• SONAR
  • Help getting a Dubstep-style wobble bass (p.2)
2015/06/02 20:31:22
scook
You might find what your are looking for here http://xenossoundworks.com/z3ta.html Deadly Dubtronica includes presets for both z3ta+ classic and z3ta+2. Pretty cheap @ $7.00
2015/06/02 21:00:13
doriginal
If you have Z3TA+2 get the sound pack Deadly Dubtronica - Use the sound Cosine XS them move the speed up and down. Of course musically you will have to come up with something but it wobbles. Also, if you have massive and you know how to use it there are lots of sound packs. 
2015/06/02 21:01:55
kevmsmith81
Thanks for that.  However, I'm not looking to spend anything at all right now.
 
I know from reading into this that the wobble is just created from playing around with the frequencies.  So I was thinking there should be a way of doing this through the automation lanes.  I just can't figure out how.
2015/06/02 21:16:17
Aharvey
You might be able to use the Bifilter2 to achieve something pretty darn close with some automation..
 
2015/06/02 21:18:01
kevmsmith81
Aharvey
You might be able to use the Bifilter2 to achieve something pretty darn close with some automation..
 




I'm probably gonna sound even more stupid now, but what is the bifilter2?
2015/06/02 23:19:29
Kamikaze
BIFilter2 is a filter plug in, but noot inprofessional
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X3&language=3&help=NewFeatures.19.html
 
What synths are you trying to apply it too? IUt's easier to apply it using the internal LFO, especially if it's rate can be changed with automation, rather than auotmating the whole shape itself. Also if it includes a step modulation source, then you can use that.
2015/06/03 03:41:11
reactorstudios
Since the OP mentioned getting something done free, or at least within the tools he already has, I screwed around a bit with the stock Sonar synths this evening.
A halfway decent wobble can be coaxed out of DropZone with little effort.
The key to the wobble, as others have noted, is to get a rhythmic/cyclic modulator assigned to a critical sound shaping parameter. This generally takes the form of an LFO modulating the filter frequency, but you can also modulate amplitude, filter envelope, amp envelope, etc.
It generally helps to use a filter with a steeper slope, as the effects of sweeping through the cutoff range will be more pronounced.  
Subsequently modulating the rate of the LFO will take the effect up a notch. Ya know, modulate your modulator. I believe Native instruments' Massive is so popular in the dubstep world because of the ease with which you can do this. Massive allows you to create custom multi-stage envelopes that can be used for some wicked wobble effects. It also has looping envelopes that can act like LFOs. So, envelopes and LFOs can modulate each other to no end.
 
Anyway, If you want to give it a try with DropZone, heres one way to get there: Pick one of the preset basses. Set the filter to a 4 or 6 pole low-pass, then kick up the resonance a bit. Accentuating the cutoff frequency helps add that bit of 'wub-wub' to the sound. Pick an LFO wave with some slope to it - anything other than a pulse wave. The space between the top and bottom of the cycle is where the wobble lives, so pulse waves that jump from one extreme to the other won't work. Cycle through the wave shapes to find one you like. Crank the depth on the LFO all the way up, then adjust the frequency knob to get the speed of wobble you intend.
You can then make the effect a bit more dynamic by drawing automation in the track lane. Set automation to the LFO frequency and draw a very subtle (shallow)sine-like curve that has the effect of making the LFO frequency 'flutter'. You may also set the LFO on the Amp of Dropzone to match (or close to it) that of your filter LFO and get an interesting result.
 
DropZone is by no means a great synth for wobble sounds, but it can work. So too can almost any synth with assignable LFOs or envelopes (ie. most synths).
You can dress up the sound coming out of the synth by hitting it with bit-crushing or other lo-fi type effects.
 
I think Massive gets you to a decent wobble the fastest if you are starting from an Initialized synth patch.
If you are a dubstep fan you've probably heard of Skrillex. I understand - via interview transcript - that he uses FM8 quite a bit for wobble basses.
I've dabbled in pulling wobbles out of my DSI Mopho using the feedback loop (which can be used in an FM-like way) to pretty interesting effect.
The tools are really endless. The trick is in the technique.
 
Finally, I feel the need to announce that I am not a fan of Dubstep music. I think I aged out of that demographic. At only thirty-five I am starting to lose touch with what the 'kids' are listening to these days.
 
Holy hell there are some killer programming techniques being used by artists within the genre, though.
2015/06/03 04:03:34
kevmsmith81
Thanks for the response there, I will give dropzone a go.
 
I had been trying with Z3TA, TAL Noisemaker and Dubturbo Sindroid.  I think my biggest issue was there was plenty of mention of using LFO's, but no real "idiot's guide" that I have been able to see, and I do class myself as a bit of an idiot when it comes to this kind of music.
 
I'm a similar age to yourself (33) and have never been particularly into any kind of electronic music.  I'm only doing this to try and help out my son.  Although, having listened to some Dubstep I actually quite like it.
 
Interestingly, I got something resembling a wobble using an EQ and using automation on it, but it didn't work with all EQ's (LP64 wouldn't work with it, for example), and the sound wasn't quite violent enough, but it felt like progress.
2015/06/03 07:10:58
djjhart@aol.com
If you have a few dollars check out Rod Papen's Blade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHxhhgWXCdk
2015/06/03 15:22:22
reactorstudios
An EQ is just a filter, or series of them, so I don't doubt you can sweep the low end with an EQ and get a wobble sound. You should be able to automate the low pass of the Quadcurve or similar EQ with a steep slope and get a good wobble going. As you pointed out, though, the more extreme the filter the better the wobble.
If you have a version of Z3ta it will definitely blow the doors off of what you can do in Dropzone, but as its a considerably more powerful synth it is also a bit less intuitive to use. 
 
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