transposing the guitar line -12 to make a base line

zaknbou · Post by **zaknbou** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:30 am

hi i was reading the "Get Your Guitar Groove On" tutorial on your website and i tried to transpose the guitar line -12 as the tutorial mentioned to make a bass line but the bass line wans't clear , (my playing is very clean , and i played on the bass string on my guitar --the most thick stings--)
the transposing -12 don't seem like it would give a professional result , anyone having a better result ?
any comment guys

cheameup · Post by **cheameup** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:36 am

None other than it will sound like crap as you found out . your much better off using a stock bass synth sound and drawing the notes in midi if you dont have a keyboard

Homebelly · Post by **Homebelly** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:09 am

You will never get your six string to sound like a bass sound that you might expect from a proper bass guitar regardless what you use to do it. However, you can use Live to get a very cool "Bass" sound using a guitar if your prepared to do a little more work than just dropping the track -12.
Try recording the guitar direct, then drop the track -12 and then play with the saturator, compressor, and EQ's to fill out the sound. I've managed to get a DI'd strat to take on characteristics of a P-Bass or even a Synth bass using the filters and so on that come with Live. Also, use the best possible quality of the pitch setting in the clip window, if your CPU starts freaking out then bounce the track when you get a cool sound...

pepezabala · Post by **pepezabala** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:10 am

you _can_ get nice results, but it depends heavily on the source material and your expectations.

Try different warp modes.

Try also using a pitch shifting plug in.

Try a LP-filter, or eq3 muting middles and trebles and playing a little with the band-setting of the low.

The other day a saw a violinist using a pitch-shifter pedal and plucking his violin and he got a massive upright-bass type of sound.

But if you want "professional" results, either use a synth or sampler or a "real" bass.

sidownes · Post by **sidownes** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:25 am

my strat with the neck pickup and tone with treble rolled off sounds fine. Not sure how much like a bass guitar it sounds but its usable for bass sounds

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:30 pm

it can sound interesting, but, right, I think not much like a bass guitar. More like someone hitting a piano string with a small rubber mallet.

fwiw, I did this for the sort of sephulcral 'boooohng' at the beginning of this song (link is to short sample from cdbaby page):

http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/utenzil2-06.m3u

hacktheplanet · Post by **hacktheplanet** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:22 pm

I'm feeling generous today.
Post or send me the MIDI file, and I'll record my bass for you later tonight.

slicedbread · Post by **slicedbread** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:00 pm

i've gotten very good results. fools people all the time. it really depends on the style of music you're playing. sounds better with slow bass lines. try recording at the highest sample rate your interface can handle so when you pitch down, you have more resolution. i find a clean tone works best going in with maybe a bit of boost in the highs.

********* oh yeah, i'm talking about straight up clip transpose... no fancy plug-ins

puRe · Post by **puRe** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:02 pm

Just don't use Live's horrendous pitch-shifting and you'll be ok

(kinda ironic though)

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:42 pm

puRe wrote:Just don't use Live's horrendous pitch-shifting and you'll be ok

(kinda ironic though)

I don't see the irony in that.