Sub-bass tips?

[qJesse]

I'm still pretty new to anything low-freq, only receiving a decent little subwoofer last Christmas. Was wondering if anyone had any tips on making my sub-bass sound...good? I've been kinda using the same method with sub-bass; low-octave sine, mixed to sound better-ish, but it's not working out too great; it sounds stiff. Nothing's really going on, just kinda there to be there. I want it more powerful and natural, is what I'm trying to get at.

So...yeah. Sorry if there was a thread about this already, I searched around a bit, but didn't see one. /isstillnewhere

[the4thImpulse]

Welcome to forums!

What I did in my last track (progressive house) was use 2 sin waves an octave apart and they sat one octave lower then the bassline, they followed every other note of the bassline and compression sidechained to the kick drum so it would play no volume when the kick went. I eqed the fundametal frequencies of the sin waves out of the bassline and vice versa.

It would help if you could post a sample of the song and what you have done so far with the sub bass.

Also what kind of sub did you get?

[Random111223]

Here's what i sometimes do to get a heavy sub
1. Take a sine, then another one single octave below it
2. Add a quiet and low-octave sine-square (could be something else though, but nothing intense)
3. EQ everything down from 400hz, maybe EQ down some bass if interfering there
4. Add _slight_ distortion

You could also automate the attack's pitch very slightly to give it a punch.

[bartekko]

EQ out some of the middle harmonics to make the bass deeper

[qJesse]

It would help if you could post a sample of the song and what you have done so far with the sub bass.

Also what kind of sub did you get?

What song? Hehe, I'm mostly asking for future reference, but if you want to hear it, go to this thingamaboop and skip to 1:45. Just keep in mind, this was actually my very first track using a sub-bass.

As for what kind of sub I got, it's nothing big and fancy; a Z323 w/ Subwoofer from Logitech. Cheap little thing, but it manages for now.

1. Take a sine, then another one single octave below it
2. Add a quiet and low-octave sine-square (could be something else though, but nothing intense)
3. EQ everything down from 400hz, maybe EQ down some bass if interfering there
4. Add _slight_ distortion

You could also automate the attack's pitch very slightly to give it a punch.

EQ out some of the middle harmonics to make the bass deeper

Thanks a bunch to the both of you, I'll try all of this out. c:

[the4thImpulse]

What song? Hehe, I'm mostly asking for future reference, but if you want to hear it, go to this thingamaboop and skip to 1:45. Just keep in mind, this was actually my very first track using a sub-bass.

As for what kind of sub I got, it's nothing big and fancy; a Z323 w/ Subwoofer from Logitech. Cheap little thing, but it manages for now.

After listening to the piece I think the sub you have sounds good for a start, what I would do next is increase the volume a bit not a lot and filter and/or compression sidechain it to the kick (I would do both) to make it move around a little more and do some of the pitch modulation "Random111223" said.

1. Take a sine, then another one single octave below it
2. Add a quiet and low-octave sine-square (could be something else though, but nothing intense)
3. EQ everything down from 400hz, maybe EQ down some bass if interfering there
4. Add _slight_ distortion

You could also automate the attack's pitch very slightly to give it a punch.

I would like to add to this, that is of course, if you dont mind.
-Be carefull if you compress a sub bass, you can easily destroy the tone and weight if you go to far. I prefer not to Compress and just you volume control.
-It very easy to muddy up a mix with a sub bass, find the bass fundemental frequency and completely cut it out of the sub.
-I would brickwall cut out anything higher then 150Hz for a clean sub if you want distorted then go higher up to 400Hz.

[Icky]

I always use 2 sinewaves at a low pitch, and cut everything off above 100 hz.