A Lil tip pt.1- Heat up Bass with Pitch Bends

rnb259

New member
Let's face it, there's no shortage of amateur hip hop productions out there. More often than not, producers don't implement the extra steps required to morph a generic, amateur beat into a professional production. But by tweaking a few aspects within any given production, one can easily mold a beat into a hit. One aspect that can make a world of difference to any production is adding lively pitch bends to bass instrument melodies...

Since forever, jazz and blues musicians have understood the power of pitch bends to create more soulful, expressive melodies that grab listeners' attention. And... since most hip hop productions today do not use live musician performances, it is even more important for producers to add back the lost expression and pitch bends to sequenced melodies as exists in live music.

Specifically, to sequence professional pitch bends, there are three main aspects in which to control:

1) Bending up/down to a targeted semitone - When sequencing pitch bends, set the pitch bend range to a value that allows you to hit the desired pitch when sliding the pitch bend wheel 100% up or down. If your song uses a minor key, set your semitone value to 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, or 12. This way, when you bend your pitch controller 100% to create a bending bass line, the ending pitch of that bend will land exactly on a desired note within the song's key. However, with no rules set in stone, it's best to experiment with a variety of pitchbend ranges to find what suits your production best.

2) Bending on main pulses or endings of phrases - As with bending ranges, there are no hard fast rules on where to place pitch bends within a melody. However, the most common spots bass pitch bends occur are on main pulses (downbeats) such as bar 1 beat 1 of a 4 bar phrase or bar 3 beat 1 of a 4 bar phrase etc. Also, pitch bends are common at ends of 4 or 8 bar phrases, which bring closure to the phrases or act as uprises into preceding phrases.

3) Bending length or duration - Most pitch bends are 1 bar or less in length/duration. But again, there are no set rules. Usually, a slower bass melody is coupled with slower, longer pitch bends to match phrasing. The same is true with faster bass melodies being coupled with shorter length bends. However, creating contrast by coupling a fast bass melody with long, slow pitch bends can emphasize a song's feel in a desirable way. The best advice is to experiment which a variety of durations with some matching, some contrasting.

Enough already with static sequenced bass lines,
Heat up Bass with Soul, Heat up Bass with Pitch Bends!

those that don't get these enjoy!!
 
ok I got this same info in an email, but Im not sure how to set my pitch bend wheel to certain values, I have a M-Audio 49e Keyboard, and Im using Reason 3.0 any suggestions?
 
there are number values in the left hand corner on the reason modules and thats how u set the max value that u can go to so u don't messup wen u do it live/in time
 
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