16 levels basslines - pete rock, dilla, kev brown

tapedeck wrote:

jjbing3 wrote: I guess. My bassline is in tune. Thats not the problem. Its making it be interesting and good enough to like "control" the song.

change yer definition of 'in tune' from basic frequency matching to seeing the whole picture and making things fit right, and you'll see what i mean.
just because the display / numbers say 'this is in tune' doesn't mean it sounds good, knowhatimsayn?

I dont have any displays or numbers. Lol. I use FL Studio so I'm not using analyzers. I define in tune as sounding cohesive with the beat.

NightReveller wrote:To me that sounds unlogical, but hey we all do it different.

This is also done using the 16 level.

Yep, cool bassline. I wish I could just hear the beat alone without the dude rapping in a foreign language on it.

cyrus wrote:

i find that he's right about open and sparse instrumentation when you are trying to get those leading basslines. it leaves you more room to move.

I'mma read the post and see what I can figure out. Good looking.

"16Levels" all day. Shout out to Roger Linn.

Kevbrown.bandcamp.com

imkevbrown wrote:"16Levels" all day. Shout out to Roger Linn.

Kevbrown.bandcamp.com

lol brilliant,

imkevbrown wrote:"16Levels" all day. Shout out to Roger Linn.

Kevbrown.bandcamp.com

I got all those albums and Kev still wont make a bassline tutorial video. Come on Kev, keep it real with ya fans. Lol.

^^lolz. dead on. 16 levels all day!

i bet there ain't no magic to it. kev just lay that shit down like a pro. its prob more about mind set and creativity then it is about technical skill or ability.

for sure would like to see some inspiring bassline shit tho!

cyrus wrote:^^lolz. dead on. 16 levels all day!

i bet there ain't no magic to it. kev just lay that **** down like a pro. its prob more about mind set and creativity then it is about technical skill or ability.

for sure would like to see some inspiring bassline **** tho!

There is always technical skills behind an activity. Even though there is no single way to do something, you can break down taking a shit to sequential technical steps.

Found this. We've been fooled on 16 different levels!

When listening to say “Manifest” versus “Kick in the Door,” with the “Night in Tunisia” sample more straight-forward than the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (“Kick in the Door”) coming in at an angle, it seems you’ve really advanced in the ways you sample, even then. Do you hear it differently now? How have you pushed and progressed in using sampling as an instrument?

Premo:::I experiment more 'cause I got more analog outboard equipment like the Motif ES, the Rackmount [sampler workstation]. What I’ve had for a long time is pads [on an MPC sampler and drum machine]. I used to do my bass lines on just the pads and tune ‘em on the MP like I did on “Unbelievable." Then I started getting more into doing bass lines on the keyboard with different types of bass sounds, and then that elevated to the Motif and then Mo-Phatt and Planet Phatt [synths], deciding these are gonna be my traditional bass sounds.

I haven’t done a padded bass line since I did the Common record “Sixth Sense.”When you go away from it for a while then come back and use those traditional ones it makes people notice. It’s fun to stray away and come back. Now I’m coming back to straight loops again, which I haven’t done. I’ve been chopping samples for a while now; straight loops are sounding better than chops right now because I’ve been chopping records for eight to 10 years straight. I haven’t done straight loops in years. It’s like when Kanye said he’s gonna back to boom bap for his new project. When you go back to it after leaving it for a while, everyone is looking forward to that, that old pure way but with the mentality that you have now rather than when you were at a younger age. But if I use, say, “Superfly,” it’s an obvious sample, it’s gonna get chopped. I’m known for being an innovator, so I’m gonna do it in an innovative way, chopping it and making it ill.


Source: http://www.prefixmag.com/features/dj-pr ... iew/45191/

jpeg wrote:im gonna try for the next 10 beats doing the drums then bass then main sample i know kev does his bass last but maybe try doing drums then bass as a learning

thats not a bad idea. focus on the bass, even if you are usng the samples as a starting point. use the samples to figure out what key you are in, or use the sample to snag a bass note. then start messing with the bass first, and filling in with samples. might make for more intersting stuff. if anything else it will give you some perspective.

from bob power's redbullmusicacademy interview if feel it has bearing on mixing thew bass relative to other sounds as far as getting tonal balance and the sound balance of the track to have a certain feel and allowing u to turn a beat up load and not have it distort while maintaining the dynamics of the beat and making the bass sound like it fills the track.


bob power quote:

Jay Dee is a pretty brilliant guy. You know his stuff is really simple , but one of his brilliant things is, the kick he chooses, where he tunes it, and where the bass is in relation to that. People who mix bottom-heavy music will know that that’s like ninety percent of the battle. So Jay Dee’s stuff in a weird way is easier to deal with as a mixer, than it might sound. And that’s another thing, if you know this, if you’re dealing with samples or just drum sounds on their own, where you tune them is absolutely key to both, the feel and the sonics of the track as well. And where you tune the kick drum versus where the vocals are going to sit and where the bassline is, if you haven’t dealt with it, you should.«

This is something that i've been itching about.

My problem with 16levels and note *on is that the lower pitch notes essentially stretch the waveform and thus the bass becomes groggy and bloated. I'm really looking to get it nice and tight sound, from hi notes to low... looking to move to a more clean dilla-esque sound and the only way I see possible as of now is external.


And by the way can someone run down the basic premise of the LFO page? I find the wave shape impact minimal, and the rest of the alterations are non-existent.

i think ur barking up the wrong tree with the lfo what do u want the lfo to do to ur bass sound.

also i would say use note on and change the sample settings to adsr instead of one shot.

jpeg wrote:i think ur barking up the wrong tree with the lfo what do u want the lfo to do to ur bass sound.

also i would say use note on and change the sample settings to adsr instead of one shot.

I really don't know. Surely everyone has come across something at one point or another with like "wtf does this do"?? The LFO never made since to me, I never understood it's use or meaning.

And sorry that was a typo, i usually always use note on, but when reach for the lower pitched bass notes that require a lot of duration, it becomes pretty bloated and I've yet to figure how to tighten it up.

I play keys so depending on what type of track I'm doing I'll add a bass line or substitute the bass with something else.but honestly basslines for me are quite simple,if you know what key your in.