Analysis of S5E05: State Of Mind – Analogue Bass Re-Sampling

Topics: bass, bass resampling, hardware, Kontakt, recording, sampling

Three part video going over State Of Mind’s process of recording analog gear, using a DAW & plugins for resampling what was made, and how they utilize the new patches.

Part 1
Stu goes over the process of recording gear, with the audio being the source of material to resample in part 2. Stu states this process is something SOM has been quite in to, and have been happy with the results so far. He says it is creating your own samples, and finds the process freeing to just have sessions of recording, outside of the pressures of working on a project / track.

2:20 – sampling gear
– Moog Little Fatty signal going through guitar pedals, then through a compressor, in to computer’s soundcard.
– Creates a basic Reece patch on the Moog
– Signal then goes through a distortion pedal, not sure which.
– Also mentions a Memory Man pedal, which does a flange effect just on its own. Sound reminded me of Breakbeat Era’s music

Part 2
5:35 – resampling the sounds created by Stu
– Patrick is covering this part, in Cubase
– He has a basic beat playing, just for getting bass usage ideas
– Loads Reece samples in to a new Kontakt patch.
7:20 – uses SPAN for tuning the samples
– Original sample was in key of G, tunes down 2 semitones to put it in key of F
– Did do some editing of the recordings, to create a bank of Reece bass samples
8:30 – setting loops in the Kontakt patch. SOM guys like having basses that have an attack, and then get to a portion that loops.
9:45 – adjust crossfading points at start & stop of the loop region
10:10 – adding a notch EQ to create another modulation movement
12:15 – changing the sound with unison & portamento
– Patrick touches on using a script in Kontakt to set this up. Did not catch full reason for it.
14:40 – talking about legato mode and how the loop works with legato enabled
16:30 – previewing the different reeces, but with the same Kontakt patch set up & processing
– Good for variations

Part 3
18:10 – mixing & edits with Stu
– Looking at a previous project, “Giant” on Eatbrain, from earlier this year
– Aim was for a rougher, punk influenced sound
19:45 – bass folder
– Use folders to help with workflow of projects
20:30 – main bass
– Originally MIDI triggering a soft synth, but bounced to audio for stability
– Still utilize automation to make adjustments to the audio
22:45 – duplicate of the main bass, but a bandpass for a tight band around 100 Hz.
– Felt the bass was missing something in that frequency area, so that is why this duplicate was made & processed differently
23:30 – using Panther VST for mid/side processing: https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/panther/
24:00 – looking at the bass leads
– Variations of the main bass, e.g. different filter movements, different loop points
27:15 – looking at the bass group
29:30 – subtle mid layer
30:15 – turn around / fill bass sounds
30:30 – quick look at the master bus

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THOUGHTS & QUESTIONS
– Mentioned this after doing an analysis of one of State Of Mind’s tutorials from Season 1, I am curious how their workflow and processes have changed and/or developed since 2013/2014.

– The practice of looping the bass sample, shown around 8:30, was wondering what the reasoning is for that technique. Also makes me want Kontakt, since my current sampler options are not as robust (EXS24, Alchemy, Bitwig’s sampler where I can’t zoom in on the waveform…).

– Decided to fire up the EMU the other night, ran some Serum patches in to it, then ran it through a crusty, OG Mackie CR1604 and back in to my soundcard. Here’s a couple for people to download if they want to play around with them:

https://soundcloud.com/r4ns0m/r4ns0m-serum-x-emu-x-mackie-bass

Download here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g4825lrw5bc2462/R4NS0M_Serum%20x%20EMU%20x%20Mackie%20basses.zip?dl=0