Dealing with sub-bass : am I doing it right ? (test inside)

[Cherrycoke]

Hi

I read somewhere (I think it was a Q&A by Max Vangeli) there was a useful tip to make a nice bass so I tried here with a test. I'd like to know if I'm doing something wrong or not. I guess I'm doing a mistake and I'll show you why.

In this example I'll try to remake the bassline from Avicii - Nothing Without You (an unreleased funky song by him) you can hear it 0:18

So this technique I talked about earlier is to have two layers : the first one is the "real" bass, the one we want to hear. In that case, it's a simple guitar bass with a bitcrusher on it. Plus an EQ to cut the low frequencies.

The second layer always consists in a saw wave with a high cut, so that we only hear <200hZ frequencies. Played together, these layers make a nice bass, and it's easier than using just the first layer and spending two hours EQing it to get the same sound I guess. But maybe I'm wrong here.

This is my result :
http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/Lfppqt6v/file.html

My english may be bad so here's more info, the second layer (saw wave) before editing it, and the same with EQ.
http://www56.zippyshare.com/v/b04uG2es/file.html
http://www6.zippyshare.com/v/9517Jd9X/file.html

And I don't think it's powerful enough when I compare it to Avicii's mix. We can perfectly hear the low end in his song, even on laptop computer. It seems like it doesn't sound that great with mine and I don't know why.

Do you think this technique will work every time I want to make a bass ? Not only in house tracks but for example rock songs and stuff... I could post more examples later if you don't understand.

[Passing Bye]

That is common technique (bass layering) used by many in countless records, I think today everyone layers everything, just experiment, trial&error as everything

[Cherrycoke]

Thank you for the feedback. I just wanted to make sure this technique of layering a bass sound with the low frequencies of a saw was used.

[garryknight]

Some tutorials I've seen on YouTube recommend using a sine wave for the sub. It's then just the fundamental, and at the right volume can shake the club walls. On the other hand, if your sub isn't playing the same notes as the bass, using a harmonically-rich waveform can create some interesting cross-patterns, rhythmically.

It's a subject I'm interested in, and want to experiment using a sub consisting of a sine + pulse mix and a bass consisting of a saw plus pulse (or triangle) playing different notes in a cross rhythm. So far, I've used a sine sub playing just the first note of the bar while the bass plays the typical EDM bounce style. Sounds OK, but not exactly original.

[Passing Bye]

Use whatever you feel is fitting how ever you see it fitting, some folks just did what that and scored

[Cherrycoke]

Thanks for the replies guys. garryknight, I'd be interested to know why a sine wave is better for the sub, since we're completely cutting off the high end of the saw, it's technically the same thing in the end, isn't it ?

[thomni]

Thanks for the replies guys. garryknight, I'd be interested to know why a sine wave is better for the sub, since we're completely cutting off the high end of the saw, it's technically the same thing in the end, isn't it ?

Depends on where you're filtering. If you're keyfollowing right at the fundamental then it'd be close, but unless your filter is super steep (>4 pole) it will still probably leave those lower harmonics in there, which may or may not blend well with everything else.

The sine will be just the one pitch, so assuming you've got your kick and bass top-end out of the way, it will just act as some more weight to the sound without dirtying up the rest of the lows.