STUDIO STRATEGIES
Creating a sweeping sub line using Retrologue and saturation plugins
Pro producer Ed:it talks subbass and how to deploy it
1 To start, I have my project set to 174bpm, with a simple beat providing a reference groove. On an Instrument Track in Cubase, I call up an instance of Steinberg’s Retrologue synth, leaving it at default settings for now. I lay down F notes using my MIDI controller, focusing on an offbeat-style pattern. 2 Once my notes are down, I flip Retrologue’s Osc 1 in order to make it a Sine waveform, then turn on Osc 2 and pull back its level a bit. Changing this waveform to make it a Triangle wave adds subtle odd harmonics, while increasing Osc 2’s Fine provides some detuned drift and movement. 3 Now to Retrologue’s Filter section. Increasing the filter’s Envelope amount and lowering Cutoff to 30Hz removes the triangle wave’s ‘buzziness’, and isolates sub energy. Boosting filter Resonance into the filter’s Tube Distortion stage gives my tone some beefy character. 4 Next up, for a subtle rise in pitch between notes, I dial in 100ms of Glide, then turn on the synth’s Ring Modulation for additional tone. After doing that, centering the sub to mono will ensure that my bass will sit slap bang in the middle of the stereo field. 5 I’ll now focus on shaping the sound’s dynamics over time. First, using the Amplifier envelope, I increase Attack a bit for a smoother front end. Boosting Decay adds length to each note, and a fairly quick Release time ensures each note ends abruptly. 6 My sub sounds static and flat, so I head to Retrologue’s LFO section to dial in some movement. In the Matrix section, I select LFO 1 as the Source and Distortion as the Destination. The LFO is set to a Triangle wave, and tempo is synced to 1/4D for rhythmic movement.
7 Next, I insert Cableguys’ ShaperBox on the sub channel, call up FilterShaper, and draw in curves synced to a ¾-beat groove. This highlights variation in midrange harmonics. Then, using the VolumeShaper module, I create a dip on the first beat, allowing room for my kick drum in the mix.
8 As my sub notes span different octaves, some notes are louder than others, so iZotope’s Ozone 8 Compressor, with a Ratio of 3:1 and Threshold of
-16dB, evens out those dynamics. FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2 is then used to pull out a subtle but annoying ‘ring’ in the highmid frequencies.
9 Next, I insert FabFilter’s Saturn for more drive. I’ve split the processing into three frequency ranges. The sub band is disabled, as I only want to affect midrange. The middle band features modulated Warm Tape drive for grit. Reducing the top band’s level dampens undesirable high end.
10 Last on the list of things to do in the effects chain, I use iZotope’s RX De-Click to remove clicks and pops created by the previous LFO modulation, sweeping the Sensitivity slider gently to make sure that I retain the tone of the original sound.
11 Next, for parallel processing, I create an FX Channel and send my sub’s signal to it. First in this chain is PSP Nitro’s Gentle Chorus preset. I play around with Mix, Depth and Frequency values until I’m happy with the additional wobble this effect provides.
12 To finish, I feel like the sub’s harmonics could be enhanced even more. After my chorus effect, another FabFilter Saturn – again spilt into three bands to leave the sub frequencies alone – boosts midrange and highlights the gritty harmonics from the Warm Tube saturation.