Replicating Take My Breath Away's digital bassline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6x3EW3FC0

I heard that it's a modified DX7 fretless bass preset with heavy vibrato or something. Automatic Tasty did something pretty similar once, but I /think/ he owns a DX7 (I don't actually know for sure though.) I can't figure out quite how to do this right on a computer. I really want to recreate it and then fuck it up and make it funkier.

Anyone have any idea how one would make a passable clone?

I wanted to pull something out of my head until I realized I still have absolutely no understanding of the finer aspects of FM synthesis and patch design.

I've been meaning to ask the same thing for ages now, and I'm surprised it doesn't get discussed more often. For me, this is the most memorable bass sound of all time. It entirely encapsulates the sound of the 80's.

I'm pretty damn good at recreating sounds, but every time I've tried yo nail down this one I've failed miserably, probably becasue I didn't realize it was an FM patch. Someone somewhere has to have successfully figured this one out.

googling this resulted in a huge number of topics on various forums debating the synth model to no end.

dx7 stock fretless bass sound seems to be the general consensus.

  On 4/26/2011 at 7:51 AM, Kcinsu said:

googling this resulted in a huge number of topics on various forums debating the synth model to no end.

 

dx7 stock fretless bass sound seems to be the general consensus.

I know it's DX7. I know it's a fretless bass preset (modified or not.) That's not what I'm worried about. I'm not going to buy a DX7. I have no desire to do so. I just want a little help figuring what one would need to do with digital synthesis on a computer to recreate this, or a pretty close approximation of it. I know it's possible, I just don't have the slightest clue. I know only tiny amounts about digital synthesis, and I'm hoping someone here knows more than I, enough to be able to tell how this sound is made.

I would try out this

http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/fm7.php

or this

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/fm8/

and test out similar patches

  On 4/26/2011 at 8:58 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

I would try out thishttp://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/fm7.phpor thishttp://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/fm8/and test out similar patches

this. FM8 is the only thing ,besides found sound, that I really use. It is a truly powerful thing.

Yeah alright so, I took the easy way out with this instead of programming it I guess.

http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/html/dx7.html

scroll down to patches, SYX files, and download

open up fm8 or fm7

file -> import sysex -> import "rom1a.syx" (from wherever you put the files from the .tar archive)

file -> open sound -> ConvertedSysEx -> rom1a -> BASS 2 .ksd

Play Take My Break Away with it to prove to yourself that it's the patch, then tweak the fuck out of it and make it your own. voila.

Glad to finally get this sound figured out. The specific patch is "FRETLESS 2". Turn off Operator 2. Add vibrato and reverb. Pretty much nails it. Thanks guys.

Also, FM7 isn't the only vst that will load dx7 banks. There is also Hexter, which is free and supposedly sounds more faithful to the original dx7. That's what I used. Good stuff.

get fm8, mess about with the "bronx" bass patch, you'll get there eventually.

wicked, I was thinking about doing something with this bass sound myself the other day and was also wondering how to recreate it...thanks watmm :)

  On 4/26/2011 at 12:13 PM, data said:

get fm8, mess about with the "bronx" bass patch, you'll get there eventually.

My money rides with this man's opinion.

I know you knew. I was confirming your knowingness.

Fascinating stuff, guys - the bassline was my favourite part of this song when I first heard it

  On 4/26/2011 at 11:22 AM, MrSparkle666 said:

Also, FM7 isn't the only vst that will load dx7 banks. There is also Hexter, which is free and supposedly sounds more faithful to the original dx7. That's what I used. Good stuff.

I gotta check this one out. Thanks!

  On 4/26/2011 at 7:15 PM, scones to die for said:

  On 4/26/2011 at 11:22 AM, MrSparkle666 said:

Also, FM7 isn't the only vst that will load dx7 banks. There is also Hexter, which is free and supposedly sounds more faithful to the original dx7. That's what I used. Good stuff.

I gotta check this one out. Thanks!

Beware the GUI is "stab out your eyes and vomit all over your keyboard" ugly, which is really too bad since it sounds so good. Though, it does the job if you don't want to shell out for FM8, and are not into pirating software. And it's still easier to program than a real dx7.

You didn't mention Hexter it's a DSSI plugin? Is there any windows DAW that can use DSSI? I use REAPER loyally

Yeah, that's kind of an issue. I was trying to find it as well, and even though there's apparently a vsti version, it's disappeared from the internettes as the developer took it down from their sourceforge page, and everywhere just linked to that for the download.

There used to be a vst version by cutevst. I didn't realize it was taken down. It was available free for years. Damn, that sucks.

Found it. It also seems to include the default rom banks in the zip as well.

http://www.box.net/shared/n4jm3k0xjd

I scanned it just to be safe, and it's just fine.

  Quote

The strengths of digital are manifest in FM8’s powerful audio engine which generates breath-taking, brilliantly dynamic FM sound in pristine quality.

i think the charm is in the FX

its still a ghey tune to a fag film tho i did want to bone the lead singer of berlin before i had pubes

  On 4/26/2011 at 11:39 PM, soundwave said:

i think the charm is in the FX

Oh definitely it largely is, but you can't do the same effects on a completely different bass synth and have it sound as good, so getting the right FM patch is a large part of it.

Really? Just the FX? I'd say FM8 is a pretty user-friendly implementation of FM synthesis... what FM synth do you guys prefer to work with?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrkEDe6Ljqs

I think they used the same bass patch on this Commodores song. What do you think?