How do you write bass lines?

The Lounge General Discussion
#41

I have that same bass and it’s pretty damn good for the price. I enjoy just picking it up and noodling bass lines on it because the acoustic bass tone is inspiring in itself no matter what I’m playing.

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#42

Believe it or not, I have never seen an acoustic bass like this. I can imagine how it inspires you to come up with interesting bass lines.

I use the Linnstrument to come up with bass ideas that I would not be inclined to play on keys. The 4th layout also makes it feel a tad more natural to play the pentatonic scale.

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#43

I find a few repetitions of the following process to typically result in something groovy. It’s pretty similar to the order of operations on a step-time sequencer like a 303 or 202.

  1. Create a rhythm (keep it simple, give the notes room to breathe

  2. Tweak the velocities and lengths of your notes until you’ve got an nice, expressive phrase

  3. Add in a couple octave (and maybe 5th shifts)

  4. Tweak the notes one at a time until you like what you’ve got.

  5. Repeat step 1, filling in the gaps in your groove.

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#44

Here’s one: The Art of Walking Bass: A Method for Acoustic or Electric Bass by Bob Magnusson.

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#45

Believe it or not, people with knowledge in theory also have imagination :rofl:

The point of theory is not to suppress your imagination/inspiration but to give it some fuel and provide ideas you’d never have without it. It’s not a 100% theory against 100% divine inspiration.

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#46

It really depends on the genre/type of music.

#47

this shit is so great. i would find several basslines that really resonate with you and sit with them/study/learn backwards all that. it’s a lifelong study and so worthwhile

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#48

Really?
I dont believe it.

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#49

Here is a good book on writing baselines

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#50

I usually just play around with a keyboard to develop a bassline, but when I’m stuck I might follow the following process:

In the context of a beat or other music I’ll just play one note (root note) and determine the rhythm/pattern of the bassline.

Then I’ll change the notes to get the melody.

Then I’ll adjust the length of notes - some might be longer and others shorter. I might want some notes to play legato or slide using portamento.

Finally I’ll adjust the velocity which might be set to volume, but more likely to filter cutoff.

If I’m feeling inspired I might automate some other synth parameter.

That’s it.

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#51

Not a trained musician, but I learned to hum and create melodies in my head on top of a chord progression. I just start humming the bassline and then program it in once I found what I like. And then maybe play around with the notes a bit to spice things up even more.

Another great technique I discovered is to stop playing your beat and then start beatboxing it a little bit to emulate it. Then it becomes pretty natural to me to add a bassline into the beatboxing.

But this comes mostly from a hiphop background. Listen to producers like Nottz for inspiration. But also to good bass players.

EDIT: I see g3o2 already named these techniques :smiley:
Alternatively you could also focus on rhythm first. Only playing the root note of the bass in a groovy rhythm. Then come into the sequencer and find the right pitches.

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#52

I was talking this afternoon with a guy who was a composition major in college. He ended up working for years in a recording studio. He told me that all the things he learned in school about composition and theory ended up being helpful in the recording project he engineered / produced.

#53

1685423127806

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#54

this is how I do my jungle dub bass lines

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#55

Interesting thread …. but if I started thinking about all this stuff, I’d be completely unable to think of a bassline.

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#56

This is avoidable, but takes work.

  1. pick each suggestion in turn
  2. act out each one a handful of times, perhaps once or twice a day for a few days if you really want to bed them in
  3. forget about it
  4. jam
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#57

Agreed.

I’m not seriously arguing that there’s no value to generating ideas about how to make music—although I can see how my post might have sounded like that.

I was trying, with perhaps some irony, to put in a good word for just trusting your intuition, following what you “hear” internally or stumble onto as you’re playing … and go with that if it feels right.

Concrete ideas:
I agree with previous posts about learning basslines of others.

It helps to be used to dealing with chord progressions, to understand how a bassline relates to a progression. But sometimes that’s more a way to solve problems if you get stuck, or if something about a bassline you came up with sounds wrong against the track. If a bassline sounds good to you, it is good, even if it rubs against the chords in a funny way for a sec.

fwiw

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#58

The definition of ”pocket” is literally kick and bass.

#59

I had come to understand “pocket” to mean “when the groove clicks and everyone’s vibing”. Maybe I read the wrong sources.

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#60

true fact, you can prove this by listening to music where the bass is mainly 808 subs in octaves and thirds/fifths.