303 can punch a hole in a monitor no problem with certain settings. Try:
resonance to min
decay to min
EG mod to max
cutoff to max
...and you should get a well 'ard twang on accented notes. By contrast, if you want the sound to almost disappear try:
resonance to min
decay to min
EG mod to min
cutoff to min
..and you'll just about the quietest sound it can make. As I say, this thing has quite a dynamic range for a simple old synth.
Cheers
Dave
Basslines - Opening Filter Raises Volume
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Muon Software Ltd Muon Software Ltd https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=89
- KVRian
- 1461 posts since 21 Nov, 2000
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- KVRAF
- 8706 posts since 24 May, 2002 from Tutukaka, New Zealand
And as a solution to the original question - I rarely play around with filters on the actual bassline nowadays: I'll either layer another similar patch over the top without any bass content....or multiband comp. Basslines are probably one of the very few things I would ever use a multiband comp in the mixing stage for.
Especially if you want to open/close bass filters you'd need to set the low band to safely contain all of the main note frequencies - which can be difficult, depending on what frequency your filter is set to.
Generally I'd have the low band from 100-125Hz and below, but it may need to be lower than that. You'd probably need to set the threshold fairly low, so that it's continuously compressing most of the bass content (that way, when the filter opens and the bass content drops, your bass output is not going to drop.) Then set up your mids and/or lower mids with a higher threshold that only compresses when it starts to get louder; probably I'd set that type of thing up without any gain on the mids - you usually want to control the volume, not bring up the whole band.
Of course there are inherent problems with using a multiband comp that way. Heavy compression of basslines can easily ruin it - too easy to get this big flabby bassline that swamps the whole of the low end with too little distinction between notes. Which is why I don't f**k around with bassline filters to start with
There's often not much need to play with bass filters anyway - listen to much of the early acid stuff where they used extensive filterypokery on 303s - As Dave so kindly mentioned - the 303 loses it's bass content when you up the filters. Listen carefully to many Acieeed tracks, and they didn't actually play the bassline itself on a 303, or if they did, they didn't play with it. The squealing 303s were often played at a lower mid range - they sound deepish when the filter is closed and the res is down, but they're not actually playing the bass itself - alot of the frequency is over 100Hz - often way above what most hear and feel as the bass.
Mostly the only thing I use filters for in a bass patch is to control the width of the note - to make it tight or flabby...not to make it swell or squeal. Use a line one octave above to make the real noise.
Especially if you want to open/close bass filters you'd need to set the low band to safely contain all of the main note frequencies - which can be difficult, depending on what frequency your filter is set to.
Generally I'd have the low band from 100-125Hz and below, but it may need to be lower than that. You'd probably need to set the threshold fairly low, so that it's continuously compressing most of the bass content (that way, when the filter opens and the bass content drops, your bass output is not going to drop.) Then set up your mids and/or lower mids with a higher threshold that only compresses when it starts to get louder; probably I'd set that type of thing up without any gain on the mids - you usually want to control the volume, not bring up the whole band.
Of course there are inherent problems with using a multiband comp that way. Heavy compression of basslines can easily ruin it - too easy to get this big flabby bassline that swamps the whole of the low end with too little distinction between notes. Which is why I don't f**k around with bassline filters to start with
There's often not much need to play with bass filters anyway - listen to much of the early acid stuff where they used extensive filterypokery on 303s - As Dave so kindly mentioned - the 303 loses it's bass content when you up the filters. Listen carefully to many Acieeed tracks, and they didn't actually play the bassline itself on a 303, or if they did, they didn't play with it. The squealing 303s were often played at a lower mid range - they sound deepish when the filter is closed and the res is down, but they're not actually playing the bass itself - alot of the frequency is over 100Hz - often way above what most hear and feel as the bass.
Mostly the only thing I use filters for in a bass patch is to control the width of the note - to make it tight or flabby...not to make it swell or squeal. Use a line one octave above to make the real noise.