How to achieve FM Drone and Growl Basses?

Hi everyone, if you are wondering How to achieve FM Drone and Growl Basses and having them sit properly tonal and mixing wise this is the place for you. I think I may have a simple understanding for these basses but first I would like to see how others have gone about it. I will be posting updates and tutorials on how to create Growls and Alien sounding drones later on.

Growls: https://clyp.it/oqpgs0oh

Drones: https://clyp.it/50lb5zxv

I will be using updated versions of Massive and Serum.
So please keep this in mind. :alien:

13 Likes

Im so hyped! You should make a harmor tutorial! :grinning:

I played around with the style of bass used in your and adairs track "God Code"
https://clyp.it/wwqwntop

I’ve been working on sound design for the past week or so and wanted to make some thick and throaty, wet growls like this one. I focused hard on getting that thick and clicky top end of the sound so that it would sound more guttural and nasty.

https://soundcloud.com/imseven/throaty_fmin_bpm_150/s-6pS4z

I managed to make this in Serum in a couple of minutes. ICanHasKick is a great, gritty wavetable for this kind of stuff. The post includes some basic distortion and a phaser that’s not moving. Other than that, it’s pretty basic:

Private soundcloud link

https://sites.google.com/site/glowshrimpsoftware/downloads---serum-fm-wavetable-studio

Everybody check this out it may be helpful.

What is this?

Also, I have no clue how to make drones. From listening to the OmegaMode clyp link for drone sounds, at first thought I think of doing something like (I’m imagining working in Serum here) using a gritty kinda wave and then using frequency modulation on the gritty wave from a square wave with a couples voices. Along with that, to get a movement, I imagine using the filter on both waves and automating the filter cutoff, and both of the wave levels with an LFO.

I haven’t tried my hand at making these drone sounds, but I imagine that being the basic concept. Does anyone else have any other ideas, maybe something better? I would like to liven this thread up since it seems kinda inactive.

Fuck yes!

Makes me proud to be a Washingtonian:)

1 BigUp

Lol me and my buddies call these popcan basses. Here’s what I’ve come up with, I think they aight, would like to make them a bit more vowelly and less metallic though.

My favorite “drone” bass is from the second drop of Survivors, it’s soooo crunchy, just that initial hit KICKVOOOAYYYAHHHYAYYY. Crunch > Metallic, but oh so much harder to attain.

1 BigUp

In love with your second link, that scream sound on top of the bass itself is such a nice touch to the sound. How did you make that happen?

I did a quick little sound design session, and came up with this noise in about an hour, maybe a little less. I did what I described in my previous reply to this post. At first, it started to sound like Virtual Riot, which I did not like at all, but I changed it to give it a more gritty character with some post processing and distortion. I didn’t do exactly what I did in my last reply but my process pretty much matches what I did to reach this result. I’m willing to go more in depth if it is desired.

https://soundcloud.com/imseven/va_drone_fmin_bpm_140-with-subbass/s-Pcp7p

Most drone basses are just FM, but an octave higher. And the thing that makes this sound “drone-y” and “Terror Squad-y” are the odd overtones of the wave. A square wave(which sounds like terror squad at a deep note) is made out of odd overtones, while a saw wave is made out of even AND odd overtones.

btw the link I posted links to a serum wavetable maker that uses FM to program the WTs.

https://clyp.it/zscfen0j :full_moon_with_face:

I just made an FM growl and changed the pitch of the modulating oscillators.

1 BigUp

https://soundcloud.com/harrylarge1/omegamode-style-growl

This is my attempt of the Omegamode growl

1 BigUp

That growl is sick! :open_mouth:

Any details on how you made it? :full_moon_with_face:

Just serum, OTT and a phaser man. You just need the right wavetable

dude u r so lucky. im in oregon.

What phaser are you using?

I’ve tried doing the “still” phaser trick for those ticky and nasally kind of growl basses, but it never really sounds right. I’m using Ableton built in phaser.

that I’m from WA? lol

REPRESENT