No sorry,I was joking.I don't like and I don't use Nexus nor Sausage Fattener.

But yes if I remember correctly the v2.2 is last been available as a "try before you buy" version.

 

Last edited: Aug 14, 2019

Ok, so here comes the opener again. Hope, everbody here is still up to good. Wished to just blow things out. But the story around it might help somebody, too. The plan to try all the good stuff here out on Saturday got screwed. On the experimental side of things I went down the road and got unfocused, still did some.

Decided to re-build that song posted in post #1 and regret it 3 times down the way. Obstacles:

1. Find a good guitar (no guitar player here, just the keys and modwheel) - not checked ;)
2. Find a good cheesy flute for that layer of melody - very unchecked (this one took me like an hour no joke, and the result is a shame!!!)
3. Find an 808 sample - check for finding one, whether it does the job, well, not sure
4. play the basic structre/melody/drums closely but simplified over the fact that the example track seems to be 127,609 BPM in my "analysis" where I noticed to have played the drums in at 128 (what seems to be the official bpm record) - unstable but not unacceptible

So the result is a mess. But still I decided to put it here hoping you guys could help me understand that "magic bass" thing going on "down there". And after feeling the force one might feel like using it, too.

The upload is just for academical purpose:
-Mix (just the sum, no mixing yet)
-Guitar
-Flute
-SnareHH
-808
-example

[Just noticed that I can not upload to zippyshare audio, so I uploaded the rar archive to file-upload. Please message me, if that is unwanted]
https://www.file-upload.net/download-13716990/Travisaspro_ProjectData2.rar.html

WARNING: the result sounds very cheap due to the issues mentioned and the ones unmentioned.

Additional thoughts:
A) the 808 bass in my track is not always on point. I would probably countermeasure that by taking those 4 bass notes to individual tracks/busses, treat them individually... but there must be another way (especially for complex basslines). Any ideas how to adress this issue?
B) the 808 melody is different than it seems. on bar 3 for instance, there are 3 equal notes played but in the head they make a melody of 3 different notes (to my ears, but not too much). Any hints on how to clear that up?
C) appreciate any hint to vst instruments/libraries for that guitar sound, flute sound, 808 sound, oh and "rimshot"/stick or whatever that snare side type of thing is called, def. could use some of that ;)

 

Last edited: Sep 9, 2019

As a hip-hop producer with 20+ years of experience threads like these always amuse me as much as they confuse me due to misconceptions and wrongly used terminology.

1st of all: this thread is not about "bass" nor about "warmth". Actually, it's about distorted bass drums.

And from my understanding, everything distorted is not what I consider "warm" but rather the opposite: it's cold, due to all the uneven harmonics added to the signal.

Now here's how it's done usually:

• Find an 808 Kick with the proper length or adjust its ADSR or ADH Curve using a software sampler
• Throw L1 Limiter on it, set it to it's fastest release time and lower the threshold until it adds its signature-like distortion to it
• Insert a graphic eq like an API 560 next and balance the sub frequency with the click of the drum (around 1 kHz und upwards) to add presence to the klick and it has it doesnt sound dull.

If this doesn't give you the desired effect, add a klick to the signal using Sasquatch Kick Machine which is really excellent at what it does.

Alternatively, use a 2nd, high pass filtered bassdrum where only the knock/click is present and blend the 2 together by sending both kicks to the same output. Compress them slightly to glue them together. Bounce it as your new kickdrum. Done.

Splitting the sound like that works also very well for big boombap drums to place them in the mix.

 

no, you all have it wrong.. i know because i have a degree in hip hop

 

Dep jam

 

Misterguywick
you only can post name of warez...no direct warez linking allowed in asex forum...
but thx

 

Sly-Fi Kaya is also good plugin for basses

 

@5teezo Thanks for your honest reply. The world is more complex to whatever we expect. You are right regarding that "distorted bass drums" topic. Because the distorted drums have been utilized in the example, this applies to the example song. But what I described "unprofessionally to your ears" is still very strong: that warm low-end. And there a many other examples where the bass sound is undistorted but still as warm and recognizable over all devices. I am confident that only approaching one side would not help, that is why I chose to "work" on this.

Distorted sound indeed does not fit to "warm" (nor "cold) to me. But the warm/full/rich/balanced/onpoint low end, is what I try to describe.

I appreciate your hints to achieve that sound. Honestly I would love to hear your input on exactly what kick you would start with, so I could gather that one for academical purpose.

Your experience is great and of high value. Could you give me feedback on the provided material. With the 808 bass itself I am not too unsatisfied, even though it is still very different. And having only 3,4 elements and no kick itself (only the 808 bass) it does get through the mix just okay. I hope everybody can understand that "just okay" is not enough and I am hoping on anybodies input, maybe even help me tweak a little...

@KungPaoFist Amazing video! Never seen that before, but a classic.

Coming back to my post, looking for hints to tweak the audio I uploaded into the proper direction. This post:

 

You need a bigger phone for the subs to rattle your teeth.

 

years ago i heard tracks of jerome isma-ae and they always had such a tight low end i think it is just a certain technik and outboard gear
i dunno if you know tell me

 

offtopic: anyone know or ever heard the coldest bass????!

 

It doesn't get all that much colder than a bass on ice.

 

So I made a quick mix of this track in attempt to approach the desired bass;


Insights and tips welcome

edit: Modification to 808 per @5teezo 's notes:


Hope I'm not invading the thread OP, thanks for letting me use your stems. I like your midi guitar playing actually. I think this thread helped illuminate some key 808 issues for me

 

Last edited: Sep 11, 2019

The problem in your song is the bassline, the kick not so much. The upper harmonics of the fundamental frequency (mostly octaves) in your bass are too loud and mask the fundamental so it doesn't sound subby and "warm".

You have to tilt the whole spectrum of the bass towards the sub frequency. To do that, Cut 22 dB (yes!) around 130 Hz (C3) and 24 dB around 260 Hz (C4). Next, boost subs around 30 Hz. A pultec style eq might be the tool of choice here. Voila subby, license plate ratteling low end. Next,adjust the body and click of the kick. Finally, head over to PayPal and send me 100 € for mix consulting :D

 

Ok, I'm in a tough spot right here. I thought I did it (thanks to the great advices from @5teezo @Baxter @Cav Emp @Misterguywick @KungPaoFist , in the studio on monitors with sub and also and via headphones I reached something. and then I heard it on the laptop and I got so disappointed... here the bass was not noticable nor rich/full/warm, nothing but a little click in the beginning.

So I came to this:

1. (forgetting about the laptop issue and going with what I like to hear in the studio) I noticed that @5teezo frequency cuts advice gave the right thing to at least the lower bass note that drops repeatedly in the 2nd and 4th bar of the beat. These ones seem like 90% on point /how supposed to be.

How can I get the bass/sub/808 sound full among all the notes played? Is there a tool/method that follows the bass notes and adjust accordingly?

[I cut the bassline as it is a simple one and put them on two different Busses, still I could not manage to tweak the higher notes to sound close to that lower one. This was possible due to the oversimplicity of this bass melody. But for complex melodies there must be a method, right? Can not imagine the pro-Pros but the bass on 16 Busses for every note played for that purpose...]

2. Any ideas, how I can transport that sound from the studio monitors or headphones to laptop speaker in a way of the example song from first post? Is it possible to achieve something good sounding in the studio, which does not transfer to mini speakers, but then add some mastering grade processing to not harm what is good but deliver on all speaker size (bass-wise)?

Here goes the zip archive including 3 WAVS:
https://www.file-upload.net/download-13719638/Travisagain.zip.html

Mixdown1 (the best it got for now)
Mixdownoneline (lower and higher bass notes treated 100% equally)
bassline solo (limited)

So I did adjust around 130 herz -21 db, 260 Hz -18 db, (@5teezo what did you mean when you mentioned C3 and C4?) the curve was not too narrow and both (on Fabfiltr), Pultec +4 db at 30 Hz, the added some Transients aggressively and some slight tape distortion. This is all on the channel for the lower 808 notes. The higher ones, have been tweaked further by ear to get that low-mid humm out of it as good as possible (what probably did good in the studio but killed the laptop compatibility).

Plate Reverb middle sized on Send Fx and then added guitar, flute, snare hihat to that Send pretty noticable (still less than @KungPaoFist). Thought about adding the 808 almost unnoticably to the SEND, too. But took it out again ;)

Limited on the Master Bus.

3. Can anyone confirm that the Mixdowns do hit the lower bass notes as described or is that just me against the room / headphones...?

Great, you*re welcome! I like what you did with it. Glad to see other people benefit also. This is the power of Audiosex and I am pleased to see what I seek is of interest to others. What Reverb did you utilize (detailed if possible)?

You like my midi keyboard guitar emulation play? Are you sure? I am not. Actually I just listened to your mix once more and that "cheap guitar play" feeling hit me right before I could focus on the mix ;(

 

"How can I get the bass/sub/808 sound full among all the notes played?"

Like I said before, you need to add some high frequency content to the attack phase (body/click) to counter balance the subbass, otherwise it will remain sounding dull and muddy.

Also have a look at the Waveform of your bassline: the hits don't have any initial attack transients and they have a really slow attack time of around 60 to 70 ms. That's not good for drums. You need to fill this gap of mising transients!

To do this, add a kick drum layer that's in tune with the key of the song over every bass hit, roll off the low end until it does not interfere with the subbass. Then boost around 250-500 and around 1-2 kHz to bring out the knock and click.

To enrich the sound you could distort it (L1,low threshold. turn off auto release and set it to as fast release)

 

...or you could try a transient plugin like this phree Flux plugin called BitterSweet v3.

https://fluxhome.com/project/bittersweet-v3/

 

Transient shapers rely on the presence of transients. This 808 has none. You could try it but Layering it with a kick drum or usig a kick drum tool is a better and more satisfying solution. Especially since yoe need the high end. Transient shapers won't add that to 808s.

 

the goat