How do you make a bass sound like this? Actress - Lost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcnRT-m9MYo&index=2&list=PL3726653740567F0E

To me it sounds like lots of clever distortion on potentially a sampled sound but it's moving too so i think it's filtered back or got some crazy lfo sub stuff running through. Any ideas?

Sounds like a standard LPF square through ring mod sidechained to the kick. Other stuff going on as it progresses but all just effects in production not initial synthesis.

slapping a lofimat (degrader, bitshifter dsp device) in renoise on a subby sine bass will sound the same.

Cool! Thank you. I'll try this. Really love the tone.

What Ableton instrument would you use to recreate?

I never used Ableton but assume you have synths in there. Use a standard squarewave and Filter it with low pass. Use a slight bit of Filter envelope with shortish decay then feed through either Ring mod/Bit/rate/shifter plug and experiment.

Sidechain comp to the kick drum to get the level pumping.

Sounds like monomachine

some sine thing lpf'ed square as source

LFO to volume or filter cutoff

some sample rate reduction

He does use a mono actually doesn't he? not a bad shout actually.

A heavily filtered square/saw is pretty much a sine wave hehe. BUT... I can here some slight filter envelope opening up filter which sounds like it takes it past sine.

yea he does, thinking it's this because the SRR is so prominent and it's an easily accessible effect on there..

initially only listened to the beginning, but after a few secs a 2nd oscillator is coming in, like a 5th above the sineish one...?

dunno, the 2nd oscillator with that triplet melody that comes in after 30 secs might be another synth / sequence, but they both go through the SRR... So in Ableton you could use 2 tracks with different synths, and send the outputs through a SRR effect on a send track or something. The synths are quite simple patches.. the sine kinda thing and the more open square a 5th above.

the volume modulation could also be a compressor side chained to the kick? he does seem to do this all the time :)

Yeah I ignored that as the bass carries on underneath.

Cool, thanks I'll have a try later. Yeah, I think I can hear a counter melody playing over the main synth thing as you mentioned. I have this on vinyl and it seems more complex than you first perceive it to be. Love Actress stuff.

Just watched this:

https://youtu.be/Vn30m1HZdYw

Randomly really funny! Products should be sold like this more!

Yeah Elektrons earlier machine campaigns were real good. The Octatrack went all out with the concept.

  On 4/29/2015 at 9:54 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

ah man actress is so good...too good! if you're a producer, chances are when you first heard actress you gave up on your own music for a bit because you didn't know music could sound like that and you felt stupid.

lol really? Actress to me sounds like what you describe but someone trying to make Autechre and falling back on Flying Lotus la beat scene vibes instead, which arguably does end up with some interesting results ( i wont lie)

to me it sounds like it could be any just square wavey synth patch put through bit crusher (which can be done on practically any DAW these days) and obviously a deceptively 'hidden' or barely any high frequency kick is side chain compressing the main bassline. it sounds very typical of every actress song i've heard with a lot of compression, another sidechain pumping and breathing track like people have been doing constantly for the last 10 years. The key to this sound is using sidechain compression as more than just a way to move a bassline out of the way for a kick, its to produce an intentional rhythm and an effect on it own

the very beginning of this song too has pretty identical technique then the side chain stops, its sounds more obvious in this one since the kick is very apparent and also distorted, stops at about :14

https://youtu.be/h0bJUbcBP_c

You guys should check out the Levantis EP (Actress under a moniker) on Trilogy Tapes.

Thanks for replies. Yeah I realize the movement is coming from a sidechain, do you think perhaps it's two layered bass tracks, each affected by a different audible/inaudible kick track? I love side chaining stuff..you can get some really unique rhythms as you can edit the wet/dry and sort of fuck with it nicely.

Actress is one of the major influences I have but I was really disappointed by Ghettoville..some of it is nice sure but most of the tracks on RIP/Hazyville/Splazsh are far superior I feel. He's really imaginative and clearly used to smoke a lot and you can feel that in the music sometimes. Sm

Thanks for replies. Yeah I realize the movement is coming from a sidechain, do you think perhaps it's two layered bass tracks, each affected by a different audible/inaudible kick track? I love side chaining stuff..you can get some really unique rhythms as you can edit the wet/dry and sort of fuck with it nicely.

Actress is one of the major influences I have but I was really disappointed by Ghettoville..some of it is nice sure but most of the tracks on RIP/Hazyville/Splazsh are far superior I feel. He's really imaginative and clearly used to smoke a lot and you can feel that in the music sometimes. Have a smoke and listen to RIP in its entirety. Quite an experience.

Sorry my phone is fucked up