How to Write a Locrian Bass Line
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- Music theory from Rezz "Suffer in Silence".
►FREE BOOK. Learn Theory in 30 Minutes: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
0:00 Step 1. Basic
1:00 Step 2. Energy
2:01 Step 3. Next Level
2:43 Final Example
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Step 1. Basic
Set up four bars with an 1/8 note grid, and your tempo at 97 BPM. You’re gonna start by writing a basic bass line that plays every 1/8 note. This creates momentum. We’re in B Locrian here, which is just all the white notes from B to B. The Locrian mode is exceptionally dark, and what makes it so dark is the ♭2 (which is C in this example) and the ♭5 (which is F in this example). Now, because those two notes are what make Locrian sound so dark, you wanna be sure to use both of them in your basic bass line. But, start by playing the root note (which is B in this example) for the whole of your first bar, as that anchors it into the key. And by the way, if you find modes confusing, just read the mode hack in our Songwriting & Producing PDF.
Step 2. Energy
Next, change your grid to 1/16 notes. You’re gonna create some syncopation now, which is when you accent an off-beat. This will pump energy into your rigid sounding basic bass line and bring it to life. You can add syncopation however you want, but here’s an easy method: shorten an 1/8 note to a 1/16 note, then lengthen the note next to it to fill the gap. Add a couple of these to each of your four bars. And a shoutout to fellow Canadian producer Rezz, as this lesson is based on her recent single “Suffer in Silence”.
Step 3. Next Level
By now your bass line will already be sounding good, but to take it to the next level, you’re gonna add some octaves. Rezz does something really cool here. She moves some of the notes that fall on the backbeat snare, up an octave. This accentuates those backbeats, and adds even more energy to the bass line. However, don’t do this on every backbeat snare, as that will actually lessen its impact. Also, somewhere in your bass line, move one syncopated note up an octave. This keeps your bass line fresh and unpredictable. Lastly, here’s a bonus step. Use a rest somewhere. This gives your bass line space to breathe. Rezz used a rest at the very end of her bass line, so we’ll do the same thing by deleting our last two notes.
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The tri-tone also adds a lot of darkness! Great tips, thanks.
I really love the Locrian sound!!! Thank you! You always bring light to our lives with these amazing hacks!!!
I love rezz, never expected to see her song on this channel but glad it happened!
this is pretty sick
Thanks, Blue Tannery! Really appreciate you stopping by, what kind of music do you make?
Wishing you a lovely rest of your week and we hope to see you again soon for more hacks! Kate
I’ll be watching this a few times, you packed a lot of ideas in here, it’s great. I like that you demonstrated something using the Locrian mode, it’s an interesting mode. Also like how you used syncopation and octave jumps as well. You also got me thinking when you built in a rest at the end of the line. Sometimes I forget the power of ….. silence. Thanks so much!! 🙂🙏🙏🙏
As always, we love to hear your take on the lesson, Charles! Happy to hear you'll be mulling over the ideas and seeing how you can implement them in your own experiments :) Wishing you many blessings on the rest of your week 🙏 Kate
This gives me more appreciation for Rezz's music. It's not easy to sound good lol
Bicep hacks would be great! Lovely to have you back
Awesome, we'll add them to the list, James! Happy to see you back as well, hope all is well over on the fair isle :) Wishing you a lovely rest of your week and look forward to seeing you soon! Kate
I FREAKED OUT when I saw you'd hacked Rezz xD I never thought something like this would happen :)
No intro...now no outro?! Wow...
It would be super cool if you hacked Red, specifically something from their album Of Beauty and Rage!
Thank you so much for the video :)
Great video. Thanx!
REZZ IS AWESOME!
Holy cow, that's simple! Fantastic!
Lol, thanks cybercab :) Wishing you a great upcoming week!
Would love to see an illenium music theory tutorial on here if possible! Great vid as always.
Awesome!
Thanks, Sound Signals, really appreciate you watching! Wishing you a lovely rest of your week and hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :) Kate
I don't think this will sell very well, but I would love to see something among the lines of Front Line Assembly's "Unknown." broken down (basically a modern electro-industrial). Love all of your deconstructions - they can really be used in more genres than the song you're breaking down is in.
Hi Kate and Ray! I actually went and launched my DAW and entered these notes just to see myself that Locrian can be nicely resolved!
That's awesome, Andrei! Happy to hear you were inspired to get into your DAW :) Hope all is well with you and the family. Many blessings, Kate :)
@@HackMusicTheory Thank you! Wish you all the best!
Heck yes, I love Rezz, her hypnotic rhythms are great! I was wondering if yall could deconstruct Phillip Glass's use of shifting accents and minimalism.
Hope yall are well! 😁
Hi Spencer, always happy to hear from you! We'll add Glass to the list :) We are well, although it's ironic that we're praying for rain so early in the year... don't want the well to go dry! How are you getting on on the mainland? Wishing you a lovely rest of your Wednesday :) Kate
@HackMusicTheory awesome, even if yall don't have time to make a video, I appreciate yall considering it! Life's great on the mainland, currently working on fixing/updating my computer for producing! Send my best to Ray :)
loving the vids. could we get a vid on gesaffelstein by any chance???
Thanks so much for watching, Xenstein, happy to hear you're enjoying the lessons! We'll add Gesaffelstein to the list :) We wish you a lovely rest of your week! Kate
@@HackMusicTheory hope you have have a good rest of your week too, kate
I would really love if you could hack Amorf - Curiosity step or Departed. It’s electronic music combined with a lot of classical music and i am so curious how these guys managed to blend these genres so well to create a different genre
Sounds cool, Andrei, thanks for the suggestion, we'll add them to the list! What kind of music do you make? Thanks so much for watching and for being here in the Hack Music Theory community, we wish you a fantastic rest of your week :) Kate
thank you guys so much! always incredible quality content...easy to follow, effective tips! Would you guys consider hacking Billie Eilish & Finneas's songwriting/production? Thank you in advance!
Hack Dirtybird's bass lines. They always have very similar ones
Thanks for the suggestion, John, we really appreciate you stopping by! Wishing you a lovely rest of your week and hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :) Kate
Great!
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊
Thanks Jost! As always, thanks for stopping by and we wish you many blessings :) Kate
I think I would realy cool if you guys could hack modus.
that would be sick!
Hey T D, thanks for stopping by and making a suggestion, we'll check 'em out! Wishing you a fantastic rest of your week, and we hope to see you again soon for more hacks :) Kate
😍
Need some breakcore hacks.
Cool, Cthallborg The Ineffable, we'll add that to the list! Thanks so much for stopping by and we wish you a fantastic rest of your week :) Kate
hack chris lake!
im gonna make a song outta this, watch me
Awesome, we love that, Lorenø! Thanks so much for watching and we wish you a fantastic rest of your week :)