Making a Detuned Bass Like Shy FX, Break [Serum, Massive, Massive X, Operator]

Tutorial on how to make the detuned sub bass like Shy FX and Break on Serum, Massive, Massive X and Operator, all done in Ableton. Popular bass used in jump-up, roller drum and bass.
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1:01 Serum Oldskool Technique
5:30 Serum Newskool Technique
12:44 Massive Oldskool
16:28 Massive X Newskool
21:13 Operator Oldskool
25:56 Comparison - Which one do you like the most?

[@bloom_dnb]

This is the best DNB synth tutorial channel on KZbin. PERIOD!

[@STRANJAH]

thank you that is a highly esteemed comment!

[@bloom_dnb]

@@STRANJAH no worries. i remember i first heard your tunes in a set it was that track Future, set me on a different path production wise!

[@NickRogers0427]

Totally agree!! (2 years late)

[@TurtleMC1993]

Someone get this guy an award or something. This Man's a Dr of electronic music. Potentially the most influential person EVER in dnb for the amount of people he has helped and will continue to help as long as youtube is about for.

[@ScramTek]

For aspiring DnB producers like us, no other man has been as helpful as this guy right here!

[@lefty7876]

Bro I’ve been looking for tutorials like this my entire life. Game changer

[@STRANJAH]

wicked man!

[@wattsofwisdom3636]

For real I had to subscribe 💯

[@telekomdj]

THIS!!

[@teds2555]

Big ups stranjah

[@fatze3978]

Completely man! 👍

[@Serdy]

Dude! I typically don't take the time to comment on videos, but I just really needed to let you know that the amount of effort you put into your videos is VERY appreciated. You're not just half-assing this stuff. People definitely notice the work you put in.

[@diversity333]

dude you are true don - i've spent hours over the years trying to figure some of this stuff out. it's actually simpler than you think and i'm so glad you've shared that with us. ez

[@STRANJAH]

Your welcome, glad to help!

[@aurisdnb]

Great video! It's important to note than when you play one sine at +0 and a second sine wave at +2 the effective pitch of your bass sound is now +1. That means that if you're playing any other instruments over it this is going to sound out of tune. To fix this you should play one sine at -1 and the other at +1 to still have the 2 semitone detune but keeping the pitch center on the note you're playing.

[@alexrjohnston]

Initially I thought the same but the bass actually descends in pitch slowly via LFO so it probably ends up about right. Edit: just noticed the master pitch LFO is set to bipolar so you are right.

[@STRANJAH]

You're absolutely right Jos - thank you for the suggestion!

[@STRANJAH]

Yup he's correct, sometimes I overlook this, and have to compensate by play a note down.

[@MonsterDubClub]

The simple yet incredibly effective bass patch we have all been chasing.. Taught with perfection, thanks STRANJAH!

[@STRANJAH]

Great to hear! You are most welcome!

[@kyechoules8176]

The Bristol sound white noise sub!!!!!

[@STRANJAH]

Nice man! Bristol sound certainly makes sense as a lot of that early jump up by Roni Size and Krust came out of there from what I know.

[@wolfgangrecordings]

except it was pioneered in detroit by a house & techno legend, see my comment above :)

[@AlMondO93]

A very good example is Dj Die - Play It For Me kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWa1o4qjfLiliq8

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

@@AlMondO93 This style is also been forward driven recently mainly by the likes of Bladerunner & Serum. I believe the origins back in the day were from artists like DJ Die around 1996/1997.

[@happylarry7533]

@@AlMondO93 bad tune bro

[@fortknightpredilluvian2008]

wow literally was walking my dog and thought how i wanted a tutorial on this type of sound, i just didnt know what to call it, then i check youtube and this video just came out! youre really on it man lol.

[@STRANJAH]

That's CRAZY! I've been hearing this happen often, I'm glad the material is landing on to the right people. Thanks for watching and please like/sub and share if you enjoyed it :)

[@MNRMNmixes]

Bro I was literally thinking about the same thing a few hours ago and then this video landed on my home feed... i was thinking about the skrillex live stream where he makes a track and he has this sound in it so I was wondering what it was and how to make it.....

[@Motekk67]

that's bc'z our phone spying and know what we search for hihi ☺️

[@matt123head]

you can add keytracking in massive and operator. for massive its in the osc tab and in operator you use the rate

[@jerimiahsullivan4874]

A cool thing I learned from Culprate... if you throw white noise on a sound like this and you really want to have it sit in the bass so it sounds like it's part of it, you can throw on autopan on the white noise layer, change the amount to 100%, phase/shape to 0, and set the rate to the same hz as the fundamental of the bass.

[@STRANJAH]

That’s a very interesting technique!

[@jerimiahsullivan4874]

@@STRANJAH I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I tried it, but I was pleasantly surprised and even shocked at the effect it had.

[@deluxenz]

Great video Stranjah! It's a "Wobble Bass" (with noise), some might call it a Jungle Bass too. It's been around for yonks and was originally done on hardware playing two keys. The first Serum and Pigments were the best ones.

[@_budoudoo4989]

There is a key track in classic Massive. The small section with yellow arrows above miniature keybord. You can assign Velocity, Key Track etc to any parameters in Massive.

[@STRANJAH]

WHOA we got there fast! Thanks for helping me get over 400 LIKES, that was amazing! Here is the Ableton Project File and Presets. You NEED the LATEST update of Ableton 10.1.9 to open the project. Likewise, the Serum presets will only work with the latest version so make sure you're all updated. Enjoy deviantaudio.ck.page/3c14b1a025

[@simonbell209]

Not sure what you're thanking us for? We should be thanking you for all the great tutorials. Amazing work! Always dug your music too. Cheers bro!

[@STRANJAH]

Your welcome Simon!!

[@jayvegamusicpr]

STRANJAH why not make a foldee to open in ableton 9?

[@user-yy4uf5jr7e]

I used to like downloading patches but I don't learn unless I do it myself

[@mizeyesis]

Thank you. You're comprehensive explanations on bass synthesis really are something. Its helping me understand a lot more how sounds are created in low hrtz frequencies more freely.

[@youth_in_asia]

Your channel is exactly what I needed like 4 years ago. You're doing young British producers a massive favour with videos like these!!!

[@STRANJAH]

I'm glad to hear that George, keep at it!

[@mememaster1708]

id personally detune one oscillator +1 semitone and the other one -1 semitone to try and keep them sounding more in key with the rest of your track

[@STRANJAH]

Yes have updated the presets and included a note for everyone, thank you for the suggestion.

[@bigstoneycha2098]

STRANJAH where do we get the presets?

[@samm7909]

Mate, I don't comment often but all these vids you're putting out are properly exciting. Been looking for 10+ years for concise tutorials on the UK sound and you're laying it all out clear as fuck. Would be really good to see a tutorial to get a similar sounding drums to special request, stenny, skii mask. Big respect from the UK.

[@ACABSTUDIOS]

This sounds dope as soon as you add the white noise and distort it

[@ASH-ou4cg]

I personally like the true oldskool method, of using the tone generator inside the Akai samplers and simply playing 2 notes side by side, simultaneously. ;)

[@STRANJAH]

Now THAT is true oldskool!! It would be cool if I could access those original Akai sine waves and recreate it in Ableton. Thanks for that little piece of history!

[@mechannoyed1076]

i can help you out with a test tone sample...whats your email?

[@dougbolt7458]

@@STRANJAH The 950 test sine is easily found online. I use it in my S2K. I'm going to have to play with this on the (hardware) ProOne as well. True Analog FTW!!

[@andersingram]

@@dougbolt7458 the s950 is a digital sampler though!

[@ig88andribs]

Top vid. Nice one! Massive does have Key Tracking. Yellow box marked 'KT' in the Macro Control area.

[@STRANJAH]

Thanks for the info! Got it!

[@xNEONNINJA420x]

Yo man, thanks for not gatekeeping this kind of info. You seriously help make tracks more fun to work on.

[@STRANJAH]

No problem you make me feel like the kid who has the coolest toys in the block - except I wanna share it with you all 😄

[@randompianist8359]

this is sick more jungle dnb basses please

[@STRANJAH]

absolutely!

[@TheWwhhiizzzz]

Man, I'm just getting back into DnB production after a clost to 10yr hiatus, and so many tricks I forgot about. The f*****ng detune trick, how did I forget!! Thanks so much for this video! SUBSCRIBED

[@gabrielvrij1516]

bro i just discovered your channel, and just halfway thru this tutorial, i need to scream this: this is the best tutorial ive ever seen!!!!! i swear it is well structured, not too fast so you can follow, not too slow to fuck the pace, well explained, trying different techniques, adding some context with genre history i guess... I bow down to this mighty tutorial, and Im subscribing.

[@STRANJAH]

Thank you Gabriel, that is one of the best comments I've ever received. Thank you so much, it encourages me to keep it up!

[@gabrielvrij1516]

@@STRANJAH yeah man, please do keep it up its amazing 👌 good luck with the next one 💪

[@liteningstrike12]

I don't have any of these plugins and I don't make DnB but this tutorial has revolutionized my sound design in any synth

[@djkeety1]

The white noise Break style insight was fantastic, true science, thanks for the Massive X breakdown, true DNB/Jungle, really appreciate your time sir🇬🇧& knowledge☮️

[@STRANJAH]

Cheers and thank you as always keety!

[@vexathebassinjector]

dj keety Send me sum dubs bro! @BringingBackDaSound on insta 👊🏽

[@willdahbe]

lol at the end comparison when analog popped up it sounded like fat fly trying to stay airborne I loved every bit of it!

[@willdahbe]

you know the ones, where you smack them and they just bounce off then call your mom a bitch... XD

[@rivella99]

9:20 What would be cool is to get an automatic decrease of the LFO 1 rate (i.e. what is done too if a lower key is played on the keyboard) when Master Tune is decreased by LFO 2. This can be done by automating the LFO 1 rate with a decreasing LFO 3.

[@quarkinder]

Many thanks for showing the process in different synths!

[@Sweep_The_Leg_Johnny]

WooWoo Bass :P BTW @Stranjah, THANK you for these vids. ive always written house and techno, but im branching out. Just posted my first DnB track to Soundcloud, all thanks to you!

[@salamanderselection]

key tracking on massive is in the yellow macro control section bottom right - KTR

[@STRANJAH]

Thank you for the tip, shows that I can learn something from you all as well.

[@danielsouthey1143]

Awesome work. I've been wondering how break achieved this sort of bass in his tracks and now I feel I'm a lot closer to working it out. Hugely appreciated.

[@daniellambert3749]

Dude you're the man for relating this to all these different VST's. Super cool. Hopefully my like counts towards the 400 you were looking for lol

[@DJCouchKing]

The key tracking in massive is right next to the macro controls.

[@DJCouchKing]

There is a master tune in massive also, but you can't apply envelopes or LFOs to it. It's under the global settings tab.

[@STRANJAH]

Thx for the tip!

[@STRANJAH]

400 LIKES and I will give away the project and presets for free. Appreciate if you can share the video, it'll help us get there quicker and help my channel grow. Also shouts out to Серг Карпов for commenting about the yellow KTR assign in the bottom right of Massive for Keytracking.

[@ASH-ou4cg]

This is your most educational video to date. The extra mile you put in, demonstrating this between all of the most popular synths at this time, means no one is left behind and all your viewers can have a chance to try out, creating this iconic sound. Thanks so much for sharing, it really means a lot to us all.

[@STRANJAH]

Great to know the hard work is being appreciated, thank you Andrew!

[@MrDisrupta]

I agree, showing the same patch in several synths was top

[@djkeety1]

Andrew Henderson You summed up my feelings with this lovely post🌻

[@jack.curtis1453]

the pigments sound was so clean! love your stuff man, im a complete beginner but honestly you're videos have helped me learn so much! some more videos based around ableton stock plugins would be amazing

[@STRANJAH]

Glad to hear that is been of help Jack, keep practicing!

[@michaelries6313]

You "Break" it down so well. All your videos have launched my production game! BIG UP

[@nathanchristie7486]

The sound out of pigments was proper!

[@STRANJAH]

nathan christie yes I agree! Something about it’s sound is so crisp!

[@tymantis]

@@STRANJAH Why didn't you show how to create the sound with Pigments?

[@FlorianBoo]

Fire!! You just made me grab Serum.

[@avocadomasher1390]

You can use AM from B so the AMP mod is in key with the OSC A

[@TheColdHarshTruth]

They all sounded great! Operator was my favourite!

[@elijahjflowers]

The masses don't get it yet. But I do. Thanks for making videos Stranjah!

[@Motekk67]

awesome that you explained the key tracking with the increase in pitch... i saw this once on a video and forgot how that was and wich video... this is used on some Reese basses too... thank you now i know how this works ☺️👍

[@Sinsin20tre]

im sure they did already..but..may the music gods bless you , amazing tutorials

[@nemosisproductions6234]

Best bass teacher period. Respec! I met you once at the carleton university radio station in Ottawa. Seriously, these tutorials are the best bass tutorial series I have seen

[@STRANJAH]

Thanks man, and great to be in touch!

[@STRANJAH]

I remember that time in the show!

[@Dj.slothy]

I’ve always wanted to learn to make this bass

[@Dj.slothy]

But I don’t have ableton I use Cubase

[@LeMeAtOm]

Stranjah, i just wanted to thank you for all your videos, so insightful and i've learnt a lot from you so far, keep up the great work! respect

[@kamb3800]

24:38 when Pass, the girl you like walks past...

[@Yousef-sc2kk]

i learned more about serum from this video than the 100000 previously watched from other videos. youre amazing

[@CyanicSounds]

My man! Thank you for being so speaking so descriptively, I listened to this while doing chores around the house - you made it very easy to visualize! Looking forward to checking out your other vids!

[@wolfgangrecordings]

any bass sound that uses detuned oscillators to make an lfo is called a reese, after kevin saunderson's 'just want another chance' by his reese alter ego. the bass from that track has been sampled so much, from classic jungle right up to the present, to the point that i'd say it's the bass sample equivalent of the amen break, in drum & bass at least. so yeah, basses that use detuned oscillators to create movement are called reese basses, and have been since the late '90s. subby ones were popular in jungle, heavily distorted ones were popular in techstep then in neurofunk, where they're still used extensively today

[@STRANJAH]

Thanks for the knowledge. Kevin Saunderson's track is definitely iconic for jungle basses. Especially loved how Ed Rush and Optical mangled it up on Cutslo Lokuste Remix.

[@jordanpeakofficial]

Serious bass face moment at 4:36 🔥

[@STRANJAH]

hahaha glad you like that!

[@SG-qk7fh]

Tutorials are second to none keep it up bro

[@STRANJAH]

S G thank you so much!

[@kaidoluht1957]

Bristol bass of course edit: Dj Die-Play it for me is a good call guys, best example of it imo. Another is Andy C&Shimon- Quest where the sine wave just sings to you lol

[@gregmason9182]

I love your video's man. I was wondering if you could make a video on how to make the bass in Phibes track Bassdrop?

[@hazmatproduction4562]

Great tutorial. I heard from a good source that Break uses the noise from a tape emulation plugin run through Airwindows density to get that noise layer.

[@alejandrogr9516]

As always, this is a supreme master class. I'm trying to recreate the old school way with pigments. I've playing with the different distorsion/saturation/wavefolder effects and its very interesting.

[@STRANJAH]

Thank you! What are your thoughts about the results from those fx in Pigments?

[@alejandrogr9516]

@@STRANJAH You can achieve a detuned growly bass, or a wobbly growly. But I recommend that not use the three effects at the same time, or use them with low rates.

[@jasonversatile9807]

Fantastic tutorial as usual...Still can't believe the stuff you teach is FREE. You the man. Thank you. :)

[@STRANJAH]

Cheers Jason, and you are most welcome!

[@thelights789]

Love your love for the culture!

[@STRANJAH]

thank you!

[@saelbeltrantorres9917]

Appreciate a channel like this! Only for heads that know the sounds used in bass music.

[@Orangek34]

Thank you STRANJAH, keep doing these videos man. Really love what your doing.

[@STRANJAH]

Cheers man means a lot!

[@yrussq]

Pigments hands down! It sounded the least shallow sound-wise and the pattern was good and was the only that was perfectly in sync with a beat. Too much noise, too little mids/bass on others. Although some wobble patterns had cool ideas. Second place is Serum Newschool. Well another example where pattern is more important than a sound itself. The fine tuning are usually in cents so 100 is basically 1 semitone, afair. Thanks for the comparison in the end! Great stuff, man!

[@jrbmusic2020]

The wobble bass

[@kea4185]

mate if you keep this up your yt will be huge. A lot of people have been looking for stuff like this for a very long time. Great quality content.

[@tonyreno2727]

I like that you did this with all those plugins :) The wavetable and pigments ones sounded best to me :D Thank you!

[@STRANJAH]

Glad you like them! I agree about Pigments. And they all have different nuances depending on your taste!

[@Mizzy873]

Sick bass, could u do a deep Alix Perez style bass next?

[@STRANJAH]

Got a track example?

[@karatestore3744]

@@STRANJAH Following

[@benslade5121]

@@STRANJAH trinity or maybe good to me/ dark star?

[@bd99]

Great tutorial, thanks! I'm using Ableton Studio trial and managed to get a newskool version working with Wavetable for sine and Operator for noise, along with Shaper to oscillate both of them and Expression Control for key mapping and to re-trigger the LFO. (Shaper and Expression Control are Max for Live devices included in Suite)

[@bd99]

Actually can do it even easier in Wavetable - use the second Ocsillator to generate the noise. I used the Basics - White Noise table with Fm effect amount set to 100%

[@STRANJAH]

That's very cool Baz!!

[@STRANJAH]

So cool thanks for sharing that technique

[@cccccccc94]

Been watching your videos for a couple weeks now and they have been super helpful. I'd love to see a tutorial on how to make sounds like Bou, in serum. Thanks for the awesome videos as usual.

[@STRANJAH]

Have done a couple Bou-type sounds like the Foghorn, have you seen those? Will be working out more.

[@cccccccc94]

STRANJAH I’ve watched them all, if you get the time look at songs by Bou such as breathe and envy

[@stewpid52]

just got back into producing and these videos are inspiring af! big up ya self Stranjah

[@sutusmihaly]

..this kind of bass I've first noticed on this two-step kinda drum'n'bass around the v-recording and full cycle crew in the mid nineties..

[@otisjacksonjunior9795]

My fav type of bass tone. Sick.

[@BilalAhmed-um1um]

we use to use the built in sine from EMU or Akai sampler then play two dissonant notes i.e. C and C# then resample smashed it,

[@OfficialDava]

you would call that a reese bass :) nice vid!

[@STRANJAH]

Respects!

[@deluxenz]

That is not a Reese bass man

[@BibleStorm]

A reese is 3 saw waves slightly detuned

[@RickDrift]

I Believe Massive does have Keytracking, KTr in the bottom right under Macro Controls.

[@CykotiK23]

amazing! thanks!

[@alexrjohnston]

This is a reese bass : ) keep em coming dude!

[@STRANJAH]

Thanks! Will do!

[@mista-paul]

Excellent tutorial, thank you.

[@STRANJAH]

Welcome!

[@Paradroxialllll]

Wicked video! I got alot of both the serum and operator ones, I like how you explain things very clear, I find other youtubers just rush through it and I end up missing things! Liked and subbed 👍

[@grantc8353]

Dat Vobbble!

[@marcmeup1]

Wicked mate! Classic Bristol style bass - Krust, Die et al...especially the kind on their Dope Dragon offshoot label. 10/10

[@FatherFunk]

Great tutorial man. Really well articulated. Will be checking out more of your tutorials.

[@STRANJAH]

Awesome, thank you!

[@JIBLET]

awesome tutorial ! keep them coming please !

[@STRANJAH]

Will do thank you!

[@MagneticBrain98]

Reminds me of being back in Bristol. thanks for the tutorial!

[@STRANJAH]

Visited Bristol once a few years ago, absolutely love the city. So chill.

[@ashleygillespie9883]

Love it when stock plugins hold their own ! quality channel bro :)

[@myworx1]

Yes Stranjah Thanks again, Awesome content.

[@ScramTek]

Just to echo what everyone else has said, thank you so so much for this tutorial. To become as proficient at sound creation/manipulation as you are, is one of my sincerest hopes! Would you mind sharing how you learned to become so knowledgeable? Are you self-taught? If so, was it thru trial-and-error or did you follow instructionals? Or did you do an educational course? Lastly, what path would you recommend for those eager to learn?

[@KriminalArchive]

Mateeeeee i've been wondering how to do this for fucking ages!! thank you

[@STRANJAH]

Your welcome!

[@Golokamusic]

Love your tutorials

[@juju_be]

to keytrack in ableton just use the Midi Effect "expression control"

[@telekomdj]

Bro!! 🔥🔥 I always knew that technique for the basic wobble but never how to make it filthy!! Cannot wait to jump in studio and try this 😎😎 Big up 👊🏻👊🏻🙏🏻

[@koppanydodony8769]

Bro I love the content you share. Al my dream was to bass just a lilbit like Break. Thanks so much!

[@STRANJAH]

haha glad I could make your dream come true!

[@GuySteffellFlint]

Great vid! A few tracks below have this sorta bass in at various points - some have quite big low pass filters on though. Bladerunner - Rolling Fire Aries - Bust Them Up - Gray Remix Technimatic - Bristol - Break Remix Gray - Rubadub Ben Snow - Set Me Free (has one of these basses only half a bar long really, but works well in its' context)! Check out the bass in Bladerunner - Rolling Fire especially. This type of bass sound is really coming through in the Bristol DnB and rave scene in the UK.

[@Artersa]

Oh hell yeah, this is awesome. How do you go about learning all these techniques, and what is your personal favorite style of bass in your own music?

[@STRANJAH]

Hi Artesa, its taken years of experimentation, you pick up hints here and there. For example, I first heard about distorting noise+sub through the Metalheadz documentary "Talkin' Headz" when Dillinja talks about it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJu1hZxui9l-g5Y

[@STRANJAH]

My favourite style is a fusion of subbass with hints of growling/neuro sounds, dialed back so its not in your face. Similar to Skeptical, however I also am really enjoying what Benny L and Souped Up are doing. Also the dubstep scene is making some great bass sounds.

[@jamesb2k1011]

@@STRANJAH please make some videos on those sounds if you can! great video mate :)

[@CUCKOO9999]

@@STRANJAH Would love to see some Deep Dubstep bass tutorials in the style of Kahn, Commodo and Egoless ;)

[@Ad-ft1iz]

Quality content mate

[@STRANJAH]

Cheers!

[@empiricalsounds9957]

Unbelievable stuff man your tutorials are too sick!

[@timstem269]

really great an straight forward tut

[@SlavaAnimado]

we love this sound

[@phillywonkz1297]

sick again bro!!

[@STRANJAH]

Appreciate it!

[@p.i.9685]

thanks