Bass Sound Design: 808s, Plucks, Growls and Sub Bass

This is the 3rd video in my sound design series which will introduce common bass tones and show you how to create them in any synth.
The synth I use in these tutorials is called Xfer SERUM - I use this because I find that it is one of the easiest to teach with. These synthesis principles can be used with most synths.
►Follow along with this FREE synth: • VITAL Wavetable Synth ...
🎧 My Sound Banks / Preset Packs - inthemix.store
If this is too fast for you, be sure to start with my beginner sound design video first - • Sound Design and Synth...
Join The "In The Mix" discord server: / discord
▶TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
1:30 - 808 Bass
Originally from the TR 808 drum machine, we will synthesise it from a basic Sine wave.
This is a common bass used in many genres of music. Originally widespread in hip hop, it has now moved into pop music with full force and you'll likely hear this sort of bass in the charts and as the exclusive bass sound from any producer with the prefix "lil".
6:40 - Pluck/House Bass
Very common in dance and house music. This pluck bass provides a really solid foundation to the song and is easily heard on smaller monitor systems too!
Use a simple Square, Sine or Saw wave and adjust the filter envelope to give a really solid pluck. Try using a lower octave than I used in the video (Headphones were tricking me with the bass!)
11:30 - Growl Bass
A fundamental of many genres including dance and dubstep. This bass is impossible to miss and thanks to its rich harmonic content, it will sound clear even on small phone speakers.
Use a single Saw wave for the bass and a stereo spread of saw waves in a higher octave to make a really wide and professional sounding bass. Be careful with stereo widening effects and check-in mono to make sure the bass sounds as epic in the real world as it does in your studio!
15:40 - Sub
A classic. Use a sine wave and play low octaves. Try adding distortion (tube, tape, preamp) to make it cut through on smaller speakers. Sidechain to the kick and it'll be perfect.
Get all my bass presets here for free, no signup, no purchase or anything like that! Enjoy :) bit.ly/basspresets
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tags (ignore): Bass sound design, Bass, Sound Design, Sound Design, Beginner, fundamental, lesson, bass tutorial, serum bass. 808 tutorial, house bass tutorial, future bass, pluck bass, serum tutorial, serum lesson, bass tutorial, how to make a bass, how to create bass synths, sound design and synths, synthesis, music production

[@inthemix]

►Get My Serum Sound Bank: bit.ly/inthemixstore ▶TIME STAMPS 1) 808 Time - 1:30 Originally from the TR 808 drum machine, we will synthesise it from a basic Sine wave. This is a common bass used in many genres of music. Originally widespread in hip hop, it has now moved into pop music with full force and you'll likely hear this sort of bass in the charts and as the exclusive bass sound from any producer with the prefix "lil". 2) Pluck / House Bass Time - 6:40 Very common in dance and house music. This pluck bass provides a really solid foundation to the song and is easily heard on smaller monitor systems too! Use a simple Square, Sine or Saw wave and adjust the filter envelope to give a really solid pluck. Try using a lower octave than I used in the video (Headphones were tricking me with the bass!) 3) Growl Bass Time - 11:30 A fundamental of many genres including dance and dubstep. This bass is impossible to miss and thanks to its rich harmonic content, it will sound clear even on small phone speakers. Use a single Saw wave for the bass and a stereo spread of saw waves in a higher octave to make a really wide and professional sounding bass. Be careful with stereo widening effects and check-in mono to make sure the bass sounds as epic in the real world as it does in your studio! 4) Sub Time - 15:40 A classic. Use a sine wave and play low octaves. Try adding distortion (tube, tape, preamp) to make it cut through on smaller speakers. Sidechain to the kick and it'll be perfect. Get all my bass presets here for free, no signup, no purchase or anything like that! Enjoy :) bit.ly/basspresets

[@MELLOGANGGuys]

Bro I am also interested in the music like you so much so can you help me by giving me FL STUDIO please it's my humble request 🙏 🙏🙏 🙏❤️💓 💓💓

[@SKMPMusic]

Nice Tutorial!....Can You Make a Tutorial of Making a Good Bass with Massive?.. Thanks

[@OrigamiWithAmaan]

The suffix ‘lil’...

[@assumingtrash6853]

In The Mix what producer ends with lil. Lmao. It’s mostly rappers with the prefix lil like lil pump, lil baby, and lil wayne.

[@inthemix]

@@assumingtrash6853 it was meant to be prefix oops

[@VirtualDova]

808 bass: "booooop" Pluck bass: "bonk" Growl bass: "vrrrm" Sub bass: BMMMMMMMM

[@exleydragon231]

hehe

[@samuel14674]

The most accurate comment

[@salixbaby]

that's it. no need to watch the video. pack it up, pals

[@scallopy7546]

why is this so accurate lmao

[@zuodu1]

Sub bass from my laptop speakers:

[@christianjoaquin24]

This channel is a gem for aspiring producers. Thank you for this.

[@frolicclaws1899]

wacky de guzman Facts man

[@Fiddlesticks86]

True, I have learned so much since I started watching this channel!!

[@igo9481]

prol the best of its kind

[@briantyson7744]

No kidding. Of course producers are the problem.

[@PhaTs00p]

In case you're wondering why you should keep low frequencies in *MONO*, here's a little physics info. The wavelength of sound increases with decreasing frequency. At 330Hz the wavelength is around ~1m (speed of sound: 330 m/s). Everything below that, has even larger wavelength, up to 10m for sub bass frequencies. The way stereo enhancing generates the sensation of "width" is by separating the left and right audio channel and running them slightly out of phase. In nature our brain uses phase difference to locate the origin of a sound, since any noise coming from anywhere but straight in front or behind the head will travel slightly longer to the ear facing away. The brain corrects for these differences and derives spatial information from it. Reverb or echo is processed in a similar fashion and allows us to approximate the size of the room the sound's coming from. The problems with stereo widening effects occur when we try to simulate the distance of the two channels, close to the wavelength of the sound. A 100Hz signal has a wavelength of ~3m, if we apply a stereo effect to simulate a distance of 1.5m (pretty common monitor setup), the phase of one channel lags exactly half a wavelength behind the other, in case of a sine wave this results in total annihilation of both waves. Depending on your speaker setup and your position you'll experience total silence. A mono signal will not produce any annihilation as long as you're the same distance from left and right speaker away. Large venues and festivals combat this phenomenon by staggering the phase of the different sub woofers so that very little dead zones occur. The required measurements and calculations are performed well in advance of any event and depend on location and speaker setup. Now if you wanna play your absolute banger with maximum * W I D T H * on such a calibrated system you'll most likely fuck up everyone's day. The phases of your channels are added to the phase of the setup, rendering the calibration useless. Half the audience won't be able to hear any bass, the technicians will be running around looking for a bad cable or a fried amplifier and the mixer will be pacing all around the venue until he's able to calculate the exact amount of stereo width you used to fuck up your mix. Higher frequencies have much smaller wavelengths and are generally more chaotic reducing the size of potential dead spots and decreasing the overall likelihood of wave annihilation. Virtual Riot actually has a story from when he played a track live with a serum bassline and a width of non 0. He was not happy.

[@zxcjason3619]

The sheer length and effort put into this comment deserves more likes

[@danielcarlsen8975]

@@zxcjason3619 Ikr, feels like i've just read an essay on music theory

[@nicholasscott1206]

thank you

[@rscam0]

Thank you, really, but I have not been producing enough to know what tf this means 💀💀💀

[@tomerharari1063]

Can someone explain this in layman's terms ^^

[@dylanlprice]

Me Wearing Earbuds: "This is pluck bass." *cool song* "This is sub bass." *silence*

[@arnelis513]

Dylan Leavitt Price Well, on Earpods i can hear sub really well. 😂🤘🏻

[@lean8078]

I laughed so hard at this 😂😂😂 but I know there's a sound.. it's just icouldnt hear it

[@cowboyboots9]

same

[@ahri3887]

This is why I began distorting my sub and ive never looked back

[@Darfail]

@@ahri3887 why? Does distorting the bass make it audible?

[@realalphabet]

A legend says that michael can make music without hands.

[@TetFeMal]

I'm sure he can do it without ears

[@cowboyboots9]

Without arms

[@ewan_mclean]

Without Michael

[@thatkidontheblock]

without

[@rajkumarkushwaha6467]

without DAW

[@alexs_music_lab]

After 2-4 months of searching, I have finally found a video where someone explains how to create THAT specific Deep House pluck. Thank you so much Michael :') thank you

[@inthemix]

The search is over! I find that you can get really creative with the wave shapes too, warping the square a bit etc can make it sound totally unique to you :)

[@alexs_music_lab]

@@inthemix Yes!

[@hiranga]

same!!! 👌🏾

[@artifiedoptimist704]

Hello Michael, I am one of your subscribers all the way from Nigeria. I only stumbled on your channel a few weeks ago and my production skills have literarily improved these past few weeks. Thank you for the lessons and for being a blessing to me.

[@oluwagbemigalukman3854]

I just stumbled on his channel and I feel like Sarz already

[@artifiedoptimist704]

@@oluwagbemigalukman3854 You will find a lot to learn here.

[@imdebestmoderfokingsosigin7861]

Same

[@piccell244]

@@oluwagbemigalukman3854 same over here 🔥

[@insteadnotschoolthaninvain9957]

@@oluwagbemigalukman3854 you same as my name

[@NarcissistMargarine]

Can I just say how much I love that you timestamp your tutorials? Seriously, well done. Too many tuts have the voice too quiet, the audio too loud, low framerate, minutes of unimportant stuff or overly technical jargon to look impressive. You make great stuff, I'm glad I subbed.

[@andyt6824]

Thank you for being so thorough in all of your videos. You're a Godsend

[@nagoshi01]

Amazing video as always. Loving this synth design series

[@MaikuTachibana]

Loving this series so far, I've been binging all your other vids, thank you so much for all your hard work!

[@marcosduarte2239]

I celebrate your videos. I've been able to take so much from your videos that have helped me in my productions. thanks, keep it up.

[@xavier2586]

I love when you say HELLO AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CHANNEL...It's funny

[@InfiniteConstellations]

and wholesome

[@Noisey_fox]

I thought I was the only who laughed when says it.

[@lleevv1052]

Great video. You channel is definitely one of the best ones. I've learned a lot from you and I keep learning.

[@sabienprissette2922]

I love your channel so much! Everything is taught so clearly with so much detail. Thank you!

[@charleebugg8377]

Thank you so, so very much for this video! It's just the right level of "explaining without over explaining", and I really appreciate that!

[@RussTafari]

I've been producing music for 22 years and I still am learning new techniques. Thank you for providing such a wealth of knowledge.

[@raddleriddle7752]

Really helpful and insightful tutorials. Appreciate that you are using Serum for lots of them which is obvs very relevant. Nice clear manner and well paced. Thank you so much for doing these!

[@misschiefbeats]

Absolutely love that pluck bass! Great video👍

[@jdg2198]

Clicked the bell a week ago, and this dropped right when i needed it. This man a legend

[@andreigreger]

Hands down the best sound design tutorials I've come across this far. Thank you for this!

[@zubb5120]

Thanks for all these tutorials dude. The quality of all your videos are incredibly high, definitely the best on youtube!

[@k7247]

By far the best tutorial channel. Your lofi tutorial helped me finally get started. I had absolutely no music exp lol so intimated by FL studio but you explained it so well. Keep up the good work. Don’t change the way you make the videos. Very clear and easy to follow

[@TASLightnindog]

This channel is absolutely essential for aspiring producers and sound designers. I really appreciate the depth of your explanation with each piece you change. Most tutorial videos don't explain WHAT the effects they add are doing and I love that you take the sound design approach because we have plenty of quality content on how to structure the sounds but not how to make them.

[@kryt7955]

this is just the mere truth : In The Mix is the best music producing tutor.

[@chasingdaydreams2788]

Please do more of these types of videos. This was awesome and so damn helpful. Thanks👍

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You probably hear this often but I just wanted to tell you you're terribly underrated and I really enjoy your content. It's informative, straight forward and high quality which isn't something you see often. Keep it up and may your career reach heights you could never imagine

[@Nicklz5555]

man just got back into all this since messing around with my mates back nearly 15 years ago!! life got in the way lol .. Thank you massively for doing what you do bro your'e a genius and a great help. cheers.

[@unin9946]

Insane tutorial, waiting for that vid for years, thank you so much Michael ❤

[@maonicolasastudillo688]

Today you uploaded this video I decided to watch all the three videos of sound design. And I just loved this world is crazy how we can manipulate sound. And thank you so much the way you teach is just perfect for me. So thanks for uploading this videos ❤️

[@a-trox7848]

Amazing video, like always... the best of the best , thank you so much for the great job you've done here. Keep going on ...

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Watching the third video you did. Now I hit the like button even before the video start. You are doing just great. Thanks for that!

[@Avernalism]

These sound design videos are fantastic. God bless you for the hard work.

[@unlucidbeats7243]

Man your content is always so clean, not only do you know a lot, you are also very good at explaining and teaching. Much love

[@Kevlexicon]

pluck bass looks fun. love the breakdowns, things make sense and have a process/method

[@Celestial-Pickle]

Super helpful, thanks for uploading!

[@doriandao]

thank you so much for all the detailed and actionable idea and tutorial you made. Hope to see more in the future

[@raphomet_]

This video just changed my life on serum, 808s and synths! thank you very much!!

[@sidude8795]

Your videos are so well produced and presented. Good stuff!!

[@pltxpltx7996]

I really like your videos, they're complete and goes straight to the point.

[@hardyharhar61]

bless you man. you're my favorite outlet for information on producing on KZbin

[@JakeBorg]

Love the style! Easy and quick. Thank you!

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This was an amazing content to watch. Thank you again for sharing all this for free!

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Gotta love this dude man thanks for the tutorials fam!!!!!!

[@melsmith9362]

Been watching all your work, you really are the man. Inspiring and explanatory in layman’s terms . I’m totally new to producing and you have helped me get the bug so much. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@FabricioPivetta]

Thanks! Im excited for the next episodes!

[@drdebrillos8909]

Again, I thank you, you are an outstanding member of the human race, once again, you have helped me understand things more clearly and consequently enabled me to transition your exceptionally, and consistently valuable information into the Great work that is the absolute joy of creating music. You are the most helpful and informative source that I know of. May you go far brother. Kindest of Regards and Respect. Thank You

[@Chef_PC]

I absolutely needed this video. Just an awesome tutorial.

[@desire7306]

So many of my questions answered 🙏 bless you!

[@TheGamingSnob]

Great tutorial! Thank you for your help

[@GuKrugerMusic]

Nice work! That really helps me!

[@mickimarbhmusic]

Another excellent and inspiring episode 👏

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You are a legend man. Your videos are outstanding!

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You're videos are so helpful and inspiring!

[@gfrogy]

This is awesome stuff, thank you sensei!!

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love your videos thanks for taking the time to make them !

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Just amazing. I am learning so much from your videos, you are so inspiring!

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Loved it! Thanks man!

[@entrophic8451]

Great informative video! Thank you for uploading!

[@giscardrasquin4793]

Another great video! Thanks

[@SibuGirl]

Your Sound Design & Every other video of yours is too much 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@anttipylsymusic]

Huge thanks for this tutorial.

[@michaelvrontos5997]

Thank you. Your tutorials are awesome!

[@dlegito5987]

Thank you for these great tutorials!!

[@jaroxmuzik8601]

I love your channel!!! You always teach me sooo much! Thank you!!!

[@Axart_MC]

Very helpful and informative tutorial, thanks for that😄👍

[@airbornesnow4541]

A message to In the mix: Just because a video doesn’t have a lot of views, doesn’t mean it’s not good enough!! This video is so very helpful to every one of us who want a good bass in our music Please, keep up the hard work and we all support you!!

[@AdilConstantineMusic]

This was very helpful! Very easy to follow, not only I know how to design my bass sound better but I also understand Serum better too. THANK YOU!

[@arawncronnis3112]

Man this one of the best topic to cover.... Really man its awesome..... I really am thankful for this video...

[@arasaltan]

You are such a great teacher with a good heart! Thank you.

[@mariabr8954]

I was on KZbin last night; searching for any kind of tutorial on sound design. Today you upload this video, I feel so blessed haha. Honestly I've learnt every usable piece of information on production from your channel. Thank you for what you do!!

[@inthemix]

Thanks! I have a sound design series with 2 more videos in it, beginner and advanced. You can find it on the main page if you scroll down a bit. Thanks again :)

[@igo9481]

3rd video of yours in. liked and subbed. great stuff thank you very much

[@tavanatvn4184]

I was waiting for this one,thank you michael

[@1ststar164]

Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

[@romanaguilar4504]

This little classes are amazing!!!!!

[@josephjolley1086]

Thanks for this, man! Very helpful.

Thank you for everything my friend.

[@o7k4vokb0ksp5n2]

SSSSUUUUUCH A GOOD TUTORIAL MAN. Still awesome. Bought your sound pack to support your person. Keep it up man.

[@serenadesounds_]

Thank you for this!, your content is so helpfull for me!

[@iwillieyou]

Damn how do you always get straight to the point, yet deliver so much info that you can still go along. This was my favourite video or yours

[@Ssemaganda]

thank you so much. from theses videos i can now make any bass using my synth. quite a way to start. am an aspiring producer using cakewalk but whatever you say here adds up.

[@faridchalfoun6108]

Great Lesson ! Thank you :)

[@benyaminabedini9478]

Man this change in your videos is great. Better than past... keep going

[@DaysGoneOfficialMusic]

That sidechain on the grown bass is awesome man I’m new to serum and learning it pretty fast but this has help a lot cheers man

[@musicbyseku]

Exactly what I needed to improve! Thanks ! 😁

[@bassyjay6281]

Mike... YOU ARE CLASS MAN!!! bass music has been my preference since a child!! thanks man for the vid

[@hsnozgr]

Great example have a video can be very useful and peaceful at the same time!! Thanks a lot man!! Liked and subscribed!!

[@gammaorg3812]

Man, this video helps me a lot!!! Thanks

[@michaelmarkspersonal]

Fantastic teaching!

[@joshualaferriere4530]

Thank you for adding time stamps. It's like a ToC for video :)

[@DragisaBoca]

This was so incredibly useful... Thanks man!

[@PncK64]

Such great videos, so easy to understand and actually teaches me how to create, not just copy paste.

[@The27Devin]

Earned my subscription!!! Nice video.

[@TheNatester222]

You are a GOD send for this entire series my guy,

[@jyun7360]

Thank you! It's more than helpful!

[@droox0499]

Thank you! Perfect video

[@THEFIRSTCRAZYGAMER]

this is going to help so much

[@EmThrives]

Wow these are beautiful

[@fluffy23254]

Love this channel 🤩