Are there any particular rules you follow when creating the type of snappy, spacey FM bass sounds used in techno?
Like, is one algorithm better for these sounds, or a particular ratio?
I’m just trying to figure out a good starting point for sound design. Any advice much appreciated.
Maybe share an example of what you’re after.
There’s a preset in the DN from memory that’s very similar to the classic Yamaha Solid Bass/Lately Bass preset. It would be worth checking out the settings for that.
A036 - TX Bass
Sure! Here’s a couple:
comes in at 21 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkQKi0EwsUI
comes in at 1.15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmJgyWSQfGo&list=LL&index=61
The first one is a slight variation on the “lately bass” patch, called TX bass on Digitone (as mentioned above).
The second is a bit more complex, but can be achieved pretty easily messing about with the filter.
Here’s an excellent video about making bass on the Digitone.
To my ear, for this one I’d try really tight envelopes, and maybe some subtle EXP pitch modulation from the LFO (or perhaps super-quick portamento).
This one is more about the resonance setting on the lowpass filter.
I’d say in general these types of bass sounds are definitely available on DN. Techno basses in particular are more about the amp envelop settings than algorithms or ratio settings. In fact, keep the ratio settings really simple, I’d say, weirder settings get atonal fast. Most basses don’t have many overtones, so use the filter(s) to roll off higher frequencies.
Thanks for the advice been working on this this morning.
The first one I can get near, or in the same ballpark but it hasn’t quite got the same shape or movement that makes it so interesting. Pitch modulation was a good shout. A fast LFO on Ratio C seems to help too.
The second bass sounds very square to me so with basic ratios (4:4) and square off the harmonics, bit of a slower attack on the filter, more sustain and decay on the amp, bit more release too, slow LFO on filter freq, some detuning and move the mix more toward Y and I’m actually quite close to that sound!
Needs more work but thanks for the tips! These are going in my notes 
One of the beauties of the DN (and other Elektrons) is the ability to do some subtly p locking on a per note basis. Small differences between notes can really bring a bass line alive. Same allies to micro timing… pulling individual notes around a little bit can really animate an otherwise static sounding part.
Interesting. Could you give me an example of that?
Do you mean p-locking a trig with LFO modulation of Pitch?
Just meaning if your modulating pitch with an LFO you’re going to be dialling in an amount. If you set subtly different amounts per step then each step will be slightly different. Same with filter envelope settings. It just breaks up the actual timbre from note to note.
I get the name of the game isn’t to mimic a real bass guitar but if you think about that instrument for a minute you’ll notice that even repeated notes on the same string and on the same fret will all sound different slightly depending on factors like how hard you play the note, your finger position and pressure on the fretboard, whether you ghost or accentuate etc. From my experience adopting some of those variances between notes give the sound some movement for want of a better term!
Another little trick is to have slightly different decay and or release settings some some notes are longer or shorter than others.
The trick IMO is less is more so you don’t want huge differences between individual notes (or maybe you do?!), just enough to get away from that static sound.
That is a really great tip, thank you!
The same applies for other instruments and sounds too. It’s why I love Elektron boxes so much.
Here’s something I did along similar lines. The bass patch doesn’t change too much in terms of p locking the sound settings (I think I used the MS 1 for the bass patch) but still used the DN to get slightly different notes lengths and timings.
Nice track dude
Cheers bud! Not my usual style but sometimes it’s good to try different things
Does somebody know, how to create a lead sound like here? Starting at around 1:30 
https://youtu.be/sEWC2ufyZZI