Resampling
Resampling is the process of bouncing a sound down to a new audio file – capturing complex processing and modulation within the rendered signal – then importing it back into your DAW’s arrange page or a sampler for further manipulation and processing.
Resampling can be used to great effect in neurofunk bass synthesis, as it let you rinse all of your computer power creating one mindbending sound. Try stacking up multiple synth layers and plugins, adding complex automation, then printing the CPU-munching final result as a single piece of audio. Resampling’s not just for saving processing power, either – free-running synths and sweeping modulation can be inconsistent with each triggered note, and resampling lets you create the perfect audio ‘snapshot’ of those movements.
Once your bass is rendered, you can create interesting and unusual variations on the original sound by loading it into a sampler. Assigning parameters like start time, reverse or detune to a MIDI controller and recording tweaks live is not only loads of fun, but will often give much more unpredictable results than drawing automation or manipulating audio in your DAW. Most samplers also feature crossfade looping, which allows the sound to play from the start until it reaches a user-defined loop point, then repeat until the note ends – just the thing for sustained playback of short bass samples or, when combined with some pitchbend, making a rising pitch effect from a bassline.
As with a synth, you can use a sampler’s onboard filtering and modulation to add another dimension to an already-processed sample, making it easy to turn a boring Reese into a resonant stab or kick drum-style boom, for example. If your chosen sampler supports velocity switching, it’s also possible to make several variations of a bass sound then load them all into the sampler and assign them to different velocity groups, meaning you can easily change the bass’s timbre by altering MIDI note velocity.