Any tips for doing basslines?

Does anyone do this on their MPC using 16 Levels or would a keyboard be better suited for this purpose?

I haven't been able to make a decent bassline using 16 Levels and I was wondering if anyone had any tricks they use to do it?

youll get different results using both ways. i use both.

But which do you prefer? I figure that since you have more keys/octaves with a keyboard that it would be the dominant solution hands down. Not to mention the fact that the keyboard keys would give you more flexibility, expressive qualities than MPC pads.

when i want that cut up hiphop pete rock / primo sound i use the mpc, when i want a more natural flow i use keys

i prefer the mpc for hiphop.

i use 16 levels for subs a lot - fat DnB b-lines

use keys for something more melodic.

if i get stuck - back to the pads for inspiration.

never touch my bass guitar anymore maybe I should...

spose the bottom line is - yes it's nice to have both

"I see" said the blind man.

I guess I'll keep plugging away at it. I gotta stay true to my name after all.

Thanks to all for the input.

Peace.

yeah man, i flowers with the 16 levels. unless i got a bassline i chopped up, with the chops on they own pads. but 99% of the time im freakin the 16.

b-line - why you not happy with what your doing with your b-lines??

I'll assume that you were not being facetious. To be honest, no, I'm not too pleased with them. I just recently got this MPC-60 so I've had to adjust my production game, though it was an extremely welcome change save for this slight problem (I was using Fruity Loops before).

I was able to get ok basslines with Fruity (those that I wrote myself) but I still wasn't competely satisfied. However, with the 60, I haven't been able to make a good bassline PERIOD. Like I said I'll keep plugging away at it but I'm not yet getting the results I was looking for.

be more specific.

Well, specifically, getting the right notes seems pretty much impossible.

The MPC can only go up 6 semitones from middle C (when pad 10 is middle C) and down 12 semitones from middle C (when pad 13 is middle C). So I can only go from, say, a middle C to an F# when being able to use that whole octave range (...G, G#, A, A#, B, C) would have been necessary (which I trust could be achieved with a keyboard which leads me back to my original question).

I thought about sampling a bass tone in the key of C at different octaves and switching between them but that seems like it would become very complicated. That's why I asked if anyone else had any ideas for doing basslines with 16 levels and how they overcame this limitation. However, my original question was if a keyboard would be the optimal solution for this problem.

the keyboard can't play your sample in higher pitches than 16 levels, that's a limit of the 60's sampler. I never have problems doing basslines on the 60 with 16 levels. I have taken bass notes from different octave, 3 at the most, and 16 leveled each in one baseline, which leads to very different basslines, but if I want to play them out, I just sequence a module or another sampler from the keys through the 60. Best of both worlds available.

I wasn't being facitious - I just thought that if you explained why you were not happy with your b-lines, then you might get some good advice. which you did.

I often find that the most unplanned b - lines are the best, so using different tones/samples or even the same one put on 16 levels produces good results. Depending on your type of music, you don't really need more than 3 or 5 notes to build a good swinging line. of course if you got a complex chord progression that you need to move around, then thats a different thing. My bottom line is held in place by one thing - simplicity.

^^Cool, arctec, it's just tough to judge someone's intent when you only have words on a screen to go by. Nothing personal.

"the keyboard can't play your sample in higher pitches than 16 levels, that's a limit of the 60's sampler."

What I meant was using the keyboard's sound engine to do the basslines with and not just for the keyboard to be a controller; but I see exactly what you meant.

Again, thanks to all for the helpful input. I'll try some of this advice to see if I can come up with something. Peace.