Give us a sine
Before synthesisers came along, the only instruments capable of producing deep bass sounds were thick strings with a suitable resonating medium (cellos, double basses, washtub basses), large orchestral drums, and, in more recent years, amplified electric bass guitars. With the invention of the synth, it became possible to reinforce less bass-heavy grooves and riffs with long sub-bass notes, or even layer in duplicate parts following the riff but playing a lower sub note. We’ve covered sub-bass before in Computer Music, but there are a few other things to keep in mind when layering subs with recorded samples – namely, tuning and group processing to pull the realworld bass sounds and the synthesised sub layers together.
It’s also worth noting that the same tricks can be employed with other synth parts, too. For example, many modern musical genres have all but ditched the conventional bassline in favour of big, brash gated lead pad riffs featuring a huge bottom end.
Producers (and ghost producers) of EDM, pop and hip-hop are using these kinds of sounds reinforced with a sub layer. Many synth patches actually mix in their own onboard sub-oscillator, but you can always reinforce the sound with another, separately processed sub-bass layer, applying much the same techniques as those we’re covering here.
Another advantage to having a separate sub layer becomes apparent when you reach the arrangement stage. Pure sub notes are often quite hard to even notice unless you’re a producer who’s listening for them or an exceptionally sharp-eared customer – a fact that can be used to great effect during breakdowns in club tracks. Breakdowns can easily sound a little thin and empty in the bottom end, but featuring the sub layer of your bass riff turned down very low in the mix so that it can be felt ( just) without really being heard can fill the gap out very nicely. You can also mute the upper bass layer at different points and just allow the sub layer to play.
“Many modern musical genres have all but ditched the conventional bassline”