psytrance basslines on virus
 

just wondering if anyone here uses the virus to create psytrance style basslines and would like to share their methods?

im still a beginner with the virus (t.i.) and to synthesis as a whole. so any advice, no matter how basic would be appreciated.

for example, what osc mode and shape do u use?

thanks!

I'm not into psytrance, but for my ebm-trance-etcetera basses I usually stick to saws, both classic and hypersaw, but you don't need 16 saws to have a killer sound...actually, I find the classic dual oscillators to be easier to tweak into something different...with hypersaw I always end up with a trance lead-bass, while with a classic dual saw I can find more inspiration.
If you wish, you can study the presets in the Virus (I'm sure there's something you like...there are more than 3k free presets around :P) and learn something about bass synthesis, but remember: don't be a clone, you need "your" sound, not others ;)
good luck & good exploration

yea man,,, just check all the virus presets and you will find something cool, because those presets that even TI2 has are not made now,, some of them are really old but classic and also suitable for bass sounds, ok for lead sounds always u need something strange and up to date, but for bass sounds you always need something classic, even some small VSTis can do the job :)

Hello!
I am convinced we've met before. You're from southport..? DJ/uber-party-organiser? I am Luke, from starfall.

If you're a different psionic entity who is into pystrance, please accept my apologies.. :p


-Annikk

hi, make psytrance, spend time to get (nearly) a good psybasse, my few last 6 month observes:

often start first from a single sawtooth in low octave that reach the kick fundamental frq (or ajust your kick to mach the bass), try to lower the cut off lp, and apply an enveloppe to open up the filter a bit on note start. force the osc to sync, the phase should always restart at each note. play around with this first. once you get results, you can try to add other wavform like square but the saw should remain dominant. a good tip is also to shift a bit the phase of a same second osc to bring out the octave (shift the phase to 50 percent, try with 2 saw or saw/sin), a litlle delay very short of a few samples can do the job too...another thing is not a rule but often better if you slightly delay the note start (about one wavform cycle). try also to check with an oscilloscope, can help a lot, for example got best results if the number of wavform cycles in a sixteen note is an entire number, usually 4,5,or6, this depends on tempo also, you can try to fine adjust tempo until you get the good ratio groove/solid hope it can help..

ps lot of people say midi timing isn't enough accurate to get a strong sync for a long time, and resample when it's ok.

Personally I just twiddle knobs, listen to how it changes the sound, and draw a conclusion about where that knob should be positioned.

My suggestion is to experiment, lots. When I first got my Virus, it would take me as long as 3-4 hours to write a patch. But man, did I learn the thing quickly doing it! By the time I wrote my 10th patch, it was only taking about half an hour or so to create an detailed, awesome sound that I liked. :>

Just experiment, and listen. Your ears will guide you :>


Also, if you have a specific psytrance bass sound in mind, if you can post a link to a youtube video or somesuch, we can all take a listen and see if we can figure out how it was created. People do that a fair bit on this forum. :>


-Annikk

hi! sorry for late reply here, ironicly my progress was halted because i was infected with that other type of virus (that doesnt sound nice) all sorted now tho. thank u all for your replys, your advice is much appreciated! :)

yep, thats me! nice to see u on here luke!

thanks for this 23fx23! a very helpful and interesting post :) got something sounding something like what i was after now. :)

sorry for my lack of virus knowlege, but where do i find the phase shift control? ...or are u talking about the "phase init" control? (at moment i have that set to full, cos i thought it was to do with the osc waveform resetting with every midi note, is this correct?)

how do i delay the note start? and how do i see how much i am delaying the note start by without an oscilloscope? r u talking about actual hardware oscilloscope? because i dont have one! ...can u get vst versions? if so what is a good one and where can i get it?

yeah ive found just randomly experimenting has worked well for creating wacky trippy noises, but when it comes to creating nice clean phat sounds, im still learning.

here is an example of the kind of bass sound im after. ...some 165bpm cosmo for ya brains! :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LztcOtT78P8

this psy is more a single octave sawtooth i guess, but for the shift phase: (note i do this on virus powercore) as soon as you set the oscinit to a value different than 0 it will sync the second osc and phase the second osc to the value. on pocovirus shifting 50 percent mean being on 64, as the knob go from 0 to 127.
you can delay the sound with either an audio/midi delay set to full wet of a very short time, or manually shifting the sequence, for the oscilloscope check bluecat's audio or smartelectronix (free) on google.

this cosmo one must be a single saw, low octave low cutoff with short filter open envelope.
once you get it right, for best results you might make the filter envelope to self modulate ie in modulation matrix set the envellope decay to modulate env decay (to have log type curves instead of linear).

I found best psytance bassline coming from Virtual bassist...
http://www.steinbergcanada.com/produ...al_bassist.htm
You would suprice that theres so many artist around whos using this monster to create superb basslines for psytrance.
Better than virus ever, im sorry..
Use some EQ, URS BLT is ok, but waves parametriq Q4 works best.
You need to twist bass sound with eq, i cant remember what it was that term for do it now:)
Is it maby psychoacoustic?
Good luck.

A nice trick is to go into the Matrix section and assign the Amp Envelope to modify the Amp Envelope Decay.

I reckon a simple saw wave, doubled up with the sub osc to beef it under, and then getting the settings right with the Filt Env is crucial. You can give the sound an almost percussive, punch quality with the filter decay.
Sometimes also adding a tiny bit of envelope pitch through the Filter Env can also add a bite to the sound.

And then, quite important I find is running it all through the right filter saturation mode... Medium is always good, but you can always push the input
to add some more interesting overtones to that filtered bass sound.

been messing around with a few of your ideas, but i still havent come up with a bass on the virus that im happy with... i dont seem to be able to get rid of a crackling sound... dont really know whats causing it :S any ideas?

hi

i use the ti for psy bass........

i've been tweeking my settings for a few months.....

i'm very happy where i'm at atm.....

i'll check to see what everything is set at when i get home frm work and let you know........

i had the crackling sound too......its gone now !!!!

2 days later....and beer in mind..

....i dont know what i'm doing kinda sometimes...

i tried psy bass on my juno, korg, plugiator, lead2xnord, with not much luck mainly coz of the oscilator waveform starting at a different point each time the synths were triggered via midi. Syncing the oscilators on the nord helped a bit...but no cigar... (you can see all this happening if you record sum and zoom in to the start of each note...) Of course this is a non issue if you dont trigger via midi and like samples instead!

now onto the ti.....which has oscilator phase init!!!!!

2 saw oscilators, oscilator balance +63
no sub, phase init : 96
punch : 127, sync ON

Analogue boost intensity : 127
low eq boost around 80 hz +5db

LPFilllltttttterrrrrr
filter balance -63
filter routing : serial 6
saturation : off
key follow + 39
env polarity : positive
key follow base : A#0, or B0 or G#0 or :)

filter ADSR 7 , 27 ,127 , 12

amp ADSR 56 , 55, 127, 20

sustain slope 0 on both

cutoff : 69 res : 0 envelope amt : 68


Because of the long amp attack time i have to slide my notes a little bit back in the sequencing......this is what got rid of the crack that shat me though! ha ha

the note length i use seems to be a little less than 1/32nd notes in the sequencer......note length seems to play a big part?!

SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION WITH THE KIK IS LOVELY, RELATIVE VOLUME BETWEEN KIK AND BASS AND EVERYHTING IS SO IMPORTANT...

obviously everything with sound design is personal and is tuned to taste......

this is what i do .... i hope i helped in some way..

cheers

thank u very much for that rotten, its much appreciated! :) i'll check it out next time im writing and let u know how i get on! i wont just be lazy and use your sound tho, but should help me understand how to get to a nice starting point for thurther tweaking!