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The age-old "DUBSTEP BASS?" question...

M

Mandavel

Guest
Oct 1, 2014
44
28
36
#1
Hi everyone,

Long story short: I am looking for a dubstep bass sound. Not because I'm huge into dubstep, but I love synth and love the idea of being able to emulate that tone at any point I like, as well as hop out into a natural tone.

For starters, I am a huge fan of Nerve, and when I saw that John Davis regularly posts here, I was sold. His bass work is pretty sick. I have more experience with synth than I do with things like pedals, so bear with me if I am asking the same questions everyone else does.

Here is what I DO have. I have a 5 string, my newborn pedalboard contains a korg pitchblack, MXR bass compressor, and a 1982 MIJ Octaver. I really like this combo so far. However, it is only the tip of the iceberg in my plan.

I am looking for a specific tone. This is a "promo" 2:00 song that I did for a smal contest a while back, (I am too new to post links, if you feel up to it, go to soundcloud, search "The Procyon Forge" and listen to "Wake up, Tenno...") and the bass stuff in it really appeals to me. I want to know if it's possible to reach that tone, either the distorted one that low-attacks in, or the "wah-wah-wah-wah" that bursts in. I'm not interested in the "wobbling" effect because I plan to express it myself. I am more interested in the wubby, slightly distorted, middy droning of the actual bass tone. What appeals to me is the smooth and present distortion and "quack," but the lows are still well preserved and boomy. Basically I'm looking for this tone to be Pink Floyd's solution if they ever demanded again "Bring down the wall!"

I am thinking adding a fuzz or muff, then an expression pedal, some kind of filter or wah or something? Not sure and unfortunately I don't have the budget to continuously buy the wrong pedal.

Another question I have: I see setups like the soundblox filter and hothands, etc. This is pretty cool, but something about it turns me off. I am much more interested if filters like these are controllable with an expression pedal. I see many of them that don't have an expression out... I guess I am curious how it's done.

Anyway, sorry I wrote an essay. But thanks for any help/advice.
 
#3
Mandavel said:
Hi everyone, I am looking for a specific tone. I am thinking adding a fuzz or muff, then an expression pedal, some kind of filter or wah or something? Not sure and unfortunately I don't have the budget to continuously buy the wrong pedal.

Another question I have: I see setups like the soundblox filter and hothands, etc. This is pretty cool, but something about it turns me off. I am much more interested if filters like these are controllable with an expression pedal. I see many of them that don't have an expression out... I guess I am curious how it's done.
Click to expand...

You need a glove, and learn those dance steps, too.
 
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#6
A Source Audio BEF Pro probably still gives you the best bet at accomplishing what you are going for because it's a lot more than just a Hot Hand tool. It's probably the most versatile filter on the market and you can use an expression pedal with it. To access all of what it can do though you have to be willing to spend some time with it though. A Moog will get some of the tone you described but you'll be into a healthy investment with two of those on your board. The Manta or a Subdecay Prometheus dlx could probably get there too.
 
#7
Try source audio manta and an expression pedal, basically that dubstep sound is just a fuzz into a wah/filter lfo, and source audio manta has fuzz and wah at the same pedal, save a lot of space on your board imo. I change my setup from octaver->fuzz->bef pro to Octaver->manta
 
#9
Stick_Player said:
You need a glove, and learn those dance steps, too.
Click to expand...

Awesome, done. I'll be getting on that tonight.

Awesome responses guys, I'll get to these videos when I get home (currently doing an impromptu acoustic recording session for some friends)

As for spending time tweaking knobs and learning gear, I'm definitely down for that. While I am NOT looking for a plug and play solution, I AM looking for an "easy to run" solution once -I- configure it. I love set-forget stuff, so once I get my favorite tone down, my goal is to be able to pop the pedal in, and go to town on expression.

I've heard of modules like the BSY5000 and SYB5, as well as this guy demoing the hothands and soundblox stuff a thousand times. I've never heard of the others, I'll be sure to check it out.

While I'm here, does anyone know the effectiveness of adding a plain jane DI (or dual DI for dry/wet) at the end of a pedal train, should it be at the front? Is it even worth it? Would it be helpful to have just in case?
 
#13
My band ESPAI play some dubstep style stuff I've found pedals from line 6 (m9 m13 or hd500x) have been wicked for creating big subs and wobbles as chaining effects together seem pretty good for that.
But if you want specific sounds, proper vstis (soft synths) are a lot better, so i use a midi bass controller called a misa tri-bass :) check out our video below, if you dig it more stuff on our website Link Removed :)
 
#14
Wow, you guys have an excellent sound. Unfortunately a tri-bass is out of the question for me right now :P But I'd love to try that route.

So looks like I'm stuck with good old fashioned analog bass. I'll look into Line 6. I'm still on the path to assembling my pedalboard, so keep the ideas coming!
 
#15
The basic sound is a fuzzed bass into a low-pass filter, with some chorus applied afterwards if you want that popular Pendulum sound. It's really easy. Some setups do it better than others but that's basically it. You could do it on the cheap.

Might I suggest that you don't do it. It's quite tiresome.
 

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