how do you guys do your bass?..

hi i use the mpc studio and i make hip hop boom bap bass by sampling..

and my problem is

i can't put the right bass line for the sample pattern i made..

it keep sounding like is out of key...

and even some how i put the bass

the drum and the bass sounds kinda crash so it keep on making the little peaking sound at the kick part....

i already tried messing with the eq and volume and it still does..

i never used compressor in my songs before but will it help if i put the compressor on my drum and bass??


thanks for reading..this is the problem i'm having right now..


and how do you guys do your bass??

this topic might be better in another forum as peoples methods for creating bass are not dependent on a specific MPC...

are you using filtered samples for the bass sound or are you using an actual bass sample?

tuning is the most important thing for any bass....if its out of tune its just going to ruin anything good you've already got going on........if its out of tune, compression is not going to help you at all...

maybe post an example of what you are doing and we might be able to identify where you are going wrong...

Pitch-Shift the bassline if it sounds off.

u need to pick the right bass note; cos when the note is distorted or not in the right key, or have the right frequencies it will just get worse when you put it on 16 levels.

Think u need to just play da beat and pick one note; and just see how the bass sounds with that beat, if the bass resonates with the beat then try different notes.

pick about 3 or 4 notes or between 3 to 6 notes; and make sure those notes all sound good with the beat.

then start playing around with the notes and see which bassline or progression works; sometimes u can do the bassline in sections.

All these guys have given great answers for your issue. But its an issue we have all had early in our beat making process. And many of us do it very differently.
As i was told, and learned the long/hard way.. is you've gotta learn a little bit about music theory. Sounds horrible i know. but just start with getting a key, and chord chart off line. Then figure out what keys and chords go together. That will later become back ground knowledge as you create your bass programs. I use a spectrum analyzer on the main for eye reference. you can see what frequency you kick and bass are in. And with filtering you may be able to move them a little in the frequency range so they don't clash. like how both jpeg and Bate says sometimes you just gotta use different bass sound with a particular kick.

My method to finding the key..
1} listen to the tune you have already created. And hum with it.. now after a minute of humming your tune. your brain will know the key. While tune is still playing hum one solid note that sums up all your hearing. Your brain should give you the key there. This takes practice but will be your quickest and most reliable way when you get it down.

2} get a piece of software that will scan song and tell you the tune. I use Keyfinderhttp://www.ibrahimshaath.co.uk/keyfinder/
in the top of your mpc software is two buttons next to your curser type. One is audio bounce and one Midi bounce. I bounce the track with melody to desktop, drag into key finder and it tells me the key i have used for sample i chopped and tweaked. Then i go into {forgot what its called} {shift/Pad assign} where you can play only a key group or chords. pic my key and it only gives you the notes that fit your key of track. start banging out a rhythm.

might be confusing let me know if you don't understand what I'm saying.

I had the same issue. Depending on the samples... some samples already have a baseline in it, when that is the case the best option is to use a High Pass Filter to remove the bottom end of the sample.

I use Dope vst's plugin 'bass engine' they have some great ready to use bass for hip-hop

http://dopevst.com/artist/bass-engine-v ... -hop-bass/

I never really liked dope vst it was a good idea but I don't think the sound was as good as say trillian, but trillian was too big.

I think some kontakt libraries have da best bass sounds

i like dopiest. thought sound choices were dope. just not allot of editing parameters available. Trillian has been one of my favorites for a long time. But i find mysel searching threw that big ass library to much. trillion has great options. hands down one of the best bass apps. Ive been using rump shaker for the last year. check that one out if you guys can. illmind rumpshaker

After trying hardware and various vsts I stick with serum when it comes to bass these days mostly.

But like others said Hi pass the other sample to stop any rogue bass coming from that and then tune the bass sample to the other sample or vice versa. If you're using other vsts as well as samples, then tune the samples to the a vst.

pk1 wrote:All these guys have given great answers for your issue. But its an issue we have all had early in our beat making process. And many of us do it very differently.
As i was told, and learned the long/hard way.. is you've gotta learn a little bit about music theory. Sounds horrible i know. but just start with getting a key, and chord chart off line. Then figure out what keys and chords go together. That will later become back ground knowledge as you create your bass programs. I use a spectrum analyzer on the main for eye reference. you can see what frequency you kick and bass are in. And with filtering you may be able to move them a little in the frequency range so they don't clash. like how both jpeg and Bate says sometimes you just gotta use different bass sound with a particular kick.

My method to finding the key..
1} listen to the tune you have already created. And hum with it.. now after a minute of humming your tune. your brain will know the key. While tune is still playing hum one solid note that sums up all your hearing. Your brain should give you the key there. This takes practice but will be your quickest and most reliable way when you get it down.

2} get a piece of software that will scan song and tell you the tune. I use Keyfinderhttp://www.ibrahimshaath.co.uk/keyfinder/
in the top of your mpc software is two buttons next to your curser type. One is audio bounce and one Midi bounce. I bounce the track with melody to desktop, drag into key finder and it tells me the key i have used for sample i chopped and tweaked. Then i go into {forgot what its called} {shift/Pad assign} where you can play only a key group or chords. pic my key and it only gives you the notes that fit your key of track. start banging out a rhythm.

might be confusing let me know if you don't understand what I'm saying.

thank you for your nice reply!!!

and what i'm curious about is the spectrum analyzer..

i don't think there is any spectrum analyzer in the mpc software..(correct me if i'm wrong..)

do you use a hardware for it? or do you use a software for it?

either both ways can you recommend me one??

everybody thanks for the nice reply!!!!
really didn't expect this many answers


so for the bass line making i guess there is no other way but to practice..and just keep on trying


and for the peaking sound..
i saw lot a people talking about the hi pass filter..
but then wouldn't it change the sound a lot???

Living Bate wrote:this topic might be better in another forum as peoples methods for creating bass are not dependent on a specific MPC...

are you using filtered samples for the bass sound or are you using an actual bass sample?

tuning is the most important thing for any bass....if its out of tune its just going to ruin anything good you've already got going on........if its out of tune, compression is not going to help you at all...

maybe post an example of what you are doing and we might be able to identify where you are going wrong...

i'm using a actual bass sample

sorry for the wrong forums..
i just thought since mpc studio is a computer based software so there might be a different ways then just a standalone mpc

after thinking of it
i think your right i should..
but i don't know how..
is there any way??

Here's what I do about bass, when I'm creating a project using my MPC Ren, I also use a Korg Kronos 2, and in my MPC project I set up MIDI, and record my bass or electric piano, or anything else I want as a MIDI pattern, then I take that pattern into SONAR Professional, once I'm finished tracking, I convert all my MIDI tracks including the ones that came from MPC Ren into 24 bit / 48 kHz wav files, then proceed to mixing in SONAR.

Jimi Jones

https://soundcloud.com/jimi-jones-4

qkrgusdb33 wrote:
i'm using a actual bass sample

If you are sure the actual sample is something that should fit in with the other tracks in your piece then it is just a matter of tuning. Play the sample on the first beat of the bar over and over while the beat plays ....... tune it until it fits perfectly and sounds in tune with the other tracks.........once you've got that first one in tune, you may find the others sit in tune nicely too and you can play a bassline......

you also might want to filter the sample a bit too.....so that its not too bright or abrasive for the rest of the tracks....

qkrgusdb33 wrote:
sorry for the wrong forums..
i just thought since mpc studio is a computer based software so there might be a different ways then just a standalone mpc

after thinking of it
i think your right i should..
but i don't know how..
is there any way??

I'm sure Tutor will move it if he feels its worthwhile / necessary

qkrgusdb33 wrote:
i don't think there is any spectrum analyzer in the mpc software..(correct me if i'm wrong..)

do you use a hardware for it? or do you use a software for it?

either both ways can you recommend me one??

No, not in the mpc.
software.
i use waves PAZ Anayizer, or izotope ozone 6's spectral.
but you can use any vat that shows you a spectrum of your sound pallet. you will be able to see in that 80hz range where your low end stuffs battling for space.