how many basslines you go through to find the perfect 1

Lucidproduction

i aint fraid of no ghosts
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how many basslines do you go through to find the right one?

today i have got a banging drum beat, a nasty reece and sub bass, even an awesome BP filter automation that works with all the riffs i play...

ive written about 10 different basslines that all sound good, but none of them have the oomph i know my bass sound deserves.. its so frustrating... im glad i have so many options for it but i just want the one bassline that goes POW.

im just gonna leave the file open all day and listen to mixes until i get an awesome idea and then fill that shit out... its all there just waiting to go!!

so yeah those of you who makes Blines do you sometimes have the same problem just to find the perfect riff?
 
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i find no amount of tweaking ever makes them perfect. near impossible task for me. i keep on keeping on tho. i find smooth liquid basslines the worst. growling heavy blines are alot easier to work with.
 
think he doesnt meant the sounds..

finding riffs is the part i mostly just fail at. if i get one i like, everything else doesnt fit anymore. most frustrating part of the whole thing imo.
 
yeah basslines are a problem for me as i cant play the keyboards very well.
I know what i want but i find it hard to get it out cos of my stupid fingers !! :chainsaw:
takes me ages....
 
got ya. thats where a strong background in music comes in handy.

i can read notes, learned to play keyboard long enough and so on, but that doesnt necessarily apply on basslines.

furthermore you dont learn how to write a banging bassline when learning any musical theory or instrument.
 
i can read notes, learned to play keyboard long enough and so on, but that doesnt necessarily apply on basslines.

furthermore you dont learn how to write a banging bassline when learning any musical theory or instrument.

i think he is refering to the theory behind a good motif, ie a question followed by an answer... but more often than not, a good ear is subconsciously using music 'theory' that we have learned over the years...
 
i think theres a few ways to approach this, you could 'write' a complete bass riff into a loop in the song to fit your beat, however i find you can be more creative in other ways, like only playing a few hits or notes and leaving some gaps, then fill the gaps out (not all) with other bass sounds on seperate tracks effected in other ways with choruses or flangers/filters/distortions ect, using the groove of the beat you've made to swing it a certain way. sometimes it can be the way a certain bass sound swings in at the end of a bar that gives it a hooky melody. when im designing a bassline ill usually part make it with the intention of fitting it together with several other bass elements as opposed to trying to write a complete riff. sometimes the gaps between notes are just as powerful as the notes themselves because the gaps create a kind of urgency and eccentuate the drum elements.

other interesting ways to find basses are to hold down 2 keys next to each other at once on some synths, it often kind of oscilates oddly and you can get some wierd sounds like that. ive found wicked sounds before just holding down a key of a long sound until it dies then getting the low feedback hum off the end of it, resample that and cut, beef/effect/eq & shape it into another part. :)
 
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