BASS DÉSIGN: Bass ALTERNATIVES

Bass doesn't have to be... well, bass! Pretty much any sound can be pressed into low-end service, as we're about to demonstrate

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One of the defining characteristics of modern music is that it has thicker, richer, fatter bass than anything that has gone before. It's fair to assume that we, as a species, have always appreciated low frequencies in our tunes, but it's only in the last couple of decades that we've been able to reproduce the kind of ultra-low rumbling depth that used to be reserved for earthquakes and other acts of God.

Dance music, in particular, is driven by its bottom end to such an extent that you can get a dancefloor rocking with nothing more than a basic beat and a massive single-note bass. Some of the most recognisable basslines - Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, for example - are the driving force behind the track, and often the most instantly recognisable part of it.

But with so much synth power at our fingertips, is there still room for creativity or has it all become too comfortable and formulaic? Well, in fact, thanks to the incredible power of today's software samplers and effects plugins, we can now easily capture any sound we like from the 'non-musical' world, and pitch and shape it into a musically viable tone. Whether pitching down voices, beefing up beatboxing or recording the sounds of household items, we now have everything we need to be able to turn these sounds into solid bass elements - or, at the very least, to be a rich, sub-sonic part of a modern, digitally produced track.