Creating bass without synthesizers

[neuformat]

So I'm really not into synthesizers. Just realized that recently, and I'm wondering what are some of the ways people make bass without them. It seems every piece of advice or tutorial I come across is about synthesis. I'm looking to make a big fat bass (like Burial, etc....). What do you guys do for bass?

[ToneBox]

What do you guys do for bass?

i use synthesizers

so are you just not into electronic music or do you just not like using the tools? if you don't like using them, maybe you just haven't found one you like.

you could use samples of various bass instruments (bass guitar, double bass, bassoon).

[Glue Reed]

So I'm really not into synthesizers. Just realized that recently, and I'm wondering what are some of the ways people make bass without them. It seems every piece of advice or tutorial I come across is about synthesis. I'm looking to make a big fat bass (like Burial, etc....). What do you guys do for bass?

I think a lot of the bass sounds Burial uses are resampled reeses from either old jungle songs or bass sounds from videogame scores. So those are synths!

[neuformat]

Good points! I like the sound of synths, just don't feel like putting the effort in to learning how to program well, or buying a great plug-in. Thanks for the tips.

[Rufus_FrequentFlyers]

Learning to use a sampler would seem to be the obvious choice but there's a quite bit of overlap with synthesisers in terms of the techniques you'll need to learn/use.
Or learn to play bass guitar and record yourself playing a live bassline (or use a loop from a sample pack), chop it up, re-arrange, re-pitch, add fx, etc and get more into audio editing.

[TheSoundCenter]

It's computer music man, the possibilities are literally infinite. You could resample a fucking bear or something, be creative! I love using pizz. double bass/contrabass multisamples, because it sounds so organic and jazzy. If I owned any real bass instruments, I'd play them, record them, process to all hell. Maybe you could lowpass and pitch shift your voice? Depends what kind of music you produce (future garage, possibly? :p), but just resample stuff and fuck shit up. These are just some off-the-wall suggestions, but you can do whatever the hell you want!

[Rufus_FrequentFlyers]

It's computer music man, the possibilities are literally infinite. You could resample a fucking bear or something, be creative! I love using pizz. double bass/contrabass multisamples, because it sounds so organic and jazzy. If I owned any real bass instruments, I'd play them, record them, process to all hell. Maybe you could lowpass and pitch shift your voice? Depends what kind of music you produce (future garage, possibly? :p), but just resample stuff and fuck shit up. These are just some off-the-wall suggestions, but you can do whatever the hell you want!

I don't know why but this post is so positive and excited sounding that I'm picturing you bouncing up and down on your seat with the shear excitement of it all!
Love it!

[Stealth Elf]

Good points! I like the sound of synths, just don't feel like putting the effort in to learning how to program well, or buying a great plug-in. Thanks for the tips.

What worries me here is that if you don't want to learn how to use a plug in then choosing a sampler may not be much better as they still require a lot of work to get the hang of. Maybe just find a decent free synth and stick to presets? Most synths have real nice presets these days, most people enjoy making their own sounds instead but if that's not for you I say that's probably the best road to go down.

That said, if you're passionate about music and about making it then I'm sure you will enjoy using synths after you put a little elbow grease in. Making your own sounds can be wonderfully fulfilling.

[neuformat]

What worries me here is that if you don't want to learn how to use a plug in then choosing a sampler may not be much better as they still require a lot of work to get the hang of. Maybe just find a decent free synth and stick to presets? Most synths have real nice presets these days, most people enjoy making their own sounds instead but if that's not for you I say that's probably the best road to go down.

That said, if you're passionate about music and about making it then I'm sure you will enjoy using synths after you put a little elbow grease in. Making your own sounds can be wonderfully fulfilling.

I guess I was a bit vague. I like creating my own sounds, but more in the context of samples (repitching, chopping, effecting, etc), rather than 'from scratch' through synthesis. The idea of oscillating waves and making something that way just doesn't appeal to me as much as taking a sound I recorded (or found), and making something decent out of that. So why bother learning? I mostly made this thread to see what other people do to get cool bass sounds from samples. Much of what I read about bass seems to come from synthesis, but there have been some cool ideas presented here! Totally agree with you about the making sounds being fulfilling, but maybe in a different way? Really like your tunes, by the way. And the enthusiasm from TheSoundCenter made me laugh too!

[TheSoundCenter]

[thetaco]

Try pitching down some String samples that are rich in harmonic content and doing different things to them (filtering, detuning one against another, etc...). One of the most popular ways of imitating strings with a synthesizer is to use 2 saws detuned, so its a similar concept to making a reece, only backwards.

What DAW do you use? Chances are it has a synth in it (I.e. FL Studio has 3xosc, Logic has ES2, etc...) unless you're using the regular version of Ableton. If so, try initializing the patch, changing the osc to a saw or square, and shaping the sound with plugins instead of in the synth itself. Then resample.

[slowpokecity]

i recommend sampling. not entire basslines, just one-shots. you'd be surprised what you can do, ive started appreciating audio a lot more than softsynths recently.


either that or buy a bass guitar haha. i'm partly joking, but seriously nothing sounds better than a bass guitar when you whack loads of effects on it and make it sound like one of them old 70s dub tunes.

[3za]

The deeper you go with synths the more rewards you reap, but samples are fricking awesome for capturing qualities that are very hard to get from a synth. Also a bass guitar is aways good to keep you company in your studio/bedroom (i love mine more than my computer).

[Sirens]

Large bells (think, huge oriental type ones) pitched down can sound fantastic - you get some really pronounced compression and rarefaction as it rings out. Low pass 'em and you're good to go. I'm sure there are loads of examples lurking about

[Quam]

The max for live patch, "granulator" by robert henke is pretty dank. sample some bells or something, pitch it down. youre good.