Bassline solutions?

Captin Planit · Post by **Captin Planit** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:30 pm

Perhaps this is treading into sacred territory for a lot of producers, but...

Do you abide by a bassline formula, or do you rely on intuition when the time comes to sprinkle your tracks with a bassline?

Typically, my bassline will rock if I get lucky, either with a sample or a line I'm able to write adeptly almost completely unintentionally. Otherwise, I often get frustrated with how my bassline sounds in comparison the rest of a track, and I often feel like it drags the piece down. Either it's too quantized, or it abandons any chance at developing chemistry with the other instruments based on the way it sounds... I dunno.

What do you do?

reevolution · Post by **reevolution** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 pm

I have absolutely no formula for anything.

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:53 pm

imo, a bassline is one of the hardest elements for a hip-hop producer to pull off well. i'm pretty much with you though...sometimes i get lucky and score a dope sample to use...other times i rely on vsti's and just play around with melodies till i get something i like. overall i'm a trial and error type of guy...don't really rely on a formula.

Captin Planit · Post by **Captin Planit** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:54 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:imo, a bassline is one of the hardest elements for a hip-hop producer to pull off well. i'm pretty much with you though...sometimes i get lucky and score a dope sample to use...other times i rely on vsti's and just play around with melodies till i get something i like. overall i'm a trial and error type of guy...don't really rely on a formula.

Subconsciously, I probably started this thread just to make sure I'm not alone.

Good to hear, anyways.

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:59 pm

i just hope that some bass comes out in the original sample loops, other than that i just leave them alone

too difficult and i dont find it all that necessary

nestle quik · Post by **nestle quik** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:53 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:imo, a bassline is one of the hardest elements for a hip-hop producer to pull off well.

tell me about it,I suck

reevolution · Post by **reevolution** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:08 pm

It took me three years to even begin to be remotely satisfied with my basslines.

I am confident with them nowadays tho.

Remo the Great · Post by **Remo the Great** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:30 am

yeah, basslines are the hardest part of a beat to make dope. i've been having some luck recently, but most of the time I still think I dont put enough variation in them.

That's one of my favorite things about producers like Jazzy Jeff, Kev Brown, Pete Rock, and Oddissee. They've got basslines mastered.

Captin Planit · Post by **Captin Planit** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:45 am

Remo the Great wrote:That's one of my favorite things about producers like Jazzy Jeff, Kev Brown, Pete Rock, and Oddissee. They've got basslines mastered.

It's because they're scientologists and they paid enough money to learn the secrets. And now I want those very secrets.

bizzlestiltskin · Post by **bizzlestiltskin** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:35 am

pete rock is probably the best at making basslines out of any producer i can think of. it's ridiculous. haha rza technically has some of the worst bass lines. usually they're just like a few bass notes here and there, nothing really coherent. but they work for his style of beats.

nestle quik · Post by **nestle quik** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:51 pm

no way man,his style of BOOOOOOOOOoooooomz is the illest to me

The Red Scare · Post by **The Red Scare** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:56 pm

I don't have much of a formula either. Once I get a bass stab sample, I usually fool around with EQing and distortion until I get a sound that meshes well with the rest of the beat. The bassline is usually one of the last things I make for a track, 'cause I wanna make sure its blends well with the samples and drums.

But yeah, EQing is usually my best friend when making basslines.

Remo the Great · Post by **Remo the Great** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:44 am

these days on the majority of my beats i just use a really well filtered analog bass from Sample Tank as my bass sound. On others i'll still use stabs and samples where appropriate, but when i filter the sample tank bass the way I like it, it works well with almost any type of beat i do.

peace

tayoisnt · Post by **tayoisnt** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:26 pm

i use a bunch of stabs i've collected over the years. i uploaded 'em a while back, can do it again if anyone needs.

generally though, i've found with basslines, programming 'em first is a good luck. like, i want the low notes to push the drums and everything else along, as opposed to anything else.

make my drums match the bass, which sort of minimizes the fundamental conceit of hip-hop, but, *shrugs*, it works for me.

Shotty B · Post by **Shotty B** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:40 am

some bass stabs would be dope.

Johnny Cherry · Post by **Johnny Cherry** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 3:02 pm

I got a bass guitar so I use that a lot of times but depends on the track.
I like pitching and cutting the 808 kick but again depends on the track.
Try a synth or rompler like trilogy or Sample Tank as someone else mentioned.

http://www.spectrasonics.net/instruments/trilogy.html

I think ill upload some good synths for you when I get the chance.

Hiphopapotamus · Post by **Hiphopapotamus** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:05 pm

Bass is definetly a sensitive issue in terms of how you use it. Compositionaly or on the mixing side, bass can overpower a track if I'm not mixing it down right or it can sound really good if mixed right. Usually bassline melodies follow drum patterns and drum patterns follow a melody and it's movement. Most of the time I'll create my own basslines, sometimes layer bass tone into a bass loop. And sometimes even chop filtered bass lines and make my own bass loop out of that.

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:20 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:imo, a bassline is one of the hardest elements for a hip-hop producer to pull off well. i'm pretty much with you though...sometimes i get lucky and score a dope sample to use...other times i rely on vsti's and just play around with melodies till i get something i like. overall i'm a trial and error type of guy...don't really rely on a formula.

What VSTi's do you have?

My mans Zaire, I don't know how he does it, but each time he lays out his bass is fantastic. His shits sound like a beat in their own, if he wants them to. And other time just dope enough, and always levelled perfectly to compliment or control the beat depending on what he's going for. The Motif is beautiful. I'm getting the rack instead of the board though.

I do a lot of chopping, So my basses, typically, are easier to lay out...but if they aren't on point, fucks up my whole beat. :(

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:00 pm

Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?

hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.

axel foley · Post by **axel foley** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:02 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:
Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?
hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.

wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:04 pm

axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?
hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.

or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.

CitizenD · Post by **CitizenD** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:12 pm

I'm pretty happy with my basslines. It's just mixing it that drives me insane.

Captin Planit · Post by **Captin Planit** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:10 am

Hasenfefer wrote:
axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?
hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.
or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.

HOW DO I GET THAT? HOW DO I PROVE MYSELF?

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:11 am

Captin Planit wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?
hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.
or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.
HOW DO I GET THAT? HOW DO I PROVE MYSELF?

i'm thinking of giving the winner of the beat battle contest an invite to the site...so winning that might help.

my only reservation is if i invite someone and they don't keep up their ratio, i can get banned...so i'm still mulling it over.

M:akai · Post by **M:akai** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:52 am

Hasenfefer wrote:
Captin Planit wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote: hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.
or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.
HOW DO I GET THAT? HOW DO I PROVE MYSELF?
i'm thinking of giving the winner of the beat battle contest an invite to the site...so winning that might help.

my only reservation is if i invite someone and they don't keep up their ratio, i can get banned...so i'm still mulling it over.

this would be a dope grand prize

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:46 am

Hasenfefer wrote:
axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
Brazen wrote:What VSTi's do you have?
hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.
or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.

Lol word. I may have to check that out. I fucks with torrentspy but my search for VSTi's isn't that succesful. I'm scared of viruses too lol.

Ipl · Post by **Ipl** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:45 pm

tayoisnt wrote:i use a bunch of stabs i've collected over the years. i uploaded 'em a while back, can do it again if anyone needs.

pretty please

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:33 pm

tayoisnt wrote:i use a bunch of stabs i've collected over the years. i uploaded 'em a while back, can do it again if anyone needs.

generally though, i've found with basslines, programming 'em first is a good luck. like, i want the low notes to push the drums and everything else along, as opposed to anything else.

make my drums match the bass, which sort of minimizes the fundamental conceit of hip-hop, but, *shrugs*, it works for me.

I love bass stabs

Henessee Williams · Post by **Henessee Williams** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:21 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:
Captin Planit wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote:
axel foley wrote:
Hasenfefer wrote: hypersonic 2, korg legacy, sampletank, pro-52, ms20, novation v station, junglist, and a couple others.
wtf? i'm still saving up money to cop "one" of those. i need a better job stat.
or access to audionews.ru, the single greatest production based bittorrent site in the universe.
HOW DO I GET THAT? HOW DO I PROVE MYSELF?
i'm thinking of giving the winner of the beat battle contest an invite to the site...so winning that might help.

my only reservation is if i invite someone and they don't keep up their ratio, i can get banned...so i'm still mulling it over.

there's a new beat battle?
will check other threads.

anomaly · Post by **anomaly** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:25 pm

i highly recomend getting a bass player to come in and play on your tracks. have them tune to your samples, then "freestyle" 4 or 5 takes. then chop and loop portions of those takes that you like the best.

Bassline solutions?

Bassline solutions?

Please do^