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Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 3:13 pm
by smallclone
Hi,

I've only had Ableton a few days and am teaching myself really. I have version 8

I've done a few compositions but I just cannot seem to get a good Bass sound or a good string sound.

I'm not after creating dance music/ house/ beats - more Ambient, slow miserabalist, instrumental, progressive stuff really. So it would be a nice crisp Bass Guitar sound and a nice Cello sound or E-Bow substitute.

I've mucked around with EQ's for both instruments but to no avail. Any suggestions?

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:16 pm
by michaellpenman
Learn the program before posting, learn to mix read a book
there are some really good ones out there, the dance manual for example

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:43 pm
by myxomat0515
Miserabalist... that's a genre I'm not too familiar with.

Sounds awful.

Are you using ableton instruments? Which ones?

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 4:55 pm
by re.mark
michaellpenman wrote:Learn the program before posting, learn to mix read a book
there are some really good ones out there, the dance manual for example
Thats a bit of a harsh response. Im sure youve posted questions up before when you were in the stages of learning on how to do stuff. When your learning without tuition things seem very alien.
Also if you read his post completely youd notice he said he wasnt interested in making dance music, so the dance manual reccomendation might be invalid - although i havnt read so cant be sure ;)

@OP What version of 8 do you have, Suite or regular? What instruments are you using, you can create some very effective sounds/compositions with Abletons own instruments, even the EIC. My advice is dont start adding random effects until you know how to use them properly. Sticking an EQ on a track will be usless unless you know what your looking to do with it, what to remove(not boost ;)) Theres hundreds of valuable resources on how to EQ found on that google site thing.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 5:18 pm
by smallclone
fuck it.

This forum is full of pretentious arseholes.

Bar about 3 people.

I'll try some genuine music lovers instead.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 6:06 pm
by Phrenetic
smallclone wrote:Hi,

I've only had Ableton a few days and am teaching myself really. I have version 8

I've done a few compositions but I just cannot seem to get a good Bass sound or a good string sound.

I'm not after creating dance music/ house/ beats - more Ambient, slow miserabalist, instrumental, progressive stuff really. So it would be a nice crisp Bass Guitar sound and a nice Cello sound or E-Bow substitute.

I've mucked around with EQ's for both instruments but to no avail. Any suggestions?

Hey there mate, if you could upload a sample ill let you know whats up. Could be the sounds are not in the same key, Eq'ed correctly or too much compression/reverb/delay is being used.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 6:23 pm
by Raddler
Some of you are idiots, always telling people what they don't want to hear, ie: read the manuals, get to know your stuff inside out before posting, nah, nah, nah. Like #@*! broken records . It was a valid post, something interesting could have come from it, but no, the second post ended that real fast. What's the point of these forums if every newbie thread is scrutinized and bashed, thus scaring them away. Some of us are new at this, including myself, and what may seem basic to the advanced producer, is extremely helpful and relevant to us. Beyond absolute common sense, there shouldn't be prerequisites before posting topics, certainly not to have read every software manual you have. You don't know what might be helpfull to someone new. Think about that next time you post cold, unhelpfull replys.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 1:12 am
by Aequitas123
wow those were harsh responses...

smallclone... post some shit if you can and we'll try and help. or give us more detailed information as to what you're trying to achieve and describe what you're getting.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 4:15 am
by noisegeneration
michaellpenman wrote:Learn the program before posting, learn to mix read a book
there are some really good ones out there, the dance manual for example
Just like to say Michael Penman should get the F of this forum! Go take it out on your D*ck if you are having a bad day!
This forum is specifically for asking questions you idiot! I hate losers that dis people for asking questions! And I will personally dis each one I come across!Haha!
myxomat0515 wrote:Miserabalist... that's a genre I'm not too familiar with.

Sounds awful.
myxomat0515 wrote:Miserabalist... that's a genre I'm not too familiar with.

Sounds awful.

Are you using ableton instruments? Which ones?
You too loser! Keep your negativity to yourself!haha!

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:25 am
by michaellpenman
You have mis read what i said, i said you are better getting a basic understanding, you are asking a question that you may not understand the answer to...
Plus asking people here does not mean they are telling you the correct then. Thou reading a book or magazine or manual does.
Gain a basic understanding so you can tell if someone is giving you bad advice.

i gave a reference to a good book (The Dance Manual)... and dont comment on the book if you don't know it. Dance as a genre covers everything from old hip hop to techno, this includes house and ambient which he mentioned.
Theres no point when someone tells you something you dont want to hear acting like a child, seriously read the manual, do the lessons you will be better for it. There notas a paper weight their there to help.
And once you feel you have drained ever possibility you then ask around. It you figure stuff out on your own you will gain a understanding of why something does or does not work..........

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:28 am
by michaellpenman
noisegeneration wrote:
michaellpenman wrote:Learn the program before posting, learn to mix read a book
there are some really good ones out there, the dance manual for example
Just like to say Michael Penman should get the F of this forum! Go take it out on your D*ck if you are having a bad day!
This forum is specifically for asking questions you idiot! I hate losers that dis people for asking questions! And I will personally dis each one I come across!Haha!
myxomat0515 wrote:Miserabalist... that's a genre I'm not too familiar with.

Sounds awful.
myxomat0515 wrote:Miserabalist... that's a genre I'm not too familiar with.

Sounds awful.

Are you using ableton instruments? Which ones?
You too loser! Keep your negativity to yourself!haha!

You need to grow up... theres no need to use abusive language on a music website. If you read my post i gave sound advice. Maybe not worded in the best way but hey i didnt expected the kids to misinterpret the way they did

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:29 pm
by Sage
The person really needs to go back and look at what they are using for to create the sounds, is it right for what the yare trying to do, EQ doesn't solve anything.


I'd recommend a course over a book and don't think anyone should ever try mixing until they have had a go in a proper studio as 99% of the time, it's awful and so many lessons can be learnt so quickly in that environment.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:04 pm
by michaellpenman
Thanks sage, yeah mixing is a art form not something you can learn in a day or a year or 10 years, it takes time and development.

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 4:42 pm
by webslave
smallclone wrote:Hi,

"I've only had Ableton a few days and am teaching myself really. I have version 8

I've done a few compositions but I just cannot seem to get a good Bass sound or a good string sound."
Hi,

Ignore the idiot on about mixing - that has nothing to do with it (well maybe a bit when it comes to bass). I'm going to presume you're using 8 suite which comes with various instruments, such as Tension, but does not have any good string sounds. In general Live comes with some good dance and electronic based instruments but lacks good solid acoustic instruments, like piano, strings, etc.

Other applications come with a good choice of acoustic instruments that are usable, if you're on a Mac Garageband has some good ones built in which you can slave or export across to Live. Are you PC or Mac based? I'm sure some folks here could recommend some good plugins for strings and bass in both cases. I'm a bass player and have guitar rig plugged into live that I use even for some dance stuff I do but I really could do with some good strings.....

Re: Bass and Strings soudn awful. Any tips?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:03 pm
by H20nly
michaellpenman wrote:Thanks sage, yeah mixing is a art form not something you can learn in a day or a year or 10 years, it takes time and development.
So you're saying come back in ten years? Live is on rev 8 so by that logic even the Live users using say Live 2 or 3 have to come back in 3 or 4 years. WTF?

Sage wrote:EQ doesn't solve anything
*cough* BULLSHIT


Sage wrote:I'd recommend a course over a book and don't think anyone should ever try mixing until they have had a go in a proper studio as 99% of the time
Yeah because studios are in every town just waiting for people to come in so they can teach them.
:idea: Why don't you show him!
Sage wrote:so many lessons can be learnt so quickly in that environment.
I'll give you that.