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How to Make a Live Bass Drop

Everyone from hip-hop artists to metal bands are discovering how effective it can be to utilize bass drops. A bass drop usually occurs after an interlude in a song where some of the instruments cut out or are played softer. When the music crescendos back into a chorus or verse or a generally climatic moment, it is accompanied by a deep bass hit for added intensity that you can feel in your chest. Overdubbing these bass hits into your recordings is a simple matter, but reproducing that sound live takes some extra equipment and some planning.

Things You'll Need

  • Drum machine, sampler or synthesizer
  • Digital drum pad or trigger, or MIDI controller
  • MIDI cord
  • Bass amp or powerful PA system
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find the right bass sound. If you have a sampler, you can find sub bass samples online. One reliable and classic sub bass sound is in the 808 drum machine, which is so popular that many people have uploaded the individual drum sounds online as audio files. If you are using a synthesizer or drum machine, browse the different tones until you find the bass sound that you want.

    • 2

      Attach a drum pad or trigger. If you want a drummer to trigger the bass drop, he can do it most easily with a drum pad or trigger. These can be attached to the kit itself or sit on the floor as drum pedals. Connect the trigger to your drum machine, synthesizer or sampler. Another musician, such as a keyboardist, can trigger the bass drop through a MIDI controller keyboard or by pressing the corresponding pad on a sampler.

    • 3

      Connect the sound generator, whether it's a synthesizer, drum machine or sampler, to a bass amp, which should then be connected to a PA system via the amp's direct-out jack.

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