Looking for a specific sound, and can't construct it...

[Rivek]

I'm messing around with a trance track for a few hours now, and I'm trying to get a certain bass synth sound that I can't seem to get... I want it to be something that slightly glides in from nowhere, an eight note after the beat, an example being the bassline on the Alice Deejay song "Better off Alone".

I'm using a single square wave with low attack and release, high sustain, and a LP24 with a low cutoff. Portamento and Legato are enabled on the synth I'm using. What more can I do to get a cool, glide-y, off-beat sound?

[zircon]

The bass from that song doesn't really sound like it "glides" to me. The notes are staccato and not connected, aren't they?

[suzumebachi]

Alice Deejay

i just threw up in my mouth a little.

anyways can you post a small example so we can help you?

[Tensei]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dBu5X3TvNw

That's definitely staccato bass if I've ever heard one. I'd say it's more about the placement of the bass (off-beat eighth notes) that makes it sound distinct than it's timbre.

[statas]

lfo to freq cutoff... or freq envelope.

you want it to hit and then either open up the filter, or close it (depending on the exact way you want the bass to hit)

[Rivek]

Yeah, I realized when I listened to the song shortly after posting the thread that the actual playing of the bass is staccato. I guess the part about it that made it "glide-y" in my own mind was how it picks up the low end when the kick is silent.

Apparently then, what I'm looking for is that beefy timbre it has. I need more punchiness... would adding an EQ boost to the low and mids help that? Maybe some distortion?