"they generate harmonics".... - "they" *, yet you only commented about Rbass which is my later less important example from my last post.

So what about Lowender, LoAir, etc.?

Also from a better mixing approach with way more flexibility, isn't just better to convert the bass line audio track (in case it's not midi already) of that particular song and convert it into a midi file, even if you want to add monophonic sub/bass information to an audio chords related track of a piano progression etc. you can still convert it into midi via polyphonic mode in Melodyne, edit the resulted midi file so you have just the bass notes of that chord progression, then load whichever favorite bass synth and easily create that missing bass yourself without any sub generating plug-ins to start with, that's so much more flexible because you can do whatever you want to your new sub/bass track, like individually mixing and editing/arranging it. It might sound slower than what a plug-in would do but if you set up your work flow in such way to quickly access every of the necessary steps then you're not losing that much time compared to a sub generating plugin and you get a better advantage/flexibility/creativity going the alternative route.

 

I assume Fabfilter Saturn can do that too at some way, as being sort of multiband versatile harmonics/distortion plugin?

 

I mean playing a higher note ...

For example if you play your bass at A and then C

 

A bass enhancer that follows midi notes would be revolutionary, but the amount of bass frequencies it would need to add to higher notes would be tricky, I'd imagine alot of frquencies would be needed, and then they might overpower? Hypothetically speaking

 

I think RBass, like many other low-end exciters, are just parallel saturation+lowpass [Correction: bandpass] filter (in that order). Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Last edited: Jan 5, 2019

I really dig all you guys input & appreciate it very much. But honestly its a bit confusing , the deeper i went into the rabbithole. Can some1 recomand a good article about saturation, enhancing, harmonics, so i gotta get it clear?
For example an exciter, is that a tool that saturates the hi freq content, or does it add harmonics. Or is that the same? I gotta learn!

 

Great, me too.
An exciter which adds odd harmonics adds them to the source's freq spec, no matter what's the root freq.
For 40Hz sinewave this would result in (x3, x5, ...) 120Hz and 200Hz, for 400Hz in 1200Hz and 2000Hz.
Grab a tone generator, an exciter, a freq analyzer and see yourself. I can provide you with screenshots if you want, no prob.

RBass and MaxxBass just add a lowpass, like Baxter already said, that's all. Without the lowpass it would work with those too.

 

@Retrolize77 Check this tutorial "Sample Craze - Harmonic Distortion Valves and Tape Saturation", it´s for beginner´s, but has some useful information

 

Explanation about SUB generator (LoAir, Lowender ...) and bass enhancer (this one, Maxxbass ...) is just a few posts before.

They are completely different : sub harmonic generators VS higher harmonic "brain trick" (missing octave) used on church organs :D

 

Exactly...And RBass isn't an exciter, nor does it uses lowpass (but rather a highpass).

 

This is interesting. So why does RBass add harmonics above the fundamental and only up to a certain range? For example, it does add harmonics to 40Hz but not to 400Hz (and btw no additional freqs below a source at 80Hz, even if RBass is set to 40Hz).

 

It's a bass tool. It's not meant to add higher harmonics above a certain range.

Chris from AW "copied" RBass and created Floor.
He explains thorougly what it does both in the description and in his demo vid, if you're interested.
http://www.airwindows.com/floor-vst/

And formally an exciter does add higher harmonics, etc, and it can be used to process bass. It's excellent to do so. I'm merely stating that it's not what RBass or similar tools use to do what they do.

I'm being precise to avoid another drama. I appreciate you and I don't want to fight !

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2019

Ok, you got me there. I should have asked: how does RBass...

Nor do I.

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2019

excuse my ignorance, no disrespect to anyone or developers of this plugin.
but-- we could achieve this via automations and/or live mixing or am i wrong ? or is this simply a plugin to reduce mixing/mastering time? one more question, how would this plugin help if it (im assuming) has presets? wouldn't that contradict the human ear , how will it know what low end/bass frequencies are supposed to be enhanced and what sound system it will be playing on? most live stages obviously have compressors,eq's, etc. wouldnt this vst distort these frequencies?

again, no offense to anybody. just trying to understand .

good vibes,

 

yeh, but that doens't change the fact that RBass and any other Bass Enhancer operates around a fixed center frequency. And this thread is about bass. Add RBass to a sine and watch its spectrum, listen while playiong different notes and adjust the center frequency. It sounds and look different.
If its operation would entirely depend on the input signals pitch, why would it have a center frequency parameter ? just curious. no offense or anything negative, peace & good vibes

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2019

Big up for the good vibes wish, as important as the great tech talk. A true musician forum in here, spreading knowledge, art & cooperativeness. Thats for what i love this place in here, perfect mixture. Offtopic but cant be said enough!

 

You're right.

A normal enhancer/exciter does, RBass not.

Because of the filter.

The best solution I found so far is to set this freq as high as possible. This produces a pretty consistent additional freq spec for round about two octaves (~ 60 - 240Hz, three if you go down to 30Hz).
But this was always plan B for me, I prefer non freq dependent saturation/distortion fx.


No offense taken, we're just discussing.

 

Last edited: Jan 7, 2019

hm my experience so far is that it sounds best when I tune it for each note

just wanted to make it clear since we get very fast misunderstandings in forums

 

It's great to see this discussion having some traction still, we haven't checked in on this topic for some time.

 

Hi No Avenger, I hope you have had your question answered. We made a video to support this topic, feel free to check it out if you have more questions:

denise