Inverted chords and writing basslines(specifically with 808s)

[StanleySteamer]

Hey guys as the title says looking for some advice or a discussion about inverting chords and writing basslines and for me specifically I am using 808s. Basically I know the bass needs to follow the chords and what not my only question is lets say I take a chord progression and invert the first chord and play the fifth note on the bottom now and write the melody to follow it as well starting on the fifth note. Should I start my 808 on the root note of that chord and go along or start on the inverted fifth note first? Basically should my 808 kind of go along with the chord and melody in terms of inversion and playing on the fifth first rather than the root so the song can follow along more and seem more harmonic. I have a beat I'm working on and for some reason I feel like when I do this it sounds good but it may be a little low and when I play on the root note it sounds good but sounds kind of a high point to start on lol. Anyways any advice will be helpful thanks alot!

 

[scrapheaper]

If you like the sound do it.

The inversion is defined by what the lowest note in the chord is, so if the 808 plays the root, then it's first inversion, no matter what the other notes are doing. If the 808 plays the fifth, it's second inversion, even if you play the chord in root position.

Starting with the first bass note as the root of the chord gives you establishes the key the most strongly, but there's nothing that says the key has to be clearly defined. There's a subtle tension when you put the bass on the fifth that resolves when you put the bass onto the root, but maybe you like that effect or are prepared to tolerate it for other reasons (the 808 sounds good at that pitch) or gives you good voice leading.

If you have multiple 808s in the bar you could consider putting some of them on the root and some on the fifth, assuming you're continuing to change the pitch of the 808s to follow the chords throughout.

 

[StanleySteamer]

If you like the sound do it.

The inversion is defined by what the lowest note in the chord is, so if the 808 plays the root, then it's first inversion, no matter what the other notes are doing. If the 808 plays the fifth, it's second inversion, even if you play the chord in root position.

Starting with the first bass note as the root of the chord gives you establishes the key the most strongly, but there's nothing that says the key has to be clearly defined. There's a subtle tension when you put the bass on the fifth that resolves when you put the bass onto the root, but maybe you like that effect or are prepared to tolerate it for other reasons (the 808 sounds good at that pitch) or gives you good voice leading.

If you have multiple 808s in the bar you could consider putting some of them on the root and some on the fifth, assuming you're continuing to change the pitch of the 808s to follow the chords throughout.

Hey man great answer and thanks for the response! Basically right now I have a beat im working on in F harmonic minor and I inverted the chords and C is my bottom not with F and G# up in that order. When I start my bass on C it kind of sounds good but it also sounds too low but if I start on F and when I raise my bass up like for break downs at the end of 4 bars it sounds too but if I start on C the break down sounds better it just sounds and feels too low at times I'm not sure. The rest of the instruments in the track start on C and follow the inversion of an F minor chord so I figured the bass should too but I get a nice hit when the beat drops and I start the bass on F but if I raise it up it almost sounds too high. If I start on C it starts off kind of low but raises well to me lol I'm just lost on this one.

Also while we discuss this one last thing, if sounds are more classified by the frequency in terms of orchestration of a beat and not having instruments from one octave or frequency clash with another, does that mean that the 808 bass can technically go up an octave seeing how as its frequencies are much low than that of most instruments I play. On FL Studio my sub bass/808 plays in octave 3 and I never play any instruments that low the lowest I go is octave 4.

Edit: Also, is C3 too low to start the 808 bass or a sub bass on? I feel like the sub bass I hear on C3 but the 808s kind of hard. Maybe because of the kick? I am using side chain compression and a bit of EQ to separate the two yet it is hard to hear the bass.

 

[rhythmgj]

As scrap said, it comes down to what you like the sound of. But you may want to stick with roots if you have the "top end" inverted and highlighting the fifth. Or switch back to the root position of the chord. You can change the register/octave if you feel you are getting too much "mud" between bass and chord notes. Or use partial chords that imply what you're hearing, rather than spelling everything out. Also you might want to avoid too many octave fifths, as they might sound too monolithic and also inadvertently create parallel fifths, which are generally avoided:

Consecutive fifths - Wikipedia

But as always, use your ears.

GJ

 

[cashmereeee]

Always hit on root note of chord then in between chord changes you can play around, that's how I go about it, it sounds a bit weird if it's not hitting on the root note, inverted or not. Only exception is sixth chords which Is essentially a minor 7 in first inversion so I use the minor 7 chords root note as my bass and that works well but it can also work using the major 6 root but I prefer the minor 7