It’s fair to say the bass is a staple sound of electronic music makers. When it comes to dance music, certainly, a good bassline – or at least, something interesting in the bass frequencies – can be what makes or breaks a track.
If you’re an electronic musician, there’ll almost certainly come a time when you’ll want, or need, to synthesise a bass sound. While there’s no end of great samples or presets out there, learning the fundamentals for yourself can be a workflow game-changer.
That’s what we’re focusing on this issue. We’re not going to show you how to recreate specific bass sounds. Instead, we’re diving into the fundamentals of what makes synth bass work, along with a variety of approaches to crafting and refining your sounds.
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Interviews
Carl Craig – One of techno’s most consistently innovative artists sounds off on the genre’s visibility and heritage
Ben Frost – The innovative artist on the challenges of combining distorted guitars with intricate electronics
Paranoid London – The UK acid house duo invite us into the studio for an interview about their new album and a hardware jam session
Julia Holter – The US artist on her approach to composition and recording her latest LP
Classic Album – Juno Reactor's Ben Watkins on the genre-hopping Bible of Dreams
Pioneers – We delve into the influence and innovations of Autechre
Technique
Bass Synthesis – Create better bass using any synth with our guide to the core concepts, tools and techniques
Masterclass – Why AI-capable sample libraries are the latest must-have studio tools
Make Music Together: Tips for better collaboration – Advice to help you make the most out of collaborative sessions, whether in-person or remote
Reviews
Ableton Live 12
Beetlecrab.audio Tempera
Erica Synths Hexinverter Mindphaser
PreSonus Eris Studio 8
Native Instruments X1 MK3
Allen & Heath CQ-18T
t.bone HD 515 headphones
Kali Audio WS-6.2 studio sub
Denise Audio Bass XXL
Baby Audio Atoms
& more
Samples
Bass Synthesis – To complement this month’s cover feature, we’ve produced a pack of killer bass synth sounds ready-to-go for your next track
Lo-fi Bass – Kick drums, bass loops and sub hits, imparted with added crunch and character through lo-fi effects and creative processing
Access the FM sample archive – UPDATE FOR 2024! Download the ‘Archive’ packs and get over 20GB of loops, hits and instruments from our back catalogue of high-quality and royalty-free samples. From vintage synths and drum machines to esoteric instruments and FX – think of it as our best of. All the samples you need to create great music!
“Exceptionally authentic, while also providing sonic depths in a production-ready format”: Cherry Audio P-10 review
“Some of the things that age most quickly are electronic drums, which I’ve used tons of, but they usually sound very of their time”: Finneas on how he and Billie Eilish made a conscious effort to make Birds Of A Feather sound “timeless”
