How to write a nice bass line...

[The_Cresta]

Hello

I listened many times to my pieces and finally figured out which one was the worst part ( ): the bass line! I do really s**k writing bass lines, they are ripetitive and too simple... but I am unable to do any better actually
What should I do? Is there any trick am I missing?

[wrack]

try different synth, or add some arp for variation.
my favorite synths: rapture, z3ta+, claw...

sorry for my english!
good luck.

[MotorMind]

Grab a bass guitar and improvize some. That's what I always do, anyway.

[nuffink]

"Everything is a pickup" - Miles Davis

Never truer than in a bass line. You're usually expected to hit the one with a bass note. With a lot of week bass lines that's where it all starts going to shit. Treat the one as the culmination of the line, not the start.

[nuffink]

A bit more explaination from a clever old git called Hal Galper...



There is a tacit conditioning that occurs to most music readers from an early age who eventually perceive music as moving in "chunks" of bars as opposed a continuous flow of music. They play the bar-lines as if they existed as actual musical notation rather than just scratches on a piece of paper who's only function is to count the passage of meter by. The end result of all this is the realization that we have, from our earliest musical instruction, been conditioned to perceive music backwards from the way it is really played!

We see "one" of the bar before we see any other beat or note in a bar because that's the note we count from.

We have also named it the first beat of the bar. From years of perceiving music this way, we have become conditioned into thinking of "one" as the first beat of the bar.

It would then seem logical that melodic ideas begin at the beginning, on the first beat of the bar, or "one."

However, Tension and Release Theory states that "one" of the bar is the strongest beat of the bar and as such, is the ultimate resolution beat in the bar. As "resolution" means that something has ended, then "one" of the bar is not the first beat of the bar, it is the last beat of the bar. It is the beat at which melodic ideas end!

[The_Cresta]

@wrack: I think is not a problem of sounds, because I have many softsynths, the problem is just that I am not a good bassline writer

@motormind: you're absolutely right, I did the same instrument by instrument (keyboards, guitar and drums)... but actually I cannot afford to buy a bass too

@nuffink: omg, you gived me so many great point of views I feel even more dumb thanx a lot.

[wrack]

Hm, you can find some midi file and edit it/experiment with it, anyway you need to do/play basslines and with time you will get it.
practice and enjoy

[johnny2johnny]

There is nothing as difficult as the most simple things... Lol... 8ths,, 16ths, naturals, and flats. octaves.

[BASSDRIVE]

You probably need to develope some better rhythm. Sync yourself up to the drumbeat and vice versa. Don't write it or think about it, just play it.

I don't know if it helps, but I find it easier to work with deeper sounding bass sounds. I love that deep electric bass sound or deep synth bass. That 303 still does a great job for this IMO, see AudioRealism Bassline.

[deastman]

I find my best writing comes from improvisation. Start your sequencer recording, and just jam along with the song for a while. Keep only the best bits, and either use it as-is, or learn to play the part you came up with and then perform it again.

[BASSDRIVE]

I find my best writing comes from improvisation. Start your sequencer recording, and just jam along with the song for a while. Keep only the best bits, and either use it as-is, or learn to play the part you came up with and then perform it again.

Yup, just JAM out. Like I said, don't write it or think about it, just PLAY it. Keep improvising as you go.

[wrack]

I find my best writing comes from improvisation. Start your sequencer recording, and just jam along with the song for a while. Keep only the best bits, and either use it as-is, or learn to play the part you came up with and then perform it again.

i need to try that! Good idea, thanks.

[sylva]

Improvisation is great but often times it remains without conscious consequences to the development of the musician. Don't get me wrong. Improvisation is extremely useful and necessary in creating music. Some people, like the Jazz greats, are naturally endowed in this direction. However, a jazz bass player cannot imrovise his bassline without thorougly being acquinted with the song's melody and harmonic structure. During a jam session or real time production there's no time for fumbling.

When I said that improvising a bassline (or any line) at times has limited effect as to the development of conscious musical knwoledge, I really meant that the real value of improvisation comes in when the musician had his/her homework done. Again, don't get me wrong, this is no condescending lecturing. It's simple fact. Though harmonic structure is definitely laid on the bass, the bassline itself is dictated by the song which usually occurs at the upper voices. And I also improvise a lot, constantly being on the lookout for chords on my MIDI controller.

Though this won't immediately solve the problem, I suggest that one take a first harmony course at the local community college. This in time will cause real progress. Then take the second course and another step will have been made towards constructing good basslines. It will teach how to handle voices horizontally and how to fill in the gaps between the melody and bass line. It will also teach how to compose economically, using and reusing the same material in different ways. Here the possibilities are endless. It'll also teach how to use dissonance which can make the difference between OK harmony and musical spice. And it will also teach that despite sometimes stringent constraints, one can create good songlike structures for the upper voice (soprano). This in no way means that one has to remain under those constraints. After all, musical styles developed chronologically because of the gradual unhinging, even throwing away, of the constraints. It's just that one will be able to streamline their compositions and will know HOW to do it.

Knowledge is power.

Good luck.

[AllenPOPO]

A bit more explaination from a clever old git called Hal Galper...



There is a tacit conditioning that occurs to most music readers from an early age who eventually perceive music as moving in "chunks" of bars as opposed a continuous flow of music. They play the bar-lines as if they existed as actual musical notation rather than just scratches on a piece of paper who's only function is to count the passage of meter by. The end result of all this is the realization that we have, from our earliest musical instruction, been conditioned to perceive music backwards from the way it is really played!

We see "one" of the bar before we see any other beat or note in a bar because that's the note we count from.

We have also named it the first beat of the bar. From years of perceiving music this way, we have become conditioned into thinking of "one" as the first beat of the bar.

It would then seem logical that melodic ideas begin at the beginning, on the first beat of the bar, or "one."

However, Tension and Release Theory states that "one" of the bar is the strongest beat of the bar and as such, is the ultimate resolution beat in the bar. As "resolution" means that something has ended, then "one" of the bar is not the first beat of the bar, it is the last beat of the bar. It is the beat at which melodic ideas end!

wow thanks for sharing, thats a very interesting post

[Sascha Franck]

"Everything is a pickup" - Miles Davis

Never truer than in a bass line. You're usually expected to hit the one with a bass note. With a lot of week bass lines that's where it all starts going to shit. Treat the one as the culmination of the line, not the start.

Excellent!
(the Hal Galper stuff as well)

I have been trying to teach that to my students for ages, because it's not only true for basslines but also for melodies and improvised stuff. Things should *lead* somewhere.