i'm having trouble making basslines

[Bully Beatz]

im fairly new to production and i'm having trouble coming up with basslines. my drums are hitting nicely and i'm finding nice loops i just cant come up with basslines can anybody give me some tips on how they do it.

Bully Beatz
Dont sleep productionz

 

[sYgMa]

There is no real trick in making a bassline cuz... only suggestion. It's like asking tricks to flip a sample... you just find your own way.

But a little suggestion could be that you can play the bassline so it follows the bassdrum (kick). as for the notes, they should be in harmony with the general melody of the song... but that's just suggestions, not a rule or a trick...

 

[adomav17]

yeah... what he said is on point^.... also u gotta make sure its in the same key as the melody...

 

[Hypnotist]

But a little suggestion could be that you can play the bassline so it follows the bassdrum (kick). as for the notes, they should be in harmony with the general melody of the song... but that's just suggestions, not a rule or a trick...

Exactly.

Sometimes I take the main melody (if it's made already) and solo that with the kick drum itself. That helps come up with the rhythm sometimes.

Other times I won't even have the melody composed yet and I'll work with the bassline off the drum rhythm, and come up with a melody from there. Play with different rhythms... use the downbeat, use the upbeat (listen to "Bitch" by Rolling Stones and how they use the upbeat in the bassline on the 3rd and 4th bars)

Like I mentioned above, pay attention to basslines that are out there. See what they do. If you want, you can replay the main melodies that you hear and then play the bassline that they played, just to see the notes and how they compliment the main melody. It can't hurt to pay attention to what the big dawgs have done before you.

Find as many bass sounds as you can! Sometimes we lose motivation to create a bassline (or melody or drumline at that) when we're dry of sounds. Mix and match, layer layer layer different bass sounds to get that perfect edge that you want.

Other than that, if you're not feeling the bass line, save the beat and come back later and do the bass when you have a fresh set of ears.

Or... smoke as much weed as you can and buy some red lights from your nearby hardware store. Feeeeeeel the riddim...

 

[deStructuralize]

These are all good suggestions.

Personally, as someone who's sung in a choir for a couple of years now, I can say that famliarizing oneself with music with multiple parts can help you get a feel for basslines. Doesn't matter if it's a bass guitar, piano notes in the bass clef, or you singing a bass part. Like Hypnotist said, listen to choral, orchestral, rock, and hip-hop songs and focus on the low ends...study them.

In my opinion, the bassline helps the drums carry the groove of the track. If you're working on a boom-bap type track, you might want an active, bouncy bassline. If you're working on a more somber piece, you might want something a bit more droning and less dynamic.

The two basic ways to come up with basslines have already been mentioned: (1) play a (or several) notes that harmonize with the melody and strike on each kick. (2) make a free-er bassline that independently moves with the melody.

 

[classic]

find the keysiganture of the song...

get the root chourds....

play the bassline melody off those root chourds and improvise..

 

[trebeatz]

if u learn some low end theory that can sound real tight. bassically all i do for that is get some parts of the samples that would make for good bass, maybe existing bass or even some organ or strings, and just cut all the high, and boost the low a whole bunch, set the envelope with some release, sounds real nice and organic if u do it right.

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

^ Real heads use the Lowend thoery.


but seriously the best way (IMO) to do it is to use the low end theory, and then layer your basses. With some creative eq, and effective programming, you can get a few levels of bass going, and get a much fuller sound. EX: OG sample bass, A mid bass filtered lower for a little speaker response, and then a sub for some fealing. Thats waht i do. Somtimes when im not feeling lazy that is.

 

[ROD]

tribe low end?



I need work with my bass cause I still know people lookin for mob style beats..

 

[deStructuralize]

Word, can someone explain how one uses low end theory or what it is?

Google gave me the ATOQ album.

 

[young_keyz]

What i do is make a drum pattern with the kick and snare. Onces i get something i like ill mute out the snare so that only the kick is playing. Now instead of tring to come up with a hot bass line ill just make sure my bass hits around the same time as my kick. To me kick and snares are sounds that we really dont stress when it comes to being in real tune with the melody so i do the same thing with my bass line. As long as it grooves to my kick ill fit in just right once i make the melody!

 

[kaivai]

i grab my bass guitar and just jam, hard out

 

[Carpe Diem]

Word, can someone explain how one uses low end theory or what it is?

Google gave me the ATOQ album.

Right.... I use my chops, and copy them to another channel... On this second channel, I run the chops through an EQ and remove the high end and boost the low end, so you get your bass-chops plyaing behind your main chops

 

[Knox Raw]

LowEnd is the way to go.

 

[Elementree]

i think what cold truth said in his interview was the most key thing ive heard about making basslines. Make the bassline somewhat follow the kick. Make sure when a kick thumps you've got the right key bassnote to plop ontop of that kick. It really makes your tracks bang.

 

[sYgMa]

Word, can someone explain how one uses low end theory or what it is?

Google gave me the ATOQ album.

Low end theory is using a low end filter (or an EQ) on a sample so you have have only the bass and layering it to the sample... making it thicker and fuller.

 

[SlickVikNewman]

Man really I would just vibe to what ever my drums and/or melody and just go. Sometimes when you try to apply rules, you will find yourself in a box. Sometimes you will find it sitting right there, other times it will make you search to find it. You'll figure it out.

 

[robb_lowe]

like slick said, you could go with the melody or the drums. but you should try to keep it simple because putting to much on the bassline can take away from the drums. that's in some cases, not all...