Hi guys. Im really struggling to find out how to create a rolling, throbbing techy bassline as used by daniel Portman and Stanley Ross at 1.57

http://soundcloud.com/daniel-portman/daniel-portman-stanley- ross-2

Michael woods, Cirez D and Marco V make use of similar rolling throbbing basslines and im struggling to get anything nearly close with all the presets ive got. I wish i could program my own sounds but im still at the flick through and edit stage. Its the midi arrangement im looking for and maybe some pointers in the right direction for sound. Originally i thought it was a basic trance gallop bassline arrangement but i think its slightly more complicated than this. I am using sidechain compression from my kick to make it pump but i still cant get that driving feel.

Im on Cubase 5 with sylenth1, Massive and nexus if thats of any use.

Any help would be immensely appreciated!

Cheers Ro

Ive had a quick listen but its a while since i mixed this type of music. The bassline is swung for the groove and has a really groovy pumping drive to it, great for when mixing a new track in after one that has a more mellow type. Listen to the bassline, in the first bar or sequence you can hear a succession of 3 repeated notes, then a rest before another succession of the same 2 or 3 notes but played with a different synth or bass. When the first kick hits there is 3 rapid bass notes then a break into the second kick and then the other 2 notes playing at the end of the 2nd bar for the 3rd kickdrum to hit with the previous 3 note sequence repeating.The 1st bass note plays at the same time as the 1st kick of the bar with the 2nd and 3rd notes played together in sequence following each other. I think its 16th notes with a swing applied to them. This is a simple repeating melody done over two bars so in simple words : For every 1 kickdrum you get you get 3 notes with the 16th notes. select 16th notes as your quantize and groove select for your DAW and put two kickdrums down, one on the first beat of the first bar and one on the second beat of the second bar. This now gives you 6 notes of triplets for the two kicks. Enter 3 bass notes on beat 1,2,3 so when the 2nd kick plays there is no bass notes, this gives the rest. Then enter the last 2 bass notes on 5,6 of the two bar rhythm. this gives you the 123, 12 rhythm in a repeating loop but its going to be static and extremely mechanical. You can either move the bass notes about for the swing or use a groove template and work from here. I think if you move the last note of the first 3 forward a little and the first note of the last two bass notes back a little it will give you the feel of the forward groove one bar going into the relaxed feel of the nest bar. I know this is quite long but im trying to explain it because i dont yet know how to load images into these forums.

kickdrum1 2beat 3beat 4beat

bass1 bass2 bass3 rest


kickdrum2 2beat 3 beat 4beat

rest bass 1 bass 2<< these last two bass notes should be on _ 3beat+ 4beat but wont edit properly

The above is a very crude example, the kicks are 4/4 and the bass 16th notes, if you really are stuck I can easily do this in a midi file for you

Trakstar you are an absolute legend! Thank you so much for the detailed reply and for taking the time to respond. Its guys like you that make these forums such invaluable sources of information because at the end of the day, its all about the music. Ive got cracking on all the info you have sent over and pretty sure im close to what im trying to achieve but if theres any chance you can bump me over a midi to rowanjohnson@mail.com and i can compare what i have to what you mean then i can check im heading in the right direction.

Thank you again mate for the help, Ro

Sure thing, ive got quite a few, there on the way shortly.

Ive sent 8 midi files containing some bassline examples. I also did an audio file with cakewalk zeta 2 to show you how it sounds to compare with yours. Have fun and I hope this helps you achieve what your after.
Trakstar
Ps. next time PM me instead of putting your email address up where anyone can access it!!!!, you might want to edit it out. Any more problems send me a private mail.

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=TAL-Elek7ro&id=6 00
http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=Latte_Free&id=10 93
http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=ODsay&id=795
http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=TAL-BassLine&id= 688
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/asynth_by_smart_electronix
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/dahornet_by_dashsignature
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/triangle_ii_by_cakewalk
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/tyrell-nexus-6-by-u-he

For quick bass sounds check the Asynth , triangle 2 and most of all tyrell N6
for the presets and check them out till you find the one your after. Even better if you already have some proper VA synths to hand.