Fundamental Bass Dives using FM8

This original tutorial provides a detailed manual for creating Bass Dives using Native Instrument’s FM8! We will setup a basic Bass Dive that can be used as foundation for more advanced modifications.

Bass Dives have become a common effect used in Dubstep and other dance oriented styles of music. Incorporating them into a live performance can surprise an audience and have a very powerful effect on the dance floor. Though they sound complex, Bass Dives are quite easy to make since they are only a sound wave with a sweeping pitch. In this tutorial, we will look at using FM8 to create a generic Bass Dive that can then be moded to fit the needs of any musical style.

As always, we will use F operator as our main carrier. First, let’s adjust the F operator’s envelope so that we won’t hear any clicks during the initial stage of the sound. Adjusting it also helps to fade it out in the end.

Bass Dives do not usually have a very high pitch drop. They drop in pitch slowly, so that their heavy low frequencies are more pronounced. We can create this effect by using the pitch envelope section. We will use it as a pitch sweep for carrier F. Do this by setting the global pitch envelope modulation amount to it’s highest value. Then we have two options…

Option 1:
If we want our bass dive to start from a certain note and then go lower in pitch, then we need to set the pitch envelope like this:

Option 2:
If we want for our bass dive to dive to a certain specific note, then we set envelope like this:

This can be very important if we want to start the bass dive from a certain note. Or if we want to drop the bass dive sound to the fundamental note in which we have our bass line in. For this tutorial, we will work with the first option, and have our Bass Dive start from a certain note.

Inside your MIDI track (or you can use a keyboard if you so desire) set a low sounding bass note for 4 bars. Back in FM8, set the pitch envelope to slowly dive from it’s base frequency to target the low frequencies. You can set the target frequency of our bass dive like this:

So now we have created a basic Bass Dive. Nothing here is really spectacular, but it is a firm foundation in which we can continue modifying to achieve our ultimate sonic goal.

Now that we have the foundation in place, the Bass Dive is only limited by creativity. Again, this is the base of the sound, so much more can be done to beef up this Bass Dive. Try adding other Operators and Effects to create a truly unique FM8 Bass Dive! Like always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or if you just want to showcase your sonic creations, feel free to post in the forums or the comments below!

Just for poops and giggles, and maybe to spark your imagination, here is some of the modifications to the Bass Dive that our own Tonko Sekulo came up with!