[James White]

Hi guys, loving the idea of this forum and how active it seems to be.
Representing the more obscure side of UK dance music with this one…

Been trying for a while now to recreate this type of bass. I know that Flava D (and UK bass music in general) heavily relies on low pass filtered FM with layered sine sub bass, but whatever I make while experimenting just never seems to sound quite as throaty as this. It is particularly noticeable at 0:58-59, almost like a snarl.

(another example of a similar sound here but cluttered with vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-dv7uhovW)

Would be hugely grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of something even slightly similar to this bass texture. 🙂

Also cheers to Joe, I started with synthesis at the end of June and I’ve absolutely turbocharged my progress using this software. It is brilliant!

[Joe Hanley]

Try starting with this:

Oscillator: FM between two sine waves. Set the modulating oscillator up two octaves (or as an FM synth would say, give it a 3:1 ratio). Dial-in a decent amount of FM. This FM amount will need to be tweaked carefully, but if you get it just right you’ll match the tone.

Sub Osc: Plain Sine wave at the same octave as the Carrier oscillator.

Amp Envelope: Quick attack around 100 ms, Sustain at 0, and Quick Decay at around 250 ms. This will give you that quick swelly note.

Filter: Low pass 24 dB, Cutoff around mid-way. Lots of Drive if available. This will help make it a bit more aggressive.

Filter Envelope: use the same shape as the amp envelope to modulate the filter. Not much amount, just enough to make it kind-of “wah”.

[James White]

Joe, thank you so much for your time with this! Keep up the great work.