Basslines in Samples

W

WestCoaster

New member
Hey guys,
Im having a hard time adding basslines to my sampled beats. I dont have a lot of piano theory but i have watched the tutorials on bassline theory. I am using fl studio. any help would be greatly apprecaited. thank you very much.
 
It depends if you wanna use bass samples or synths (or you can always use both for different beats I guess).

I use a one note bass sample most of the time if I need to make an original bassline (though sometimes if there's lots of bass in the sample I'll just make a separate bass channel in the effects rack and use a plugin like Waves RBass and some EQ)

What I do (in the sampler channel) first is change the "Time Stretching" from 'Resample' to 'Auto' so moving the Mul knob will stretch the sample without affecting the pitch (though I usually don't even have to stretch the sample, it's more of a habit). Then under the INS tab in the sampler channel, I turn the ATT down all the way (or almost all the way if the sample's choppy), then the release down most of the way, till the sample only plays while I'm pressing the key, that way notes won't overlap.

A good trick if you're struggling to make basslines that are in tune with the samples melody: Open the main sample in Edison (right click on the waveform in the sampler channel and click Edit), then look at the row of icons and next to the scissors and spanner one there's one that says 'Abc'. Left click on that and near the bottom there should be something that says "Detect pitch regions", so click that. Then if you're lucky all the notes of the sample should come up (though it won't work as well with harmonised samples, chords etc.). So say the first note in your sample is E5 and your bass sample is C5, try tuning the bass sample up 400 cents (or leave it and move it up to E5 in the piano roll) so that you'll have a good starting point for making a bassline that's in tune. Obviously if you've changed the pitch of the sample it'll be harder to work out though! I guess in that case you could still export a single pattern the sample loop with it's pitch changes, then add that to Edison and detect the new pitch...

Also, when you go to the Piano Roll, change the view from the piano keys to the actual notes, so click 'Abc' next to the two piano icons

---------- Post added at 09:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 AM ----------

Oh and another thing I forgot to mention. This is a tip someone else gave me when I was struggling with basslines.

If you can't seem to get the pitch sounding spot on, try playing the notes (or just move all the notes in the piano roll by selecting and dragging them all at once) a couple of octaves higher, cos apparently pitch is much easier to hear at higher frequencies... So if your bass is slightly out of tune (by just a few cents) maybe move it up a couple of octaves (turn off any filter/EQ of the high frequencies while doing this obviously) and see if that makes it easier to get it right.

Also, if you just want to use the bassline that may already be in the sample but it doesn't sound that good or sounds a bit muddy or whatever: Just make a separate bass channel, EQ the low frequencies out of the "non bass" effects slot and EQ most of the high/mid frequencies out of the bass one, and just copy the pattern from the main sample channel into the bass one, maybe try a bass plugin (but use it sparingly or it'll just make the mix really muddy)

---------- Post added 01-19-2011 at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-10-2011 at 09:06 AM ----------

too much information? haha
 
Last edited:
I believe the OP is asking on info on how to filter the bass from the sample.

To do this in FL it's quite simple. Use the Fruity Filter, play with the cutoff freq, resonance & band pass. I usually do this then add an EQ on top of it to further get the sound I'm looking for.
 
My best advice is getting a really nice filter/EQ program, I would recommend izotope 4 or Fab filter volcano.. learn your programs inside and out until you become really intimate with them..

Once you get some really powerful vsts you will be so mad you spent so much time using FL's stock ones
 
there are quite a few ways to get bass one comes with low pass filtering the sample another comes from high passing it and playing your own and another comes from having a single note spread across the keyboard and playing it back all work i used to use synth created bass
 
Basslines dont need to be, and usually shouldn't be complicated or flashy. Most times it can just be 1 note under each chord in your song just to add a bottom.

So if your song does a chord progression of

C chord - E Chord - F Chord - E Chord.

You can just make you bassline C - E - F - E, played at the same time, and the same note length as the chords.

Then if you want you can add a little riff or fill-in in between those notes every few bars to make it more melodic/funky, but not necessary.
 
Bipola thanks for the info! There are some really helpfull tricks in there.
 
Bipola said:
It depends if you wanna use bass samples or synths (or you can always use both for different beats I guess).

I use a one note bass sample most of the time if I need to make an original bassline (though sometimes if there's lots of bass in the sample I'll just make a separate bass channel in the effects rack and use a plugin like Waves RBass and some EQ)

What I do (in the sampler channel) first is change the "Time Stretching" from 'Resample' to 'Auto' so moving the Mul knob will stretch the sample without affecting the pitch (though I usually don't even have to stretch the sample, it's more of a habit). Then under the INS tab in the sampler channel, I turn the ATT down all the way (or almost all the way if the sample's choppy), then the release down most of the way, till the sample only plays while I'm pressing the key, that way notes won't overlap.

A good trick if you're struggling to make basslines that are in tune with the samples melody: Open the main sample in Edison (right click on the waveform in the sampler channel and click Edit), then look at the row of icons and next to the scissors and spanner one there's one that says 'Abc'. Left click on that and near the bottom there should be something that says "Detect pitch regions", so click that. Then if you're lucky all the notes of the sample should come up (though it won't work as well with harmonised samples, chords etc.). So say the first note in your sample is E5 and your bass sample is C5, try tuning the bass sample up 400 cents (or leave it and move it up to E5 in the piano roll) so that you'll have a good starting point for making a bassline that's in tune. Obviously if you've changed the pitch of the sample it'll be harder to work out though! I guess in that case you could still export a single pattern the sample loop with it's pitch changes, then add that to Edison and detect the new pitch...

Also, when you go to the Piano Roll, change the view from the piano keys to the actual notes, so click 'Abc' next to the two piano icons

---------- Post added at 09:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 AM ----------

Oh and another thing I forgot to mention. This is a tip someone else gave me when I was struggling with basslines.

If you can't seem to get the pitch sounding spot on, try playing the notes (or just move all the notes in the piano roll by selecting and dragging them all at once) a couple of octaves higher, cos apparently pitch is much easier to hear at higher frequencies... So if your bass is slightly out of tune (by just a few cents) maybe move it up a couple of octaves (turn off any filter/EQ of the high frequencies while doing this obviously) and see if that makes it easier to get it right.

Also, if you just want to use the bassline that may already be in the sample but it doesn't sound that good or sounds a bit muddy or whatever: Just make a separate bass channel, EQ the low frequencies out of the "non bass" effects slot and EQ most of the high/mid frequencies out of the bass one, and just copy the pattern from the main sample channel into the bass one, maybe try a bass plugin (but use it sparingly or it'll just make the mix really muddy)

---------- Post added 01-19-2011 at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-10-2011 at 09:06 AM ----------

too much information? haha
Click to expand...


This is THE illest bass advice I've ever seen!!! Good effing job! Very very helpful!
 
Thanks bipola on the note detecting info via Edison I had no idea you could do that!!
do any of you ever use the crossfade loop via the sample tab in the channel?instead of stretching the bassnote? I usually find a a bass note via the sample or one I already had, low pass filter it then turn the crossfade nob "CRF" nob until the bass note loops continuisly and play it that way across the keys. I was using the cut sample function so that the bass samples dont overlap, but Ill give Bipola's example of the ATT down RELEASE down in the INS tab a try and see if that makes a difference .
 
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