You’ve probably heard this sound before. It’s in just about every genre of popular music. You can pull up any hip hop record, pop record, or EDM record, and you’ll probably hear this sound within the first 12 seconds of the track. Beyoncé’s Partition, DaBaby’s ROCKSTAR, and Megan Thee Stallion’s Body all use this sound as one of their main foundations.
It’s the buzzy, deep bass sound that fills out the entire low end of the production. That’s what an 808 bass is.
The 808 bass originates from the original Roland TR-808 Drum Machine. The TR-808 defined the sound of techno and house in the 80s and 90s. However, in a modern day context, producers have sculpted and tweaked the classic 808 sound to create the modern drum sound you hear in hip hop and pop.
These days, when you use the term “808” with a music producer, their first thought is probably going to be the deep and sustained bass tone found in most modern productions. Most music producers have at least one (if not two or three) different 808 creating tools in their arsenal. They all have unique characteristics. We’ll be going over a few of them in this blog! Before we do that, though, let’s talk about how to make or use an 808 bass!
In most cases, you’ll be using a plugin to make an 808 bass. However, sometimes you’ll need to create your own so you can tweak the sound in more unique ways. For this, I usually like to start with an 808 sample. Drag the sample into your DAW timeline, and pitch shift it to the desired pitch. The pitch should follow your overall bass line so it doesn’t collide or cause friction with anything. From there, use a low pass and a high pass to shape the tone. The Low pass will take out harshness and the high pass will take out girth and depth. Last thing, put on a saturation plugin to add back some extra color and tone to the 808 bass. This step is optional, but it’s incredibly helpful if you need your 808 to hit a bit harder!
Why saturate? By nature, 808s are pretty compressed. So, if you ever find yourself needing your 808 to hit harder, compression probably won’t help much. Adding saturation distorts the sound in a way that adds more tone and harmonics to the sound, achieving the thicker more girthy sound that 808s are known for.
Sidechaining: Generally when using premade 808s or an 808 plugin, the sound will have the bass and kick mixed together already. However! On the off chance, you may find yourself with an 808 that is just bass. In this case, you can layer in your own kick sample to add more impact to the 808. Additionally, you can side chain the bass to your kick so that the punch of the kick comes through clearer and the 808 bass is more of a tail on the end of the kick. Doing this is different for each DAW, so I recommend looking up a YouTube tutorial on how to sidechain in your DAW of choice!
Sliding 808 Bass: If you listen to Partition by Beyoncé, you’ll notice that the 808 in the track slides down. This is achieved by using something called the pitch envelope. The pitch envelope automates the 808 sound to create that sliding / drop effect. Depending on how you’re creating your 808 sounds, this method looks different. You can also find an 808 sample that has the drop in it already and save yourself the hassle! If you need help at all, feel free to reach out for a lesson or coaching session!
The first thing I’d recommend is grabbing a good sample pack. I generally use 808s from Vengeance Sound sample packs. They have some great sounding and hard hitting 808s that are perfect for EDM or Hip Hop. This is the first sample pack I reach for when I need hard hitting samples.
Sublab is my go to plugin for creating 808s. It’s a super easy to use plugin and has hundreds of different 808s to choose from. They’re constantly adding more and more presets to the plugin as well. The best thing - the plugin is super affordable!
If you’ve been in the music production game for a while, you’ve probably heard of the Slate All Access Pass. It’s a subscription service that gives you access to all of Slate Digital’s plugins AND a bunch of other plugins from their affiliates. It’s a great tool and has just about everything you need to produce music. Ana2 is one of the plugins that comes with their bundle and it has some of the best 808s. I highly recommend this for your 808 needs!
Hopefully this helps! Please reach out if you have any questions or want some tips!
Spike
