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i'm having trouble making basslines

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B

Bully Beatz

Member
ill o.g.
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

sYgMa

Making head bangers!!!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 26
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...
 
Hypnotist

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
sYgMa said:
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...
Click to expand...

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...
 
D

deStructuralize

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
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.
 
T

trebeatz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
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.
 
B

Bobby Ffitch

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
^ 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.
 
R

ROD

Beatmaker
ill o.g.
tribe low end?



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

young_keyz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
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

kaivai

Reppin V.I.C
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
i grab my bass guitar and just jam, hard out
 
C

Carpe Diem

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

Google gave me the ATOQ album.
Click to expand...


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
 
sYgMa

sYgMa

Making head bangers!!!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 26
deStructuralize said:
Word, can someone explain how one uses low end theory or what it is?

Google gave me the ATOQ album.
Click to expand...

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.
 
robb_lowe

robb_lowe

Akai Till I Die...
ill o.g.
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...
 
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