Dirty Bass - The sins of Freck

Due to the mastering work picking up loads, I get very little ME time in the studio now.
I had to sacrifice something, and it was the choice between Dirty Bass stuff and the Voidloss stuff.
Well, I decided to drop the DB stuff for a while to keep up with the artistic explorations of Voidloss.
However, I decided to have a bit of silly fun today, and had a couple fo spare hours so made a more upbeat, Dirty Bass techno tune.

http://www.dj-tony-c.co.uk/dirtybass...0freck%201.mp3

there it is, for what it`s worth, a couple of hours work, but I`m happy with it so far.

this is a good tune.

as you said its only a few hours work so could probably do with a little more attention.

the bassline/synth thing works very well and adds a lovely dark feeling to it.

i think the hats could do with a touch more grit as they're a little too "nice" and they seem to lose clarity when the ride comes in.

also the overall sound is ever so slightly scooped.

great track though.

scooped?

yeah.. slight smile eq curve.

Ah that`ll be ear fatigue.
I`ll check it again tommorow.

Actually just checked the spectrograph, and it`s almost flat from high bass to the top end roll off.
So no scooping, might just be the way I set the multiband when I did a quick master. Mid range might need more stereo.

this is something that still baffles me a little, what should one be looking for idealy in their curve? and can anyone recommend a good spectograph i could get to grips with

That was a good flick...really enjoyed it too. Also used a couple samples from it. Not bad at all for a couple of hours work. Really like the bass noise as well. Should be a fun track for the dancefloor indeed. Question though, was the eit from 5:10-5:15 on purpose or a glitch in rendering? That part just seemed a little odd to me...

Only listening in the phones, but mix sounds fine to me...

i dont think theres any real "ideal" curve.. just what sounds right..

although a fiarly flat curve is a good indication of a well balanced mix

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Originally Posted by eyeswithoutaface

this is something that still baffles me a little, what should one be looking for idealy in their curve? and can anyone recommend a good spectograph i could get to grips with

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For Dance music, techno especially, you want a flat level bell curve, rolling off the top from maybe 16K, with a rounded peak in the low end around 70- 100.

Inspector is a great spectra, but the soundforge one is also very nice.

just been listening again.. that bass is rockin.

1 gripe - the edit at 5:13 has the slightest click at the start and is a tiny tiny fraction off time.. it just seems to disturb the flow a little bit, right at a crucial time.

Sounds good whats there so far...i agree about that edit...just needs smoothing out a bit....Sounds clear and crisp and that bass pattern after the drop is mint!
very nice.

Well I've got to ask...

Who the freck is 'Freck' then...? ...I need educating :briggin:

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Originally Posted by Little_Fella!

Well I've got to ask...

Who the freck is 'Freck' then...? ...I need educating :briggin:

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Ignor the edits, they were thrown in on the pre master rather haphazrdly.
Once I go back and clean this up, I`ll put some tighter, more interesting edits in.
I actually quite like this now, I might release it.

nice track, sir. that bass sound is massive and sounds very good together with those little sweeping synths. bringing some nice funk in there.
break is nice,. personally i would twist that voice much more, as it sounds bit dry at the mo.
production sounds good,. good work on bass sounds.

nice track, just needs a little extra work to get it sounding even better and it would go down well on most dance floors.

nice track, production is good, although I reckon it could be a tad brighter. I like the percussion and the massive bass, and the way it starts to vary at the 4 min mark. I'm thinkin the bass progression musically is a little obvious, maybe find a way of working away from the major key changes to something a little more moody and minor, but that's just my pref. good stuff.

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Originally Posted by Tyrisia

I'm thinkin the bass progression musically is a little obvious, maybe find a way of working away from the major key changes to something a little more moody and minor, but that's just my pref. good stuff.

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There are no major key changes, it goes up one note at a time through the entire scale of notes.
Which made it really hard to add anything else in a key.
Although I suppose as every note is played, it`s every key?
Originally I just made the bass slide up by an octave and a half, or whatever it is it goes up by, but it lacked rythm so I just went back to stepping up a tone at a time. the intention was to be something cheesy, as opposed to moody.
This is dirty bass and an attempt at obviousness and jumpy pumpy, rather than voidloss as an attempt to make you give up on life.
But yes, it is obvious, in the way that if it was a keyboardist playing a keyboard they would just be running their fingers up the keyboard playing every note on the way.


I`ll take a look at the brightness, I thought I might have gone over the top, with the tops. Do you mean brightness on everything else? or just the top end?
As I may have left the mid range sounds a little dull, and could maybe if that`s what you are refering to, give them more sparkle.

that there is some sleazy techno.

nice fat bass. not sure about the bass line after the breakdown (personel pref though)

i absolutely love that sample man.

wheres it from??

its a lovely dark atmos youve created in the b/down with the pad in the background.

and just one question, how did you get them rides to sound so good man?
please share!

this would sound amazing mixed with a big percussive groover.

production sounds good at this end, hats sound a tiny bit dull. but that could be my setup, well actually it probably is.:laughing:

anyways, good work:)

Sample is taken, and heavily edited from A Scanner Darkly, by Richard Linklater

As for the rides, fairly simple.
Standard 909 rides, tuned to the rough key of the hats, grunged up (any crushing effect will do, I actually used a really old limiter effect that has a really nice grungey overdrive), then sidechained with a compressor to a silent kick, tiny bit of EQ for sparkle, then a touch of verb for presence.

I`ll see about treating the top end sparkle of the whole tune 2morro when I have some time.

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Originally Posted by dirty_bass

This is dirty bass and an attempt at obviousness and jumpy pumpy, rather than voidloss as an attempt to make you give up on life.
But yes, it is obvious, in the way that if it was a keyboardist playing a keyboard they would just be running their fingers up the keyboard playing every note on the way.

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Well if that's what you're after then that's fine, I did point out that less obvious would just be my personal preference. The bass sound is pretty rockin and I just had an image of it goin somewhere completely different than it did, that's all.

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Originally Posted by dirty_bass

I`ll take a look at the brightness, I thought I might have gone over the top, with the tops. Do you mean brightness on everything else? or just the top end?
As I may have left the mid range sounds a little dull, and could maybe if that`s what you are refering to, give them more sparkle.

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When I say it could do with being a bit brighter, I mean more top end, the cymbals sound a little dull that's all (and maybe the top mid stuff, I'd have to have another listen). Maybe sparkle would be a better word.

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Originally Posted by dirty_bass

then sidechained with a compressor to a silent kick

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absolute gem of a tip man.:; i cant believe i never though of doing this.

i suppose you could do it with you hats too if ya wanted them to really pump with the beat, no?

tis a great book that one, havent heard it in that format. i thought the rotoscoping on the film was pretty cool aswell.

cheers DB

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Originally Posted by Tyrisia

Well if that's what you're after then that's fine, I did point out that less obvious would just be my personal preference. The bass sound is pretty rockin and I just had an image of it goin somewhere completely different than it did, that's all.



When I say it could do with being a bit brighter, I mean more top end, the cymbals sound a little dull that's all (and maybe the top mid stuff, I'd have to have another listen). Maybe sparkle would be a better word.

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No, no problem, I mean, I literally when making that bassline just randomly started on a note, and then pasted a note higher every half a beat or something, until the end of 32, then shifted the whole pattern up and down until it fit with the percussion. Very little thought went into it, other than the sound I used worked best with the pattern in that particular range. I wasn`t even thinking in scales or obviousness, more, I want something that goes up and up, and then down a bit, hehe.

If it was voidloss I probably would have spent 3 hours working out a nasty key with psychoacoustic properties, and then another 2 tweaking the sound.

As for the top end, yeah, I think my ears were well fatigued when I mastered it, so I `ill be looking into that.
Those rides also could do with more life I think. Might have squashed em a little too much.

no probs dude, it is a good track and it would definitely appeal to the masses, at least the bass ain't just one bar looped, it actually does something and progresses which is a definite plus in my book.

I'd say have another go at mastering it, I'd love to be in a position to give you advice about mastering but i'd say your experience out-numbers me 1000 to 1 on that score hehe.

Rude bass, & love how the kick cuts through so clean.
Think it sounds ace.

Prefer the first bit up to the breakdown, think you could make a whole track out of that. Samples not really my bag, and preferred the first half to the second half.

Rude noises though. Proper stompathon.

i love this tune so much.

fantastic, the bass line is wicked when it starts lifting... nice, nice, nice!

solid track dude that would keep the dance floor movin i reckon. the bassline has a bit of evilness about it. kick is rockin. not really a fan of the bass up/down/up/down/up/down thing but dosen't sound too bad here.

nice track, good stuff for the floor!!

Nice rich intro there. Nice edits.

the bass makes me smile.

any more on this track? :dance:

Track is finished and remastered ready for DB008 which will be out in January at all Online vendors + vinyl a month to follow.
Along with Rory St Johns remix of Caged in Darkness and 2 other tracks from me of a slightly nastier ilk
The digital DB remix winners release will also come out alongside the digital release of DB008.

DB009 will be a full on old skool acid techno/acid house ep from Paul Cortex, with a cheeky little nostalgic acid tech number from me.

DB010 will feature on of my all time techno heroes, so prepare to be pounded to shit.

get in there!!

Fucking sweet! cannot wait for this! thanks dude!

happy days

be good to see Rory's remix on the auld plastic

got a right dirty groove to this mate!