How to make distorted aggressive 808 sub bass.

PapaFluff

New member
All I want to do is pitch my 808s like how I hear on nowadays songs. Not trying to sound like anyone but this sound I've been trying to replicate for almost a year. Like this
soundcloud.com/z17mg/vb-all-i-ever-wanted-ft-danzey

I use Ableton Live, I heard you can do it easily using any 808 subbass but it doesn't sound right to me.
Is the 808 separate from the bass?
Is he pitch them or is he using different notes? I'm confused. Help me!!
 
It's a bit hard to tell the exact way that the song you linked uses it… each to their own; and the old "many ways to skin a cat" scenario.

Regardless, I suggest (if you're gonna use an 808 sample):

There's plenty of bass and sub in an 808 kick. No need to separate out and layer with another bass if you don't want to…
Use a sampler; and place the 808 into it… tune it (a single note)… then you can play it like a bass line.
EQ - well look… it's hard to give clear advice here, cause eI don't know what your sample sounds like… but --> here goes:

EQ ---> Compressor (ideally multiband; but I'll talk single band for now):

Turn comp on with light settings (2:1; 30ms att; 60 dec; threshold anywhere below 0)… this helps control during sound design when boosting eq freqs.

Boost low sub with a medium to low Q parametric, boosting slightly (say 2-4dB) at the basic sub's harmonic for the key of the track (around 60Hz) basically - boost a lot, and it will distort… then drag it back until you feel good about the boom being emphasized… same technique for all eq here;
Boost the low Mid at the fundamental with a tight Q parametric (e.g. twice the sub freq… or even 3 times… this is to give the proper chest-whack more punch)
I can here top end in your example; so with a broad Q boost around 1 kHz - 2kHz to taste… this adds the thwack… (different to "chest-whack ;P)
Once you have this sounding as you want; scan an eq mid cut around to see if it tidies things up.

Then adjust the threshold of your comp down to get it "controlled" more evenly… the above attack / decay(or release) settings should be fine as a starting point.

Like I said; a multi band compressor will be much better at this (well actually a multi band comp/expander), allowing you to craft the sub; low mid (whack); high mid (thwack); and highs (click)… but the principals are roughly the same.

----> doing this to a single hit and then resampling may be a better result; but in reality the above basic approach will work.

Also keep in mind that thousands of producers new and old are against "boosting" eq's… I'm not one of them; and they're designed to do it. I find this approach to eq particularly useful when reinforcing key areas of drum sounds… it's a a lot easier to find the dominating parts and boost them than it is to cut away every other part of the sound properly!!

If you want a little growl in there; try adding some very light distortion (e.g. tube simulation) in there pre eq (to stop the sub boost messing up and over distorting).

Worst to worst; send me the sample and if I'm in a good mood I can process it for you and run you through exactly what I did :) ---> mood pending though haha...
 
It's a bit hard to tell the exact way that the song you linked uses it… each to their own; and the old "many ways to skin a cat" scenario.

Regardless, I suggest (if you're gonna use an 808 sample):

There's plenty of bass and sub in an 808 kick. No need to separate out and layer with another bass if you don't want to…
Use a sampler; and place the 808 into it… tune it (a single note)… then you can play it like a bass line.
EQ - well look… it's hard to give clear advice here, cause eI don't know what your sample sounds like… but --> here goes:

EQ ---> Compressor (ideally multiband; but I'll talk single band for now):

Turn comp on with light settings (2:1; 30ms att; 60 dec; threshold anywhere below 0)… this helps control during sound design when boosting eq freqs.

Boost low sub with a medium to low Q parametric, boosting slightly (say 2-4dB) at the basic sub's harmonic for the key of the track (around 60Hz) basically - boost a lot, and it will distort… then drag it back until you feel good about the boom being emphasized… same technique for all eq here;
Boost the low Mid at the fundamental with a tight Q parametric (e.g. twice the sub freq… or even 3 times… this is to give the proper chest-whack more punch)
I can here top end in your example; so with a broad Q boost around 1 kHz - 2kHz to taste… this adds the thwack… (different to "chest-whack ;P)
Once you have this sounding as you want; scan an eq mid cut around to see if it tidies things up.

Then adjust the threshold of your comp down to get it "controlled" more evenly… the above attack / decay(or release) settings should be fine as a starting point.

Like I said; a multi band compressor will be much better at this (well actually a multi band comp/expander), allowing you to craft the sub; low mid (whack); high mid (thwack); and highs (click)… but the principals are roughly the same.

----> doing this to a single hit and then resampling may be a better result; but in reality the above basic approach will work.

Also keep in mind that thousands of producers new and old are against "boosting" eq's… I'm not one of them; and they're designed to do it. I find this approach to eq particularly useful when reinforcing key areas of drum sounds… it's a a lot easier to find the dominating parts and boost them than it is to cut away every other part of the sound properly!!

If you want a little growl in there; try adding some very light distortion (e.g. tube simulation) in there pre eq (to stop the sub boost messing up and over distorting).

Worst to worst; send me the sample and if I'm in a good mood I can process it for you and run you through exactly what I did :) ---> mood pending though haha...


Gotcha! I'll try it out when I get in the studio today. Thanks for the reply man I thank ya alot. Is there a way I can give you points for helping me out? lol. a
 
I think you can use the "thanks" item in the bottom left, but ---> hey, I don't really give a shit about that :)

Just happy to give some tips on forums when I get the time...!
 
An effect module with saturation or distortion options/parameters, and a low note of any soundsource, but for most 808s a sine seems best depending on situation.
Compression, maybe some slight noise and possibly layering.

While kong has modules like this built into it, starting to like thor more for certain things tbh. Synthesizers can do what drum synths can do, plus the regular melodic stuff associated with synthesizers all the same.
 
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