Bass House Project - Update 1!

Hey guys! I'm well aware that an update on this project is well overdue and I have an absolute tonne of stuff to tell you guys so lets just get right to it shall we?

Starting from the drop

As I've said before in previous blogs, I find starting from the drop in EDM tracks easier as that's the place where all the action happens and all of the synths (or most of them) within the track show themselves. From that point on it becomes easier to shape the rest of the track as most of the synths that you will need are already crafted and you can pick and choose what you want to use. Below you'll find a screenshot from my current Ableton Live 9 session and throughout this blog you'll come across a multitude of massive patches that I have recently begun to use throughout this project.

Ableton Live 9 Session view: 6/6/18

Please note: I Had to close some of the clips for the percussion to fit everything on screen :,)

All about that Bass...

Now lets get into the interesting stuff, below you'll find the N.I Massive synth patch for my main bass.

As you can see from the image above, I have used 2 of 3 oscillators available in Massive to create a fusion between a smooth square wav and saw II, giving me a unique sounding Square/Saw wave. From this point, I routed them out to filter 1 (although due to my appalling screenshot skills and attention to detail at the end of a session, it doesn't appear that way in the above image). By using a lowpass 4 filter with a envelope attached to the cutoff frequency, I was able to give the wave a bidirectional movement, controlling when the filter opens and closes. Then, by adjusting the attack and decay on the envelope, I was able to either give it a slight percussive sound or a slight 'wubbing' depending on how sharply I adjusted them. For this particular synth, I decided to go somewhere in between so when sidechained to the kick, the bass won't be completely overpowered (if I choose to do that which I'm currently unsure of). However, whilst this is the main bass of the track, there are also a variety of other basses incorporated throughout this drop, the first one being the bend.

The Bend

A bass bend is always something I've wanted to incorporate into a track and with this project I was finally able to do it! However, I had a slight problem, I had no idea how to make one. But I didn't let that stop me, from listening to them over and over again in tracks I just assumed that it was a basic pitch bend in an oscillator - which turned out to be right! Below you'll find the Massive patch for this synth!

To create this patch I knew that I would need the smoothest wave that I could for so I went straight for a sine wave. From my experience with making future bass synths I was slightly familiar with using oscillators to pitch bend waves. To create this synth, I incorporated that knowledge and added the first envelope in massive to the pitch alteration section of the first oscillator. From this I then tuned the envelope up 24 semitones (2 octaves) and then tuned the sine wave down 24 semitones. What happens then is that the envelope causes the sine wave to begin from its origin state and rapidly drop 2 octaves. As you can see in the image above, the envelope I'm using has a rather sharp attack and a decent sized decay allowing it to ring out just enough for the main bass to kick in. This synth bend combined with the first kick drum in the drop creates a really nice impact to start the drop with.

gotta Have that Wobble bass

The last bass synth I have to discuss today is a rather small one that only makes slight appearances throughout the course of the drop. From listening to a lot of different bass synths in my influence's tracks, I came to find that a lot of them love to use 'wobble' style basses, particularly Drezo. Similarly to the last two bass synths, you can find its patch below:

For this synth I decided that I'd use a synth that as very similar to my main bass but make some drastic changes. Although the waves and oscillator settings are rather similar, the filters and envelopes are entirely different. Furthermore, I have also added an LFO on to the cutoff frequency and given it a rather rapid rate. You may have noticed in the image above that the envelope that is modulating the cutoff frequency has absolutely no decay and very minimal sustain. This allows for a very fast-paced, one shot kind of movement however, with the LFO also modulating the cutoff frequency, it causes the sound to repeat itself over and over depending on how long you make the note last. I decided to run this synth through a daft filter to give it a bit more of an analogue based, dirty feel but something just wasn't right, I knew there was something missing that I just hadn't got around to yet. Ohhhh that right... the resonance wasn't cranked up. Once I added a large amount of resonance to the synth it delivered the exact sound that I had pictured. Although this synth only appears every now and then in the drop, it just gives small parts of the drop some kind of funk that I just can't explain.

and of course, don't ever forget the sub bass...

I mean, what's an EDM track without a sub right??

Admittedly, this one is probably one of the most lazy synths I've ever made as all it is is pretty much just a sine wave that was tuned down an octave. Changes may be made to it at a later date but at the moment it seems to work fine so I'll be leaving it as is.

To wrap this up

For a project that is only two studio sessions in I believe that its chugging along quite nicely. Although if my aim is to have this track done in 3 weeks, it seems I may need to pick up the pace. But with that being said, once I finish recording an acoustic artist this week I will have a little more time on my hands. As always, tune in for my new blogs each week! Until next time!

Levels :)