The first part of this 3 part series is dedicated to:

Sub Bass! 

Yep, the really low low low how low can you go aspect of DnB.

To be honest the Sub Bass part isn’t too difficult as long as you follow a few simple rules.

1. Sub Bass is really hard to get right in the mix and your Bedroom/Studio room probably isn’t helping in any way  so do what most people do. USE A SPECTRUM ANALYZER! I use SPAN by Voxengo and the Ableton Spectrum. Spend some time getting to know the analysers because they are all different. Study your favourite producers tunes using the Analzyers but don’t rely on them! Ears FIRST!

2. If your just putting a Sub underneath a Mid layer then a regular Sine wave from a synth will be fine. You can use Albino or the EXS24 default patch. Just copy the midi notes or pitch of the Mid Bass and you’ll be fine.

3. If the Sub Bass is the prominent layer then you’re going to have to double it up. So duplicate the Sub channel. High Cut the new channel and add some distortion. You NEED to do this in order to hear the Sub in the mix. Use the Ableton Overdrive or Saturation effects or N.I Guitar Rig etc.

4. Make sure your Sub is in a “friendly” key/pitch. I normally write tunes in F/F#/G.

You can go up to A if you want but I would not go any higher or lower then the ones I recommended.

5.  You can pretty much make Sub bass from anything. Kick Drums or field recordings of pots and pans or tapping on a desk. Bung the sample into a sampler. Pitch down, loop,  experiment and have fun.

6. You really want a nice even and consistent Sub Bass so don’t forget to Compress and Limit if need be. I find that when using Span -21db if about fine when ABing against other tunes. You can go up to -18db but make your drums lighter.

7. Make your Sub Bass MONO if you plan on getting your tunes on WAX. Nuff said.

8. If you’re having a few issues with clicks and pops in your Sub Bass then playing around with the envelopes on your synth/sampler etc. If your still having problems then bounce the audio and use the FADES tool in Ableton Live etc.

9. If your Sub Bass is clashing with your Kick Drum then either

a) Use a kick that hits at a higher Frequency like 100hz etc.

b) Use Sidechain compression with the kick as the trigger.

Getting your Sub Bass right shouldn’t be a problem if you follow the steps above. This leaves loads more time to spend on some of the harder things like drums and mid bass!

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!

Dauntless

 

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Filed under: Drum n Bass Production