

[lostnthesound]

sorry never responded to this lost, gonna bump it anyway to refresh it and maybe get more input.

I like the 2 sub idea tho, been working with that since I saw your post and its been working nicely. still not at the magnetic eyes bassline cause I cant seem to figure out the stereo placement (working in mono but its not sounding right) and the clean mid it has.

any other suggestions/guidance would be appreciated

All good mate!

Another suggestion is to band split your bass sound into three parts (low, mid, high) and then keep the channels handling the low/mid end in mono and the high freq channels.

For more info, check out my response to the post here.

Cheers.

 

[Dugg Funnie]

For starters, hi pass at 30Hz. There's nothing under 30Hz that will help your overall mix, only harm it.

Personally, I'd add the distortion before your compression so you're adding that thickness to the sound prior to squashing it.

Speaking of the compressor, adjust your settings on it. Part of the problem could be that you're sucking out some of the dynamic range that gives it "character."

As far as subs go, recently I've been creating two "subs," one that is between 30Hz and 80Hz (depending on the key of the song) and a second, "higher" sub somewhere in the midrange area (500Hz). (Note: These numbers are not set in stone and depend on several factors including song key, peak frequency of other sounds/hits, as well as the frequency relationship of other instruments in your song. Use the numbers as a guide only.) That second, "high sub" is probably sound that you can hear when listening to a track on your iPhone or speaker buds. The thing is, you don't want that second "high sub" to be too obvious, moreso, you want to layer the two subs together so that they're working harmoniously so you can hear it on a non bass heavy system, but aren't overwhelmed with it when listening to a bass heavy system.

As far as distorting subs, I sometimes add a bit of overdrive to the raw sub and then EQ accordingly. I don't think there is really a "rule" about adding some grit to your sub bass, so long as it doesn't eat up the low end and turn it into a muddy mess.

Hopes this helps a bit.

Cheers.

This. I made this sub patch with Albino 3 that I'm lovin' and I started making 2 of them, one an octave higher to translate on weaker systems; magical stuff lol.

 

[W3st]

All good mate!

Another suggestion is to band split your bass sound into three parts (low, mid, high) and then keep the channels handling the low/mid end in mono and the high freq channels.

For more info, check out my response to the post here.

Cheers.

siiigh yeah you know its funny ive been using the same FL studio load up preset from a neurofunk producer blog for some time now and it has the frequency split on the bassline. Ive dabbled with it many times but never really took a liking to the idea. always distorted my sound a bit. However i think its just the arrangement and splitting of the frequencies. Ill try your config and tweak to taste. cheers for the quick get back