alex_1_2_3 Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hi all, So I picked up a Roland Gaia synth recently to play some bass synth parts. I'm struggling to find much in the way of tutorials or help in creating specifically bass sounds for someone who's new to this. If anyone can point me towards some it would be much appreciated :-). Or if anyone who's particularly handy with creating synth sounds wants to give me a crash course lesson in person that would be even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) . Edited January 19, 2013 by JakeBrownBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_1_2_3 Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 [quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1349734397' post='1829970'] If you're ever in Manchester with it & I'm free, I'm more than happy to help. Used to have a Gaia too so know my way around it. [/quote] Thanks man, that's very kind of you I'll be sure to give you a shout when I'm next in Manchester! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Alsatian Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Watch these Gaia videos - they're in Japanese but have English subtitles. In them, Ujie, the presenter runs through each section and control, explaining what they do to give a basic knowledge of 'subtractive' synthesis (so called, because you remove aspects of the sound by filter/volume control). [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWlDHrxy0Ds"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWlDHrxy0Ds[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y811CjKMRh8"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y811CjKMRh8[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-FQvnSZTE"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-FQvnSZTE[/url] You could then apply this to creating bass sounds - all you need to think about are how the shape of the sound goes (all controlled by the filter and amplifier envelope section): - do you want the bass to start at full volume, or fade in, like a bowed string? - do you want the bass to play continuously at a set volume, when holding a key, or decay like a plucked string? - do you want the bass to stop as soon as you let go of the key, or decay, like a plucked string? A lot of people think you need multiple oscillators (which produce the 'voice') for a great bass sound, but in reality, if you have one good oscillator, you can do very good synth bass sounds. I had a Yamaha CS-5, which had one oscillator and I was able to wring decent bass sounds from it (you only need one bass string to play one note!). However, it's more fun and interesting to use multiple oscillators - here are some options: - use two oscillators set to the same pitch and then detune them slightly. Try using the same waveforms for both oscillators and then try different waveforms to see what you prefer. - use two oscillators, one or more octaves apart. Try using the same waveforms for both oscillators and then try different waveforms to see what you prefer. - use three oscillators set to the same pitch and then detune one oscillator down slightly and detune one of them up slightly. - use three oscillators with each one at a different octave. Experiment with the different waveforms to see what you prefer. - use three oscillators with two oscillators at the same pitch/octave and then detune them very slightly. Add in a third oscillator one or two octaves below. Sine and Triangle waveforms make for excellent sub-oscillators which are more 'felt' than heard. Edited October 22, 2012 by Green Alsatian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 To the OP, try listening to each of the oscillator wave types with the filter wide open, no resonance etc. Get a feel for what each one sounds like in the bass frequency range. Each wave type has it's own characteristic sound. Personally I really really dig sawtooth if you're going for a single oscillator. It's got the heft and weight of triangle (without being as soft as sine) but with the edge and growl of pulse/square without the edginess dominating the overall sound. That's just my personal taste though. Try fiddling with the Gaia to get ONLY one oscillator and go through each type, try and get a feel for what each one sounds like, in the same way you can identify a Telecaster vs a Stratocaster or a Les Paul, etc. [quote name='Green Alsatian' timestamp='1350936318' post='1845362']A lot of people think you need multiple oscillators (which produce the 'voice') for a great bass sound, but in reality, if you have one good oscillator, you can do very good synth bass sounds. I had a Yamaha CS-5, which had one oscillator and I was able to wring decent bass sounds from it (you only need one bass string to play one note!).[/quote] Spot on Green Alsatian. In fact, often having more than one oscillator going can damage a good bass sound unless you know what might be going wrong and know how to fix it. E.g. if you've got two oscillators, then detuning one relative to the other can cause phasing effects that cancel out important harmonics, such as weakening the fundamental frequency or even cancelling out the frequencies in the low mids that give you the punch you want from bass sounds. Of course this can be avoided by careful tweaking but it's a real risk. Like many guitarists find out, a setting that sounds great in isolation can totally disappear or fail in a live mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_1_2_3 Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Excellent, thanks very much guys, started working through those videos, they'll be very useful I'm sure. Great point about using more than one oscillator, think I'll get a sound that I'm happy with using just one first and maybe add a sub 'felt rather than heard' type sound if needed. Hopefully I'll get chance to post a video soon to let you know how I've got on. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Just wanted to report back and reinforce the idea of 'getting one oscillator to sound good'. I was just fiddling with my Microkorg XL and trying to work out how one patch I've made sounds so good to me. I just fiddled til it was 'right' and dont' really remember what I did to it. I've had a look and it's literally just a single sawtooth with a mid-range cutoff point. No 2nd oscillator. What 'makes the patch' IMO is a bass boost at around 140Hz. It gives it all the balls you need to sit nicely in a mix. I imagine an dedicated analog bass synth like a Moog Minitaur has that bass 'heft' inherent in the imperfect VCOs, whereas the digital ones are perhaps 'too' ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_1_2_3 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 I found the 'low boost' button on the Gaia, does a nice job of adding a bit of punch to the sound! Anyway here's a video of a sound that I'm pretty pleased with: http://youtu.be/6lNh9dBPYlw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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