We tackle an undisputed classic and show you how to use Ableton’s Wavetable to make the ‘Roygbiv’ bassline.
We’d all love a huge studio full of dusty gear. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t? However, the realities are many of us are stuck in the box trying to get a vintage sound. There’s a reason that a tonne of companies make plugins that give you a retro sound.
In this Synth Secrets, we’ll build a thick, dusty bass line lifted from an undisputed classic, Boards of Canada’s ‘Roygbiv’.
For any Boards of Canada fans, the sound we’re about to build will immediately activate our memory banks.
The Scottish duo has cultivated a sound that might best be described as the auditory counterpart of a polaroid picture of a childhood memory you never had, and you can hear echoes of their style in many many artists, perhaps most clearly in the work of Tycho.
The Internet At Large would appear to agree that Boards of Canada crafted this bassline on a Roland SH-101, which is perfectly likely but we’ll simply use Wavetable, Ableton’s lovely jack of all trades synth which is included in Live Suite.
Over seven steps we break it down starting from a default patch all the way up to the woozy fluttery synth sound that captured the hearts of millions in the 90s.
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