I really don't know how to explain sounds with words
At 9:20 you can hear a bass that has some glide/portamento going on. But it sounds really clean, and I don't understand how to make something similar. I'm pretty sure it's a saw (maybe distortion?).

So basically:
a) to replicate that pitch bend movement (unless it's an lfo in the synth or I have no idea how these things worked), what can I do? A simple "glide ON" won't work or maybe I'm missing something
b) the sound itself, how's it so fat/gritty? Any leads?

thanks

--
for those who can't watch the video, change country, ehm I mean, here's a zippyshare link :P

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2016

Play 2 same notes per bar (2 half notes) and pitch-bend the note in pianoroll - 1 semitone - it's standard bass technique in techno. You must tweak the curves (pitch up curve and pitch down curve) to get a groove especially if you further pass the bass through a kick-sidechain ducker. And my guess is also towards a distorted saw.

 

I think I got the slide right, but I can't make the saw to sound so full and strong.
Taking a simple saw and adding distortion is very far from the result.
Any ideas on the sound itself?

 

I guess that would depend on the onboard filter drive (I have reasons to believe the sound comes from a hardware synth) and maybe they've slapped a guitar distorsion effect after it. Soundtoys' decapitator with "Punish" on really brings the distortion out even from a sine wave. There's a lot of eq boost in the mids and I don't hear from the video too much low end - try to keep these in mind when designing, these aspects can be deceiving.

 

Not sure what synth you're using but take anything with multiple oscillators like Massive and have OSC 1 tuned perfectly.
Detune OSC 2 Pitch by 3-7 cents negatively.
Detune OSC 3 Pitch by 3-7 cents positively.

if you do use Massive you can always add voices with Unisono under the Voicing tab and play around with the Feedback Amp.

 

Sounds like LFO oscillator sync to the daw tempo, massive should be able to give you that bass.

 

In this little thing I used TAL Bassline and Decapitator
I mean it's a start, I was on it for about 5 minutes only and the glide is bad, but the sound is something at least


to the Pinkman: I didn't think about detuning. When I hear detune I immediately associate "it has to sound like a supersaw" ^^ I will try that tomorrow

EDIT: sexyman, yes, I think the glide has to be synced because of the rhythm it is giving. thanks
Now that I think: maybe the LFO is affecting something else as well to give it that rhythm

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2016

Question: what do you mean by feedback amp (and how does this translate on other synths)?

 

From Massive's Documentation:

The Feedback control lets you route an audio signal from a number of different points in the chain (selectable in the Routing Page) and route it back to the Feedback Section. Feedback can be used to alter a filter’s frequency characteristics, to saturate/distort the sound, or to use feedback with delay signals and so on.

In the Feedback Section, you can adjust the level of output using the Amp level knob, and adjust the ratio of the output between filter 1 and filter 2 using the Routing Fader. The Amp knob has 2 modulation slots where you can attach a modulation source to change the output. A typical case where you might want to make use of the Feedback Section is to create variable saturation effects. Try setting it up like this:
• First click the Routing Page in the Center Window so you can see the diagram of MASSIVE’s signal flow.
• Click one of the small FB icons in this diagram in order to select the source of the feedback signal. For this example, let’s choose the one at the top center of the diagram, a bit to the right of the Filter 1 icon.
• To hear the feedback signal, turn up the Amp control in the Feedback Section. You’ll hear a heavier, saturated signal.
• To create changing saturation effects, try assigning one of the modulation sources like an LFO to the Amp knob. Click on the Modulation Handle on the right part of the LFO tab and drag the mouse to the small black Modulation Slot under the Amp knob. Then click and drag on the small green numeral that appears to define the range of the Amplitude modulation. Also make sure to check the level of the Amp knob on the LFO page; if this is set to far left, you will hear no effect! Note that due to the analog-style approach of the filter saturation, higher levels routed back through the feedback bus can change the filter behavior significantly and generate very different audio results through any effects that you might be using. Another case where you might want to use the feedback bus would be to smooth out the resonance peak of a filter. Try smoothing the sound by increasing the feedback level back into the same filter bus like this:
• First, in the Filter Section, choose the low-pass filter LP2 in Filter 1 by clicking on the popup menu in the header.
• Now try turning the Resonance knob to about 50%. Move the Cutoff knob back and forth while playing a note on your MIDI keyboard. You should be able to hear the resonant peak around the cutoff frequency.

If your synth has audio inputs or is in anyway (semi)modular you can feed it's output back into itself and use filters to shape the sound.
You could also try to use a short delay with distortion but the filter feedback is pretty unique in Massive.
This is for a thicker sound.

EDIT
For the actual bassline you could sequence it in a 1 bar loop and have the notes overlap to give you that slight rhythm.
Or use a tempo-synced LFO like suggested.
Or a side-chained filter on the bass with a percussive track as your input.

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2016

@Backtired Do you have another video example? For whatever reason this one refuses to play even with proxtube

 

thanks a lot everybody, helpful tips in here
EDIT: tulamide, just saw now your post; i have an mp3 rip of that specific part because I analyzed it on the EQ2, let me find it

Here you go,

 

Last edited: Oct 28, 2016

Well, I failed miserably at recreating. However, I like what I produced instead. Link to instaud.io:
https://instaud.io/AXy

 

Have you considered that it might be a glide between 2 or 3 notes, but the glide is being changed direction before it gets to the second note by triggering a third note lower than the first?
I hear it a lot in psytrance type stuff, using the portamento but not letting it get all the way to the target note before it gets pulled away.

 

Although the result isn't a bass, my technique is somewhat similar to what you describe.

 

One thing that'll help you get real close to that mysterious oldskool techno sound is resampling. Even better if you do it with Togu Sampler or the 112db Morgana sampler, where you'll have an array of sound degrading DAC-type features at your disposal. That "analogue" feel in those tracks is not always about some special analogue piece of gear, but more about the actual microtuning of the sounds - that's why tinkering with "detune" is totally the right idea here too. They are often not on A-440hz (intentionally or by accident), and if you shift away from that too, you will find those juicy techno sounds there waiting for you.

Although if you find you're lacking a certain "warmth", then that's almost certainly coming from using tape. A nice tape or cassette simulation will land your glide spaceship on target.

Anyways, sampling your riff and then doing the pitchbend with the actual sampler will get you the sound you want. Try playing the riff at different pitches too, it will slow down/speed up and be kinda out of time, but never you mind that. Great results can be had by ignoring these imperfections and then timing your drum BPM to the "out of time" riff by ear, so it's close but not quite right... You wanna look for "a sound". Our default 12-TET tuning system contains no perfectly tuned intervals except for the octave, so when you use an oldskool sampler to play a synth riff in this kind of way, it's a lot like dipping your big toe into the vast sea of microtonality and quirky dissonance that perks up people ear (especially when they're outta there minds zooted on les pillules).

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2016

heres what i would use Phoscyon square wave http://www69.zippyshare.com/v/nDdfKUCv/file.html
heres a .aif
heres a .wav

 

My favorite 303.