Neuro Bass Design: Let's talk about that

xiris

xiris

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I'm gonna get right to it: I'm no good at all when it comes to neuro bass design... I just can't get that tight sound figured out. Most times i end up with a useless, treble-heavy distorted mess of noise, and a lot of frustration and thats about it. I'm hoping you guys can help me solve this. I know to aim for a tight, biting mid-section of the sound, but I've got no idea how to accomplish this goal. I've sifted through a bunch of tutorials on YouTube, and I find 80-90% of the neuro bass ones are no good, and the ones that are I tend to get stuck because I'm missing a particular plugin that producer is using, (ohmicide being one of many examples) etc.

I use Logic, I own Serum and Massive, but my collection of filters and distortions is pretty weak.
Are there any plugins/sound design techniques/tutorials that you guys would recommend that you'd be willing to share?
Do you make your own wavetables in Serum?
Is there a pack of wavetables you guys have bought/found online that really helped you get going?
Do you use samples?
Are you a boss, and just make everything from scratch yourself?
So many questions. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Looking forward to hearing how you guys approach neuro bass.
 
xiris said:
I'm gonna get right to it: I'm no good at all when it comes to neuro bass design... I just can't get that tight sound figured out. Most times i end up with a useless, treble-heavy distorted mess of noise, and a lot of frustration and thats about it. I'm hoping you guys can help me solve this. I know to aim for a tight, biting mid-section of the sound, but I've got no idea how to accomplish this goal. I've sifted through a bunch of tutorials on YouTube, and I find 80-90% of the neuro bass ones are no good, and the ones that are I tend to get stuck because I'm missing a particular plugin that producer is using, (ohmicide being one of many examples) etc.

I use Logic, I own Serum and Massive, but my collection of filters and distortions is pretty weak.
Are there any plugins/sound design techniques/tutorials that you guys would recommend that you'd be willing to share?
Do you make your own wavetables in Serum?
Is there a pack of wavetables you guys have bought/found online that really helped you get going?
Do you use samples?
Are you a boss, and just make everything from scratch yourself?
So many questions. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Looking forward to hearing how you guys approach neuro bass.
Click to expand...


One thing recommended to me by Heist, is to get a really good sounding preset (either bought or free, depending) and reverse engineer it to get your own version of that sound. Or have 2 of the same Synth open (one with the preset loaded and one empty) then copy the pre-set bit by bit and make some adjustments on the way.
 
nafe1 said:
One thing recommended to me by Heist, is to get a really good sounding preset (either bought or free, depending) and reverse engineer it to get your own version of that sound. Or have 2 of the same Synth open (one with the preset loaded and one empty) then copy the pre-set bit by bit and make some adjustments on the way.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your quick responses! My issue with this approach is that I haven't found a preset I like enough to want to reverse engineer. Do you have any suggestions? (paid or free).
 
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WhoSayReload? said:
Do you do multi-band distortion, like high pass / low pass it? A lot of producers seem to layer white noise with their mid-ranges as well.
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Yes I've played with multi band distortion (I have Trash) but I can never get anything sounding proper. I've never tried layering in noise.. that's definitely worth a go, thanks for your suggestions!
 
xiris said:
Yes I've played with multi band distortion (I have Trash) but I can never get anything sounding proper. I've never tried layering in noise.. that's definitely worth a go, thanks for your suggestions!
Click to expand...

Bookmark this!

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xiris said:
Thanks for your quick responses! My issue with this approach is that I haven't found a preset I like enough to want to reverse engineer. Do you have any suggestions? (paid or free).
Click to expand...

I couldn't advise on anything specific as I haven't attempted a Neuro tune yet, but a good start would be to go Loopmasters and have a browse, there may be a preset pack from one of your Fav Neuro artists etc.

sorry I cant be of more help here
 
Ngl it's facking hard lol! Multiple layers is the trick, 3 minimum usually then the sub, all handling different frequencies, sometimes sent to a various busses with loads of different bits on. Raspy top, high mids, low mids plus sub. Work on each layer separately then obviously together and tweak to get them to fit.

Theres no shortcuts, it just takes facking ages to get your ears tuned into a sound that isnt remotely musical generally. Well thats what I found anyways.

Also a foley layer can work wonders for the tops ;)
 
RUSSLA said:
Also a foley layer can work wonders for the tops ;)
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what's a foley layer? I haven't heard this term before
EDIT: Google has taught me things. "Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass."

but how would you apply this to neuro? Layering atmospheric audio, etc in the background for the highs?
 
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xiris said:
what's a foley layer? I haven't heard this term before
EDIT: Google has taught me things. "Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass."

but how would you apply this to neuro? Layering atmospheric audio, etc in the background for the highs?
Click to expand...

I haven't done it before but I'm assuming you'd send it through the same processing as the bass, then it would glue together, bus processing would help. White noise would also do the trick and would probably be easier to use.
 
RUSSLA said:
Ngl it's facking hard lol! Multiple layers is the trick, 3 minimum usually then the sub, all handling different frequencies, sometimes sent to a various busses with loads of different bits on. Raspy top, high mids, low mids plus sub. Work on each layer separately then obviously together and tweak to get them to fit.

Theres no shortcuts, it just takes facking ages to get your ears tuned into a sound that isnt remotely musical generally. Well thats what I found anyways.

Also a foley layer can work wonders for the tops ;)
Click to expand...

Do most people start off with a reese patch or sample?
 
xiris said:
but how would you apply this to neuro? Layering atmospheric audio, etc in the background for the highs?
Click to expand...

Kinda, more like some squelchy shit looped, reversed, high passed or summit. For example..

https://www.freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/339325/

I'm pretty sure we've used that actually or something well similar ha!

WhoSayReload? said:
Do most people start off with a reese patch or sample?
Click to expand...

Yeah man the core sound has to be simple and weighty and its the source init. Check this vid by Spor, pretty much explains it...


Gotta be honest you guys need to watch more videos on Youtube, go deeper on OTHER forums, movie sound design etc.. Think outside the box for inspiration not just search 'Neuro Bass M9 BLAP' etc /Rant
 
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