Over the past few months I’ve had a growing number of requests on Youtube, Twitter & Facebook to upload a beat making tutorial dedicated to composing a bass line for sampled beats.

This is the first of a two-part tutorial. Enjoy!

Being a sample-based producer myself, I know that creating a bass line to match a sample can be daunting at times, especially for the producers just starting out.  Many novice beat makers (myself included a couple years ago) rely on techniques like “Low End Theory” for their bass – where you duplicate the sample track, apply a low-pass filter (LPF) and EQ the sample’s original bass to your liking.

Over the years I have grown away from using this technique for bass because it can muddy your mix – causing problems in the mid-to-low frequency areas. The “cleaner” approach, at least from a mixing standpoint,  is to learn to create your own bass line with your preferred vsti or sound module (or better yet, maybe you even have a bass guitar!). The other major benefit to composing your own bass track is that you have FULL control over what bass notes that are played, unlike when using an existing bass line from a sample.

In Part 1 of this tutorial above, I talk about some high-level tips to assist you in creating a bass line:

1) Study your Influences – This should be obvious, but it’s definitely something that doesn’t hurt to mention, if only as a reminder. Use the beat makers and producers you look up to and draw inspiration from as an example. Analyze one of your favorite beats from them. What makes it good? It’s the instrumental’s overall groove that gives it that “head nodding” factor. The bass line is a crucial part of that overall feel, as well as the drums, of course.

2) Learn Music Theory – Learning basic music theory is very beneficial for composing bass lines – not to mention your overall production in general. You may be able to get away with playing by ear, but if nothing else, I highly recommend knowing some basic theory.  My recommendation is to focus on learning keys and scales. Knowing what key a sample is in will make it a lot easier to create a solid bass line for your beat.  Developing the ability to easily identify the key and play that key’s scale fluently will improve your music production ability tremendously!

3) Detuning the Sample – This is not necessarily something that is obvious to many newbie producers, but it can make all the difference in your bass line being in key with your sample.  Check the tutorial above for a more detailed discussion on the importance of detuning your sample (if needed) and a live demonstration on how to do so using Ableton Live.

Part 2 of this tutorial will include more detailed and  in depth examples and will walk you through how I created the bass line for the sampled beat I am working on in Part 1.

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Until next time, Happy Beat Making! – http://www.tcustomz.com