Speaker A
Today I'm going to be showing you guys a four-step technique that I use to sample one single bass note and I was able to make an entire bassline out of it in the beat that we're about to play for you guys.
Learn a 4-step technique to sample a single bass note and create better low-fi beats with isolation, adjustment, shaping, and playing.
Key Takeaways
- Stacking multiple filters and EQs is more effective than using a single filter for isolating bass frequencies.
- Re-pitching sampled bass notes to a standard key simplifies playing and sequencing.
- Envelope shaping can simulate different bass instruments, adding variety to beats.
- Clearing bass frequencies from the original sample prevents frequency clashes and improves mix clarity.
- Sampling a single bass note can be creatively manipulated to produce complex basslines.
Summary
- The video demonstrates a four-step technique to sample one bass note and create an entire bassline.
- Steps include isolation of bass frequencies, adjustment of pitch, shaping with envelope controls, and playing the bassline.
- Isolation involves stacking multiple filters and EQs to cleanly separate bass frequencies from the sample.
- Adjustment includes identifying the note played and re-pitching it to a more playable key, such as C.
- Shaping uses envelope settings to create different bass types, such as sub bass and upright bass sounds.
- The sub bass has a boxy envelope with immediate attack and release, while the upright bass has a plucky tail.
- Playing involves recreating the bassline by ear, matching the original sample’s progression with the newly shaped bass notes.
- The technique helps produce cleaner, more fitting basslines that enhance low-fi beats.
- The tutorial emphasizes practical application with examples and visual EQ demonstrations.
- The method allows for creative flexibility by clearing bass frequencies from the original sample and adding custom basslines.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
And this is a technique that you guys can use to make better low-fi beats.
Speaker A
So I'm going to break this down into four simple steps for you guys: there is isolation, adjustment, shaping, and playing.
Speaker A
So first thing I'm going to do is play the original sample for you guys, I want you to take a close listen to how the bassline sounds.
Speaker A
So as you can hear, it's just a simple four-note bass progression, it's nothing too complicated or elaborate.
Speaker A
Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to play what I made again.
Speaker A
I want you to listen closely to what I did with the bass notes, I was able to mimic an upright bass as well.
Speaker A
I was able to readjust some of the bass notes to fit the beat a little bit better.
Speaker A
And I did this all just sampling one single bass note.
Speaker A
And now I'll show you how I did it.
Speaker A
So first thing I did was I took the original sample and I chopped it up based on where the bass notes are hitting.
Speaker A
Next, I figured out which of these notes has the most prominent bass.
Speaker A
As you can hear, the third note, it had a bass note that was just a lot stronger than the other two.
Speaker A
So that's the one that I started with.
Speaker A
So now what we want to do is isolate the bass frequencies.
Speaker A
Now what most people will tell you is just to use one filter, but what I really recommend is stacking multiple filters and EQs on top of each other.
Speaker A
The reason why is filters don't work at a binary level.
Speaker A
If you set off a cut point at, for example, 200 Hz, it's not as if every single frequency above 200 Hz is completely going to vanish.
Speaker A
So I'll show you this as an example.
Speaker A
I took a filter here and I set it to around 150, 160 Hz.
Speaker A
But if I play the sample again and I show you guys how it looks in the EQ here.
Speaker A
Here's where 150, 160 Hz is.
Speaker A
And as you can see, there's just tons of information that's still coming through above this frequency level.
Speaker A
So what I did was I took an EQ here and I cut it around the same mark.
Speaker A
And I also took a second EQ and I did pretty much the exact same thing.
Speaker A
So if I play the sample again, you can see now there's just a lot less frequencies that are coming through above that 150 Hz mark.
Speaker A
So again, here's how it looked with just one filter effect.
Speaker A
And here's how it looked when I stacked multiple effects on top just to help clear out some more of those frequencies.
Speaker A
So what this is going to do is just create a lot more of a clean bass note.
Speaker A
And it's just going to help us fit this in better with the sample once we start playing it underneath again.
Speaker A
So now that we have our bass note, what we're going to do is do the exact same thing with the original sample, except the opposite.
Speaker A
We're going to cut everything above the bass frequencies.
Speaker A
So as you can see, I have a filter set to high pass and I cut it around the 440 range.
Speaker A
I also took an EQ here and I cut it around the same frequency as where we cut the bass at a low pass level.
Speaker A
So there's no clear-cut rule on where you want to make your cuts, just try your best to make sure that the bass note doesn't have any frequencies that's going to clash with the sample.
Speaker A
So as you can hear, the sample now is pretty much devoid of most of the bass tones.
Speaker A
The next step is adjusting.
Speaker A
What we're trying to do here is try to make this bass note as easy to play.
Speaker A
So the way that we're going to figure this out, like I mentioned in a prior video.
Speaker A
We're just going to open up any old synth and just try to play along with the bass note.
Speaker A
And try to figure out which note is actually playing.
Speaker A
All right, so it sounds like this is a G note that's playing.
Speaker A
So now that we figured that out, what we want to do is try to re-pitch it so we can get it back to a C note.
Speaker A
This is just going to make it easier to play later on down the road.
Speaker A
So if this is a G note.
Speaker A
To get it down to a C note, we have to pitch it down one, two, three, four, five, six, seven notes.
Speaker A
So I'm going to open up the bass sample here.
Speaker A
As you can see right now, the pitch is currently set to plus 200 cents.
Speaker A
If we want to pitch it down seven notes, that's going to be 700 cents, so doing some quick math.
Speaker A
We have to get it down to negative 500 cents.
Speaker A
And now we have that bass note playing in a C.
Speaker A
The next step is to reshape it using the envelope feature.
Speaker A
The reason why this tool is so useful is because it's going to allow us to come up with a couple different types of bases.
Speaker A
And ultimately just create a lot more of an interesting bassline.
Speaker A
So what we're going to do is create the sub bass first.
Speaker A
That's going to be the main bass that you heard in the original beat.
Speaker A
So first what we're going to do is go to the envelope and instrument setting.
Speaker A
And we're going to make sure that envelope is turned on.
Speaker A
Now what we're going to do is reshape the waveform.
Speaker A
So what we're going to do is turn the attack all the way down, turn hold all the way up.
Speaker A
Put the decay time all the way down and the sustain all the way down as well as the release.
Speaker A
So now what we've created is a type of envelope where as long as I have the key held down, the bass note's going to play.
Speaker A
And as soon as I let go, the bass is going to stop playing.
Speaker A
So the second type of bass that we're going to try to shape here is an upright bass.
Speaker A
That's going to sound closer to an acoustic type of bass, it's going to be a little bit more plucky.
Speaker A
And we're going to use it as a secondary type of bass in the beat.
Speaker A
So what I did was I went here and I cloned the sub bass.
Speaker A
So I have the exact same information, the exact same sample.
Speaker A
And I'm just going to do a little bit of reshaping to this sample.
Speaker A
So once again, we're going to go to envelope and instrument settings.
Speaker A
And we are going to make sure the envelope is turned on.
Speaker A
For an upright bass, we're going to have a little bit of an attack here.
Speaker A
Let's turn the hold all the way up.
Speaker A
The decay and sustain will turn a little bit down here.
Speaker A
And the release we're going to play with.
Speaker A
So when I play this envelope shape, you're going to hear it has a little bit different of a shape compared to our sub bass.
Speaker A
So as you can hear, when I remove my finger from the note, it still has a little bit of a tail playing.
Speaker A
This is exactly how a real life acoustic bass would sound if we were to pluck one of the strings.
Speaker A
So if I were to go in and show you guys how these bass waveforms look.
Speaker A
Let's start with the sub bass.
Speaker A
As you can see here, it's really boxy, just like the original envelope shape that we created.
Speaker A
Just a box completely here.
Speaker A
And if I go to the sample, it looks the exact same almost.
Speaker A
And if I open up the upright bass sample.
Speaker A
You can see it starts off with a boxy shape and it has a little bit of a tail at the end.
Speaker A
Just like the envelope that we created here, it's really boxy and then it has a little bit of a tail here.
Speaker A
So now that we have two different types of bass notes.
Speaker A
We can start playing and creating an interesting bassline here.
Speaker A
So starting with the sub bass here, I just want a normal progression.
Speaker A
Nothing too fancy.
Speaker A
If you remember, the third note of the sample here.
Speaker A
We figured out earlier on that that was a G note.
Speaker A
So let's quickly put that in here.
Speaker A
And when we play the sample now.
Speaker A
It fits perfectly.
Speaker A
So we're just going to play this by ear going note by note in the sample, just making sure that we have the right bass note playing.
Speaker A
Perfect.
Speaker A
So here's the bassline progression that I was able to mimic based off the original sample.
Speaker A
What I'm going to do is I'm going to bring this all the way up here and play it an octave higher.
Speaker A
As well, at the end of this four-note progression, I'm just going to add in a couple of bass notes here just to make it a little bit more interesting.
Speaker A
So now let's take a listen to how this new bassline sounds.
Speaker A
So again, this is only made possible because I completely cleared out the sample of its bass notes.
Speaker A
And this allowed me to play my own bass progression that was just a little bit different from the original.
Speaker A
Moving on to the upright acoustic bass now, what I'm going to do is just noodle around.
Speaker A
Just play and figure out what sounds good and what doesn't.
Speaker A
I'm going to use this bass more so as an interesting texture that I can put on top of the beat.
Speaker A
At the end, this is what I was able to come up with.
Speaker A
So this is a technique that I like to use whenever I have a sample that has a little bit more of a boring playing bassline.
Speaker A
This allows me to go in and just really be creative and create my own unique basslines with multiple textures, multiple tones.
Speaker A
And it ultimately just helps make the beat a lot more interesting.
Speaker A
And at this point, all I really have to do is add drums and a few sound effects on top.
Speaker A
And I'm going to have a pretty full beat.
Speaker A
By the way, if you like the drums from this beat, I included them in a free download in the description box below.
Speaker A
Hope you guys have learned something from this video.
Speaker A
If you did, please leave a comment down below.
Speaker A
Let me know what you want to see next.
Speaker A
Also, please do subscribe, like, and hit the bell notification.
Speaker A
See you guys next week.
Topics:bass samplinglow-fi beatsmusic productionbeat makingbassline creationaudio filteringEQ techniquesenvelope shapingpitch adjustmentNavie D
