Making Bass Drops in Cubase
In this tutorial I show you how to make bass drops in any version of Cubase. No 3rd party software necessary!
Step 1.
Locate the section of the song where you would like the bass drop to occur.
Step 2.
Determine the root note of that section (this effect works best over breakdowns, or consistent chugging sections). Step 3. Using a frequency chart (simply run a Google image search for frequency charts) to determine the frequency of the root note.
Step 4.
Create a new audio track and load the "Test Generator" plugin. Make sure the Test Generator is set to producing sine waves.
Step 5.
Click the dropdown arrow on the new audio track to display automation options.
Step 6.
Locate the "Frequency" parameter of the Test Generator, add an automation point that corresponds to a low octave of the frequency of the root note we calculated earlier on.
Add another automation point perhaps 1/2 or 1 bar later and make this automation point exactly half of the first automation point (one octave lower). That way the bass drop will "drop" in frequency over a period of time. Makes it more interesting.
TIP: If you find it tough to accurately adjust the frequency of the automation point, press Ctrl/Cmd+I to bring up the inspector pane where you can manually type in the frequency value for the selected automation points.
Step 7.
Locate the "Gain" parameter of the Test Generator, add an automation point so that the gain is off for every section of the song that you don't want a bass drop at, and on for each section that you do want a bass drop at (~minus 12dB is the default "on" value, use your ears to adjust to the correct level). Automating a slight volume dip as the bass drop progresses will make it sound more natural by adding a release characteristic. You can also automate the Mute parameter to achieve a similar effect, however I have noticed that automating the Mute parameter can occasionally cause the plugin to produce audible clicks.
And that's it! TIP: If you're having trouble hearing the bass drop the frequency could be too low or your monitoring system may not be able to reproduce the low frequencies. Try adding a harmonic distortion plugin after the Test Generator to add in some higher pitched harmonics to make the drop more audible. Blend this in carefully as you can loose low frequency characteristics by doing this. Your best bet is to create an FX track with the harmonic distortion plugin on it, roll off the treble frequencies with an EQ, and send some of the Test Generator's signal to the FX track. That way you maintain the clean bass drop while also having some higher frequencies to make it audible through smaller speaker systems! Thanks for reading and happy bass dropping!
