Hi i was wondering if any body hade some great dubstep bass midi files and if you are willing to share them please do so that would be much apreciated. I am asking this because i´m really terible at making melodies and i want to learn but i dont know how and thats way i use midi files.
Some of the best dubstep tunes only play one note on bass, so maybe, if melodies aren’t your strong suit, you need to figure out other ways to get around it.
If you’ve not been at production for too long, you may want to start by learning how to make other tracks that already exist, once you get a feel for that type of stuff, you’ll be more familiar with the workstation environment and you can more readily convert vibes and ideas into notes on a grid.
1 BigUp
Not a bad way to start out, but you can only get so far with one-note basslines ;p Honestly if you just learn some about chords and have the bass follow the chord progression and play the tonic of each chord, that will sort you for a long ass time.
Does electronic music have chords anymore?! ;p
You can cut into an infinite number of rhythms, so really there are no limits to the one note bassline lol.
Yeah, just usually not on basses because it can sound muddy.
Well sure. Can’t deny that. Just that changing pitch also lends to the groove IMO. Especially in basses since pitch affects perceived volume so much at the lower frequencies. I’m a fan of basslines that sound like the notes aren’t all the same volume because of pitch.
And yea…I fully realize people aren’t playing chords with bass…not at all what I was getting at : )
like what everyone has harped on, read about or learn music theory. learn to play the piano or any instrument for the matter. melodies are usually dictated by whatever chord/rhythm progression you choose to compose your song in. i’ve never read or taken any music theory classes/lessons, but i taught myself how to play the guitar when i was 14 and overtime i’ve developed a ear or feeling for melodies. i don’t know how to play the piano, i just know what sounds or feels right. midi files aren’t going to be of any help if you can’t breakdown why or how the person who created them came to choose those chords, or even the key they wrote it in. i know because when i first started producing i thought i could get by with buying midi files. i’ve never used those midis and i never will.
reminds me i should learn some theory when i finish college, or uni for the euros. August come quicker.
1 BigUp
I dunno about the theory thing tbh.
I’ve never really looked much into it, but I find that stuff immensely boring. Recently been playing the guitar and shit too, and it’s the same. Sitting around watching chord videos and shit is nowhere near as fun as finding things yourself, and I feel like it can even be off-putting at the start tbh. Like maybe after you’ve got some tunes under your belt and you start to see obvious areas in music you need to work on, then you should look into a book or something. I still wouldn’t go for that book though, it seems bare general. Look into something on a genre you’re already interested in.
Is it just subs you’ve got issues with? If you’re able to get some chords going, it might be worth fucking about with some low freq arpeggiation or something. Heck, I’ve even just punched random notes in and adjusted to satisfaction before. If need be, just forgo the bass and make a different style of music. Unless you’ve got concrete ideas for genre specific stuff, trying to get at it can be a little boggling.
Of course its general, its the basic mathematical relationships between notes, which work for any genre. I only recommend that book because it uses DAWs as the example and doesn’t fuck about with sheet music notation. Which actually makes it somewhat less complex. There are smaller more succinct guides out there. If you can still find The Raven Spiral Guide its decent and short. I mean…maybe there are genre specific theory books out there…but that seems like saying I’m going to learn Spanish by focusing on an obscure dialect instead of learning the basics.
I honestly know almost nothing about music theory, but the little I know totally changed my my music making. Like honestly having a clue why three notes sound good when played at the same time was a revelation. But OP and anyone else can go about it however they want.
Finding things out for yourself is fine–but learning the relationships between notes as two specific advantages. It gives you language with which you can think about and compose music and allows you to communicate clearly with other musicians. I’m still working on being any good at the second part. But there is nothing worse than doing a collab with someone who is like “I dunno dude, I just picked some notes”.
1 BigUp
i think theory is like a two way street. if you don’t have a natural affinity for music then you learn theory. but i think with experience and breaking songs down, someone who a bit more natural affinity/talent at creating music can bypass theory just on feeling/experience alone. yeah its boring, but i do believe having the knowledge of theory is a powerful tool. i only say this because a lot of producers and musicians that inspire me have a grasp of theory or some sort of training be it via a teacher or a book. i think for the most part you can tell when an artist has raw talent and knowledge of theory.
i meant a two lane street where experience and knowledge get you to the destination faster 
ignore this post.
i get you. i’m not saying I want to learn it because so and so does, more so to advance my own knowledge and prowess as an artist. for us who have been composing music for years, we’ve taught ourselves theory unknowingly simply by trial and error. so for OP though, who, seems to me, has not made those epiphanies for himself or herself, may actually benefit by learning.
a tad late ha.