Bass Problems

Disco.Infiltrator · Post by **Disco.Infiltrator** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 3:37 am

So I've been trying to make really heavy sine bass sounds, like found in alot of elector/hip-hop. I know sine waves are key, but the problem is, every time I drop in a sub osc it sounds pretty good and bassy, but as I go farther down the octaves it drops out. It sounds really intense around the middle of the keyboard, and then ceases to exist as I go down further.

Now I'm wondering, is this a flaw in my programming, or is it with my speakers? I have a little 12" monitor with a tweeter, but does this mean it can't handle the bass that low? My headphones won't pick up on it sometimes either. (http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=600735)

I have heard bass tips involving an hpf and tuning it with key tracking to the freq of each note, and then bumping the res to increase the bass. But I have no idea how to do this.

Basic question, programming, or speakers?

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:02 am

It's your speakers and headphones. To reproduce deep bass well, you need powerful subwoofers. The cheapest way to get a feel for the bass in a small room is the Logitech Z-2300 speakers, which are a great value. For larger than a small room, you'll need to spend serious money for a subwoofer, like 2 - 4 times the cost of your whole rig for just one subwoofer like the JBL PRX718S.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:15 am

yeah, I would suggest a decent pair of speakers or maybe just adding a woofer.

however, there is no harm in trying other ways to get your bass heard - as some people may be listening on systems worse than yours.
I tend to throw in a tiny bit of distortion to get some higher harmonics, as well as putting a limiter in the IFX (the default settings are okay). you could also use the EQ to drop everything off above 400-1khz, and add a little boost in the 50-90 area.

the HPF could be a good idea. but you do need something feeding it in order for it to res in the first place. even if you add in a bit of the 'punch' that click goes through the filters so would produce a more plucked sine sound. you'll get more punchy attack with your sine that way too (try turning all the oscs down first), and because its a HPF you will still get some high noise through...

to get it to keytrack, you have to set the cutoff to 48, and set the keytracking to 1.00. Now set the resonance to 127-120 depending on how you want it to die away.