Considerations
Bass Guitar
Regarding the bass guitar, there isn’t much to say about what I considered or wanted for Lowen. The old Sonic Battle remixes I did around 2019 were a big reference point to what I wanted for Light Dash’s overall sound. As with Picks and Shell’s Meta Instrument, I started by recalling those old remixes to recycle the plugins I was using then. In those old remixes, I was using Prominy SR5 Rock Bass.
The tone I got from it was good enough for what I wanted. As long as the bass tone meshed with the guitars well, I didn’t emphasize the type of tone (unlike Picks, I knew I would be reaching for a simple preset for the bass tone). Instead, I focused on playability since I needed Lowen to be a novice at his instrument. I saw the bass as an instrument I could get through quickly, knowing that guitars and organ would require more work. To that end, I paid close attention to specific details regarding playability. It was here that I was deterred from Prominy, but not for reasons you might think.
I stand by SR5 as an amazing rock/metal bass guitar library and would highly recommend to anyone looking. As someone used to Ample Sounds, I didn’t like how simple things like hand positions and slides were controlled. Being the idiot I am, I also didn’t realize at the time that I actually had the same bass guitar as SR5 in Ample Sound’s Ample Metal Ray.
Both bass guitars recorded for SR5 and AMR are Music Man StingRay basses (a classic go-to for a metal/hard rock bass). I remember having AMR before SR5, but I can’t seem to recall why I bought SR5 in the first place when I was already sitting on a good bass library. The same goes for the Sonic Battle remixes. I can’t recall why I chose SR5 for those instead of AMR.
Of course, they sound slightly different but nothing a good tone stack and MIDI programming can’t mask. After playing around with both, I was simply more comfortable with AMR already being familiar with other Ample Sounds guitars so I decided to use that.
Synths
Light Dash’s music style utilizes a classic composition technique called “Question & Answer,” where one instrument plays a melody and another parries, copies, or extends it in some way (like a conversation).
Utilizing this writing technique faithfully translates to you “only” hearing Lead Guitar and Organ at any given time for Light Dash. This is roughly what those old 2019 Sonic Battle remixes did. Listening to these again, I realized that I should utilize Synths more in Light Dash’s compositions. Thinking more about this, using more synths had more and more merit to it. Take a look at Light Dash’s Band Profile to learn more.
In this post, I discussed how I wanted each band to have a “Focused” Synth representation. Band 2, for example, plans to use video game chip synths while [Band 4](see Sonic Battle Tracklist to learn more) plans to use more complex sound designs such as glitchy and wavetable manipulation. This idea crystallized after creating the first few Light Dash tracks. As such, I’m having difficulty classifying a “Focus” for them.
What I was hearing in my head was gravitating toward “Hardcore” synths such as sharp pads, electronic bleeps, and hard squares/saws. Together, these synths sound a bit spacey to me, which I didn’t mind for this type of sound. It made Sonic Battle feel a bit newer and gave Light Dash an electronic feel, which is a good representation of Emeral, the focal point of the game’s story.
From preset hunting, I found myself predominantly using 2 major synth libraries and 2 secondary libraries. The first two is Dmitry Sches (DS) Audio’s Thorn and Xpand! 2 from AIR Music Tech. I’ve had Thorn for a while from previous projects I had to work on.
The other was something my friend showed me a long time ago, and it seemed perfect for how I generally work with synths and preset hunting. It’s AIR Music Technology’s Xpand! 2. I like how straightforward everything is. I also like how it has a soft “MIDI” feel to it, as it’s definitely something Lowen (a novice in the music production realm) would reach for.
These are the two synths I find myself using the most. So far, every Light Dash song uses both of these in one way or another. I gravitate towards Xpand!2 for pads, leads, and plucks from Thorn. The other two synths would be secondary in comparison. The third synth comes from the Fabfilter bundle I bought years back. It’s Twin 2.
The big hook of Twin comes from the ease of constructing lots of complex sound design stuff thats way beyond my current level. I reach for this for some Lead presets I just can’t get with the others. In addition, I like a really lush square lead from Twin, which I mainly reach for whenever I call this plugin up.
The last and least used is Initial Audio’s Heat Up 3. It’s clear that Heat Up 3 is more directed toward Trap/Hip Hop/RnB producers. Still, on top of their simple interface and layout, there is a surprising amount of Leads and Pads I like from this. A few years back, I wanted to try making a made-up game soundtrack called Galactic Venture. It was my take on Orchestral-styled writing mixed with Synths.
The project simulated a journey through space with the protagonist being a princess from a fantasy world meeting an alien separated from its family. The soundtrack told the story of this alien giving the princess the ability to fly through space to help it find its way home. I bought Heat Up 3 to help with this project as I heard a lot of “spacey” sounds from this library. For any who remembers a track on my YouTube under the same name, nearly all of the synths used are from Heat Up 3.
There are three other sounds you may hear under the synth category. The first is a trick I learned a little before I discussed the project from my channel update video. A simple Noise sweep with a long Stereo Delay on it. It was simple enough to make so Logic’s ES P is what I’m using with Logic’s Stereo Delay.
You can hear this in many songs. Something else you can hear is Native Instrument’s Rise & Hit, which was another effect that I brought back from my old Title Screen remix I did. I wanted to use this more as it added more power and punch to the tracks.
The last comes from Logic Pro stock yet again. Logic Pro has a wide selection of sounds that are already installed when you purchase it. One of these is a collection of cinematic hits I call “Boomers.” They’re located in Logic’s audio/media bin, and I personally hate going through that menu, so one day, I grabbed all of the boomers and put them into Logic’s EXS24 sampler. These, mixed with Native Instrument’s Rise & Hit, create a really nice punch when blended together.
Preset Creation / Becoming Lowen’s Instrument
The synths are all default presets. The only things I tweak were the ADSR envelopes and the pre-rendered reverb/delay on a per-song basis. For those who want to know the exact synths I’m using for each song, I’m keeping a record of them with the intent to put them in their own evolving post.
For AMR, I wanted a somewhat clean tone without a lot of distortion or crunch on it. The presets “I Am Broken” and “Sandman” got me close to the tone I was after. I went with Sandman and started tweaking stuff from there. I started by turning off some of the default effects before it hit the amp (compression, reverb, and delay) but left the EQ. I removed some muddiness from around 500Hz and also cut around 2kHz for a bit of harshness.
As far as the tone stack, I’m using a Head SVT4 amp inside of AMR and the 1×10 cabinet with a single condenser mic. That’s it! Again, I wanted Lowen to seem like a real novice who doesn’t have a lot of equipment (or specifically owns just enough to be useful to the band).
When emulating Lowen’s play style, I primarily focus on using the lowest two strings for that low bass sound. If I can help it, I try not to use the higher strings much, but I do if it helps the hand position. I own a 6-string beginner’s guitar and sometimes tune it to bass tuning to ensure I’m emulating easy finger patterns and positions. If I can almost play it as a non-guitarist, a novice actively studying bass can.
How Its Used
The Bass Guitar is the second instrument I worked on in a Light Dash song. I’ve gotten into the habit of developing the rhythmic sections as soon as possible since programming melodies is easier. The drums act as a metronome for me to record to, and the Rhythm Guitars don’t usually sound that good without bass, so I like to “hear” the final being built as I work to ensure progress. Again, there isn’t much to report here. My main goal is keeping an eye on hand position and playability. I also like adding in slides in the bass guitar from time to time.
Synths are either before or after Les’ Organ, depending on how complex each part is. This places synths around 4th or 5th in the process. Some effects like Rise & Hit and the riser can be done while I’m mixing everything. I usually decide to add those on a whim as a little extra boost when the production sounds a little thin. As far as exporting, nothing special has to be done as everything is straightforward.
Mixing The Bass
My first move with the bass is evening out the dynamics. This is a common move for processing bass, as you want the lower frequencies of the bass to be as consistent as possible in many situations. Logic’s stock compressor helps here. If there is a harsh pick attack somewhere, I’ll automate a Clip Gain cut on that spot before compressing. Fabfilter’s Saturn is a big MVP here. Another trick in many rock-oriented songs is splitting the bass into higher and lower frequencies. To which, you’d compress the lows and distort the highs to mesh them with the guitars better. Saturn allows me to do that easily.
I usually put this split between 200Hz-400Hz depending on the song’s key and how often the bass moves to capture the bass’ fundamental frequencies. For this low end of the bass, I usually raise the dynamic knob for additional compression on top of the previous compression.
For the high end, I add some saturation from one of the modules provided. At the time of writing, the American Tweed Amp is becoming a favorite of mine. Older songs use some variant of the Tube modules. Similarly, I dial up the dynamics knob for the highs, but not as much compared to the lows.
After Fabfilter Saturn, there tends to be a natural buildup of mid and high frequencies so I reach for Logic’s stock EQ and adjust the tone some more. This is especially true for the mid frequencies when the Rhythmic Guitars are playing palm mutes in tandem with the bass.
After that, I put the bass through one final compression, usually through Logic’s stock compressor. This makes 3 compression plugins to make sure everything is dynamically tight. In regards to tone, the bass is completed. Anything else I add here is to be automated in relation to what’s being played.
For example, I automate the gain when the drums are playing a lot of toms or when there is a big moment with Organ, Guitars, and Synths playing overtop each other. As mentioned, I’ll sometimes automate around 500Hz to get the bass away from the Rhythmic Guitars while they’re palm muting.
The synths can be varied in their approach in the mix. As such, I don’t touch them until I have everything else in the mix the way I want. A common trend I find myself doing is cutting the mid-range of pads and spreading them out in the stereo field to mesh better with the guitars. Lead synths, glides, and bleeps are often in the middle as I gravitate towards LCR panning with Light Dash.
Updates / Improvements
I plan to work with many musical styles I’m not accustomed to, so I’m always looking for ways to improve the sound of the remixes. Beyond this point is a list of adjustments, tips, tricks, and improvements I picked up. Hope this helps some of the audio producers in their music!
7/12/2024
Considering Incorporating Prominy’s SR5 Rock Bass 2 Into Lowen’s Meta Instrument: You can read one of the updates on Picks’ Meta Instrument post to understand how I got here but long story short, I “rediscovered” the grandeur of Prominy’s sample libraries. Having a better understanding of how to use them properly, I’m debating on using this in tandem with AMR. I still prefer how guitar slides and hand position work in AMR but I better understand the playability and how to get a good sound out of SR5.
That’s everything behind our Synth Programmer and Bass Player, Lowen The Hare. Ask me any questions in the discord or leave something in #feedback channel. Thank you for supporting my work. 🙂
