Let’s make a simple sub bass in u-he Hive. We first need to initialize u-he Hive to a blank preset. After that we can then progress to tweak the parameters of the synthesizer.
In addition this will be a very simple sound design tutorial, so all the beginners are welcome. You can also apply the same techniques in a soft synth like Sylenth1 the concepts are the same.
1) Initialize u-he Hive to a default state to begin the sound design process. Keep the synth engine of u-he Hive at Normal.
2) Change the polyphonic mode of u-he Hive to Legato and select 2 voices as max polyphony.
3) For Osc 1 we want a sine wave tuned down by -2 Octaves and that’s the sub bass frequency range.
Keep the number of unison voices at 1 but attenuate the stereo width of Osc 1 completely down to zero.
Change the phase setting of Osc 1 to reset and this will make Osc 1 start at the same phase position with every new note. In other words this essentially makes Osc 1 to re-trigger with the end result of a punchy sound.
4) Let’s move on to the second oscillator. We want a sawtooth waveform tuned down by -1 Octave. Select 2 voices of unison and increase the volume of Osc 2 to 60%.
Change the phase re-trigger of Osc 2 to Reset and attenuate the stereo width knob to 50%.
Filter and Amp Envelope
We have to tweak the Filter settings and then move on to the Amp Envelopes for both oscillators. So the first thing to do here is to make sure both Osc 1 and Osc 2 are routed to Filter 1.
5) For Filter 1 adjust the parameters as follows:
- Filter Type = Lowpass 24dB
- Cutoff = 55
- Input Gain = +4dB
What we did there was to choose a 4-pole filter and lower the cutoff point to attenuate high frequencies.
6) Now for both Amp Envelopes of Osc 1 and Osc 2 we want them to identical. Basically a fast attack with a very minimum release time whilst the sustain level is set at maximum.
So adjust the Amp Envelopes as follows:
- Attack time = 4%
- Decay time = 50%
- Sustain level = 100%
- Release time = 4%
Effects for Sub Bass in u-he Hive
Effects are very vital for any sound design process. They can help shape the sound and enhance the sound to a whole new dimension.
In this case we want a Soft Clipper, EQ and finally a little bit of Compression. Other effects such as chorus and delay won’t be particularly useful for this scenario.
7) Enable the Distortion effect and make sure the distortion type is set to Soft Clip. When done adjust the Soft Clip with following settings:
- Amount = 20
- Mix = 100%
8) Click on the EQ FX button to enable it and tweak the parameters as follows:
- Bass Freq = 20
- Bass Gain = +3db
- Mid Freq = 60
- Mid Gain = -15dB
- High Freq = 50
- High Gain = -15dB
9) Enable the Compressor FX and set the parameters as follows:
- Amount = 10%
- Attack = 25ms
- Release = 100ms
- Output = 3dB
