Help needed with this Bass

[Alska]

So lately I"ve been trying to replicate the bass from KzLivetune's song here



The bass can be heard clearly from 00:20 and up. I"m not very good at these things, but I'm more than willing to learn haha [SUP]^[/SUP] My replication isn't dead on. Does anyone know what I need to do or how to do it themselves? Thank you Here's My replication:



I've managed to finish a few songs of mine but I won't post them yet because I want to make at least 15 or so. I also want to make sure I have all the things I need down first and have some good knowledge on my head so I can be a bit more creative with music production . So, any suggestions of how to do this or what I need to add, correct, change? OH Also, I've only had Massive for a little while so I"m not an expert on using it so go easy on me haha ^^

 

[steffeeh]

You've made it very far.
I think you should go a little easier on the distortion you've added, hopefully that would do it.

 

[bandcoach]

sounds like a fretless bass played by a real player - too many bassist tricks and slides for me to think that this is synthesised

i.e. hire a real bass player who uses a fretless (several here at fp )

 

[Alska]

You've made it very far.
I think you should go a little easier on the distortion you've added, hopefully that would do it.

A friend and I have been using remote control to try and make it but couldnt figure it out. He spent hours explaining a lot of things to me about useing Massive, but we didnt make the sound I wanted. He's still a bit new but he knows a lot more than me. We're going to work on another sound tomorrow and probably pick up on the bass again. Shes asleep now since Im in the USA and he's in Europe.

Do you have any other suggestions? There is a lot to livetunes bass ><

sounds like a fretless bass played by a real player - too many bassist tricks and slides for me to think that this is synthesised

i.e. hire a real bass player who uses a fretless (several here at fp )

I take it thats a bass guitar ? I honestly believe livetune makes all his sounds through ableton and VST's. Mind explaining your through a little bit to me? Sorry ><

 

[bandcoach]

the sound is wrong for a synth,
I can hear

• finger noise,
• imperfections in pitch due to it being a fretless,
• bass player tricks like hammer-ons and pull-offs,
• definitely slides that are not pitch bend controlled or otherwise automation clips

there are certain changes in sound as the pitch, octave and string changes - these changes are not easy to synthesise let alone synthesise well
there are certain sounds as the part plays in octaves and 7ths - you can hear that there is different quality to the sound which cannot be explained by keyboard following as the higher note is played - the sound of a thinner string being played, not the same sound being played higher which is what 99.9% of all synth basses like this would do

as for him mostly using synths, most of that track sounds more like real instruments to me

 

[krushing]

Well, probably not a synth bass - but most likely a bass sample library that's scripted to include these kind of imperfections and "tricks". Kz/Livetune is definitely a DAW-oriented musician - I think it'd be mentioned somewhere if he played the bass like that.

 

[steffeeh]

Are we listening to the same thing?
I've never heard a bassguitar sounding like something similar to a reese-synth. Not to mention how perfectly sustained the timbre is, it can't be any real instrument, then the timbre would change as the note fades.
Still, those are some detailed descriptions by you.
I'm starting to think that there's more than 1 bass element going on.

 

[scrapheaper]

Are we listening to the same thing?
I've never heard a bassguitar sounding like something similar to a reese-synth. Not to mention how perfectly sustained the timbre is, it can't be any real instrument, then the timbre would change as the note fades.
Still, those are some detailed descriptions by you.
I'm starting to think that there's more than 1 bass element going on.

I agree with this guy. Try adding a second saw wave and detuning slightly to get that reecey effect, or turning up the unison voices and unison detune (which basically do the same thing as duplicating and detuning)
It could be a reece with a guitar amp simulator over the top, which is what makes it sound likea guitar.

 

[bandcoach]

I let it play in the background whilst doing other things to make sure I was listening to an actual bass line rather than some tricks of synthesis before writing my response, I stand by what I actually heard - helps to have played bass guitar and fretless bass as well (for more than 35 years) to recognise the sounds and the technical things the player is doing

I agree with this guy. Try adding a second saw wave and detuning slightly to get that reecey effect, or turning up the unison voices and unison detune (which basically do the same thing as duplicating and detuning)
It could be a reece with a guitar amp simulator over the top, which is what makes it sound likea guitar.

an amp simulator does not add finger noise nor imperfections due to imperfect finger placement on a fretless neck

 

[Alska]

Well, probably not a synth bass - but most likely a bass sample library that's scripted to include these kind of imperfections and "tricks". Kz/Livetune is definitely a DAW-oriented musician - I think it'd be mentioned somewhere if he played the bass like that.

Yeah there was an artical/interview he did telling what he uses to make music. He said his DAW was Ableton live, and that he uses a lot of abletons default instruments, even for his arpeggios ( That are awesome ) and he uses a MIDI keyboard. I've never heard or seen him use any " real " instruments, not during his live shows or ( ofc ) during his DJ proformences. I"m looking for the interview now , its in Japanese but I think you guys should be able to translate it automatically :0

Are we listening to the same thing?
I've never heard a bassguitar sounding like something similar to a reese-synth. Not to mention how perfectly sustained the timbre is, it can't be any real instrument, then the timbre would change as the note fades.
Still, those are some detailed descriptions by you.
I'm starting to think that there's more than 1 bass element going on.

Yeah I got a bit skeptical about it when he said he used real instruments. Cause even in his studio/room there isnt one guitar or actual piano. Its always MIDI and DJ turn tables with disks everywhere. Me personally I felt that there are Two basses being used. One High and One Low. The High end one has one OSC with Square-saw I on it with the pitch at -24.00. One filter with a lowpass 4 on it. Slight reverb. The low end one has one OSC with a sine-triangle, pitch -24.00. Filter with a Highpass 4 A bit more reverb on it. I put a saturator and compressor on it to only effect the Low end bass( Through instrument rack ), not the High end one. For the compressor settings the ratio is at 2:03, Attack 0.19ms and release at 478ms. Saturator , drive is at 18.9, no base, freqence is at 1.00KHz, Width 30% Depth 0.00 100% Wet, Output 0.00 dB. After that I put an EQ Eight outside of the instrument rack so it can effect both basses. Again I"m new to this stuff so I'm mostly experimenting based off of what I think and some advice I've gotten.

I agree with this guy. Try adding a second saw wave and detuning slightly to get that reecey effect, or turning up the unison voices and unison detune (which basically do the same thing as duplicating and detuning)
It could be a reece with a guitar amp simulator over the top, which is what makes it sound likea guitar.

I see in the " Voicing " Tab Unisono Spread, then to the left voicing and then max 16 next to that Unisono 1. Increase the Unisono with 1? And as for Unisono detune, I dont see that there :/. Also I felt that I should add some sort of amp to it I"ll try giving it a shot if I decide not to sleep and keep working.

 

[Alska]

Also, do you think replicating this bass from this J-pop song would be easier? It comes in at 00:34 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ9x1keJW4A With massive? I love the bass from livetune but I think I"ll put that aside for a bit and move on to other sounds I'd like to learn how to make. Don't want to put too much time into just one sound right now. ( Because I've been working on livetunes bass for a LONG time ) I know how to make and arrange song n such and feel the only thing thats really missing is the sounds I want haha. So if I can make them in time I'll me releasing songs faster than a Moogle says " kupo " ( Final Fantasy reference ). Also, if any of you cool folks know how to the lead from the song banvox-san plays at 23:43 I'd be ever so grateful xD it's the one with the most movement and stands out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFyyuIwmQu4 Sorry for all the requests ><