guess i'll just leave this here:
"The main difference between a lot of synths for creating bass lies in 1 or 2 things.
-Envelopes (both Amp + Filter). I find especially for psytrance, the envelopes need to be able to modulate the volume(and filter) very quickly and precisely. When making fast bass patches on many synths in my experience, it can start to sound like the envelopes simply can't work fast enough, and the bass can sound kind of flabby, or just not snappy enough.
The Filter is obviously quite an integral part of a synthesiser and will affect the tone of the sound quite considerably. I find that certain filters have built in compensation for things like resonance, so that the low end will not be affected like it often is in analogue filters.
Also Filter Overdrive/Saturation can be a very pleasing thing when making bass sounds, and not all synths/filters have these options at all, or just don't sound as nice as others when over-driven/saturated. The Drive and Warm drive on Sylenth1 are great but quite subtle, whereas on some synths the filters can be driven quite hard to the point of distortion.
Another tip: Try to get basslines sounding as close to the desired result as you can before using EQ and compression. It is entirely possible to get the sound you want, without either of these things, and it is so much cleaner sounding when you do.
Making a Psy Bassline with Sylenth1
-Initialise Preset
-Make sure osc1 is a Saw wave.
-Set amp envelope to be attack=0 Decay=0 Sustain=Full Release=something small.
-setting the release can take a bit of fiddling, you use this to remove click sounds at the end of notes.
-Set the Filter (A) to Low Pass
-Set the resonance of both filters to 0
-Turn on Warm drive on Filter (B)
-Make one of the Mod Envelopes control Filter Cut-off A (or B, or both)
-Set the Attack=0 the Decay=lo w to mid range Sustain=0 Release=similar to before.
-Setting the length of the Decay and the Amount of Filter Envelope are two critical parameters that will require a lot of attention.
-On the mod matrix set velocity to effect Filter cut-off A (or B or Both)
-Both the Mod envelope and the Velocity will now push the filter higher, so you may need to bring both the Filter cut-offs back down to compensate.
-I usually turn Mono Legato mode on and give it a small amount of portamento.
As I said previously, the trickiest part of this bassline patch is setting both the filter cut-off's, the amount of Filter Envelop, the Filter Envelope Decay and how much Velocity affects the filter. As all of these parameters interact and affect each other, it can be a see-sawing procedure, but this is the trick to getting it sitting just right.
Square wave basslines can have a lot of power also, Sometimes it can be nice to mix in some Square to the Saw, to add that extra power.
Sine waves are great for adding sub bass to a bassline. They can be barely heard, but certainly felt when there is a sub woofer about.
I find it is incredibly useful to Set the peak levels of both the Kick and the Bass at a very early stage in the track writing process. I find that if I set it so that both my Kick and my bassline are peaking at around -7dbfs then I wont have to change it much at any point, also when I have finished the track, if all the other elements are sitting well in relation to the Kick/Bass, then I know I wont have to change the volume of anything much at all... all the volume levels should be sitting about right.
Creating a bassline Pattern:
I find it best when writing a psytrance bassline, to add almost constant but subtle variations to a few aspects of the bassline.
-Giving almost every note a slightly different note length is helpful to create a sense of groove within the bassline.
-Giving different velocities (you need to make sure that velocity is affecting Cut-off)
to each note, gives it a more lively feel. Instead of a huge block of sound, you can add contour, shape and life to the bassline.
-The filter Cut-off itself can be modulated in a rhythmic way to liven up the sound even more.
-I tend to use a lot of portamento or pitch-bends in my basslines to create that rubber bassline kind of thing.
-When using portamento, ensure that you have mono legato mode switched on, or the filter envelope will re-trigger on every note and will sound unnatural. Now however, when you overlap notes in a midi editor it will bend (according to the portamento setting) but the filter cut-off may be sitting to low by the time it reaches the second note, so to hear this sweep, you may need to automate the filter cut-off up a little to compensate for the lack of filter envelope.
-Using pitch bend is in a way easier, as you have a more precise control over the speed of bend, but you will still need to automate the filter cut-off, like before to be able to hear long notes with bends. Also it is perhaps more annoying editing in the midi Pitch-bend lane than playing with overlapping midi notes and the portamento section.
-Sometimes really fast rolls (32nd notes) in a bassline can be very effective, but note that almost any time you place really fast notes next to each other, it will sound unnatural unless it is in some way faded in. (maybe velocity, volume, or filter cut-off)
-To make Dub-step type Wobble bassline, simply turn the filter envelope off entirely and modulate the filter cut-off with a lfo instead, you may need to play with all the filter settings a little.
-Playing with synced lfo rates will give you that dub-step machine gun type bassline. "
100
50
150
200
100
100
100
100
250
200
200
