Message 2/6
Date: 20-Dec-99 @ 05:25 AM -
RE: How do you make a D'n'B Bassline
It really depends on what sort of DnB you're making.
For atmospheric styles try using either a synth bass type sound or a pitched 808 kick drum, quite sparsely.
For harder styles, try distorting the sound, adding some LFO modulation to the filters and start playing around with the sound with a looped beat.
Try using notes that are not usually in the same scale, play around with notes that are only a semitone apart.
Another approach is to use two or three bass sounds in different frequencies to build up the bassline. Check out No Reality remix by RAM, it has a deep sub bass playing one bassline which is overlaid with a TB-303 type sound. Another one to listen to is Synthesis by Stakka + K Tee, this has quite a 'busy' bassline.
Why not try copying the bassline from one of your favourite tracks, as a learning exercise, try and find out how it was programmed, and how the sound interacts with the notes and rhythm. The chances are that you will end up using a completely different technique than the one used in the original track, but you will still have acquired some valuable sound and music programming skills.
Bear in mind that a lot of what makes a hard bassline is the sound used, they are often musically very simple, sometimes only one note, but the funky feel comes from how the sound used interacts rhythmically with the beats (usually hard quantised), that you construct.
Hope this helps,
Joe.
PS. Check out our site to hear examples of the above.