Hi, im a big fan of deep funky basslines that apply a great deal of groove to a song. Not over the top funky, simple with a lot of octave changes and bends.
Im do not know enough music theory to understand them a 100 percent so when sequencing them i just try my luck.I want to understand them a little better and why some octave changes and certain notes at certain places are so damn effective to the groove. I know i need to learn a lot more about theory but i would like to hear some of your thoughts on whats actually going on.
I guess it's individual for each song, you can reference from these tracks.
- Patrick Alavi - Power:
- Daft Punk - Voyager:
- Fred Falke - 808pm @ the beach:
Thanks!
Funky Bassline sequence
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- KVRist
- 52 posts since 18 Apr, 2010
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- KVRian
- 1084 posts since 12 Sep, 2008 from Your basement
I like those basslines too. I don't know that there's anything unusual with the harmony that these bass parts outline. They don't seem to stray too far from the roots of each chord. You're definately right about the octaves thing.
Maybe the characteristic thing about funky basslines lies in the 16th note based rhythms. When the kick drums are heavy on the quarter notes, the little 16th note syncopations in the bass really make a nice layer to seal the groove.
It can feel like there are two feels going on at once. The kick is primary:
Thump thump thump thump
whereas the 16ths make almost a separate tempo 4x as fast:
thump-a-dit-e thump-a-dit-de thump-a-dit-e thump-a-dit-de
Leaving out some of the 16th notes makes a wonderful syncopation:
thump-a-dit thump- - e thump-a-dit-e thump -dit
It might be worth trying out on a step sequencer. Try arranging bass notes on a 16th note based grid over kick drum quarter notes and almost randomly add or subtract bass note 16ths until a happy funky accident happens. Add octave jumps to see what that does.
Maybe the characteristic thing about funky basslines lies in the 16th note based rhythms. When the kick drums are heavy on the quarter notes, the little 16th note syncopations in the bass really make a nice layer to seal the groove.
It can feel like there are two feels going on at once. The kick is primary:
Thump thump thump thump
whereas the 16ths make almost a separate tempo 4x as fast:
thump-a-dit-e thump-a-dit-de thump-a-dit-e thump-a-dit-de
Leaving out some of the 16th notes makes a wonderful syncopation:
thump-a-dit thump- - e thump-a-dit-e thump -dit
It might be worth trying out on a step sequencer. Try arranging bass notes on a 16th note based grid over kick drum quarter notes and almost randomly add or subtract bass note 16ths until a happy funky accident happens. Add octave jumps to see what that does.