Stereo widening issue

F

Frocco

New member
Hi guys, I posted a thread in the native instrument forums for FM8 but i'm still having trouble and have yet received a understanding. My issue is obtaining stereo width and imaging with FM8 for certain sounds . FM8 is automatically set in mono and i can't put Izotope stereo imaging unless I go into the master section and add voices, detune, and push up the pan slider. Some chords and melodies with FM8 sound good when adding voices, but some sound phasey and spacey, and can sound really weird.


My main question for everyone is how can i get stereo in my Dubstep growl bass? I posted an example below of the producer Skrillex where in the song below, the growl bass is not just in mono. I know for a fact that the growl bass is not just in mono because i solo'd the stereo and mono separately and can hear the growl bass in the stereo side. Also, he mostly uses FM8 for his bass sounds. So how is he obtaining stereo in the bass if the only way to get stereo for FM8 is by adding voices? I think everyone knows that adding voices to bass makes it sounds muddy and nasty, so i'm getting frustrated on how its possible.

Unfortunately, I can't post links until i get to 5 posts on this forum =[.
Here's an example of growl bass at 1:18 in This song: go to youtube and type in Skrillex-Kill everybody.


I would appreciate all the help i can get. Thanks :)
 
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Of course it's set to mono, it's alway mono unless you add FX to widen it up, or pan different oscillators, etc.

One trick I usually rely on for growls and similar is to use 2 unison voices, use barely any detune, and boost the phase of the detuned copy a lot (maybe somewhere around 75 % phase delay), and increase the unison pan (you're generally able to go up to maximum 40 % unison pan before the sound starts to get too separated and therefore too loose).
But don't forget to check it in mono so you don't get any phasing from the detune.

By the way, what DAW do you use, maybe there's a great technique for the software.

Anyway, there are many ways of getting stereo on sounds in the processing after the synth, like resampling and different plugins etc.
 
by its very nature detuning introduces subtle comb filtering over time, so you will have a phasing issue as the sound develops over time - can't be avoided
 
That's true, but growls aren't that long sounds, so I wouldn't worry too much about it in this case, as long as the OP check it in mono to make sure it works.
But yeah, I wouldn't rely on my detuning tip for longer sounds.
 
I use Ableton Live 9, and I can't believe I actually got a reply about this. I felt like it was some weird question no one asks lol. It's great to see people at least understand where i'm coming from with this.

I sort of understand what your saying about making a copy, delaying it, and using unison, that makes sense now. I'm going to have to try that, awesome idea!

I have trouble panning sounds in general because there's so many operators being manipulated and I don't quite understand FM8 fully yet. If there's any videos on panning that somebody can post, it would be great.

Are there any other ways than that? I swear, either Skrillex or his audio engineer, have some magic up their sleeve with getting the stereo sounding so good!

Thanks for the feedback!:victory:
 
As I said, you have resampling among different techniques. Look that up, it can do miracles, taking your ordinary nice growl and turning it into a t-rex giving everyone the chills.
Resampling do often have stereo increasing features as well.
 
Hey so Skrillex did use panning. Sorry, I was a bit confused with FM8, thanks for helping me man :P.

Now, all I have to do now is get good at panning for a perfect stereo balance :cheers:.
 
There's a lot of ways to achieve what you're talking about with regard to stereo width in a bass without getting too muddy. In general, a "wide" sounding bass is really only wide above 150Hz or so (possibly higher). Below that is subsonic info which in general remains in mono.

While there are a multitude of ways to achieve this width of the upper frequencies while retaining mono sub frequencies, one common trick is to use two patches for bass. The sub bass patch should be mono and likely only one voice. The other patch should contain your mid/upper frequencies and have a hpf to cut out the subs. This is the patch you can use unison, detune, and panning to give you width/depth to your bass line. Also, a touch of reverb on the upper patch can help.

Cheers!
 
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