You use compression if you know that the sound needs it.

I like a little bit of compression on some things, but i tend to not use it willy nilly.

I compression a source with many effects coming from some kind of effect rack or combinator (ableton and reason respectively), if it needs the glue.

Compression can also help a group of parts (ie drums) sound as if they're moving as one unit (glue). it helps shape and tailor the impacts and notes to a song a little bit better. or to help get a certain feel and sound out of a specific set of instruments.

so if i want to compress my drums i would group them all (in ableton) and use a glue compressor or whatever i prefer (parallel, etc) and get them to sound closer together basically instead of some peaking where i dont want them too.
or what you think?

Try doing things the opposite. Instead of how do you choose your melodic synth relative to your bassline the question can be how do you choose your bassline relative to your melodic synth?

The reason why I say that is because I choose my bassline AFTER I write my melodic material. The way I choose my bassline is simple cause the majority of the time it's just a simple sine wave and note wise it just follows the root note of the harmony.

I divide my bass layers like this.

1. Subbass. (Sine Wave)
2. Bass (Sine wave)
3. Upper Bass (anything)

The reason why I use a sine wave for my two bottom layers is because for the most part every sound wave below 200hz pretty much sounds the same when you filter out all the high end. The upper bass is where all the variation comes from. Basically to me it's the high end of a bass sound (200hz+) that gives it a unique characteristic. Everything else below that just sounds the same.

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how do you pick a melodic sound / chord sounds based off that?

I don't usually write my bassline first but if I were to do so then the answer would just be experimentation. There are so many different combinations of instrumentations that you can use. (Cello, Piano, Guitar) for example or (saw pluck, detuned square pad, sine bass). For the most part the two bottom layers of a bass sound (below 200hz) blend well with just about anything. Start with just using those two layers to fill out the low frequencies and then choose your lead sounds. Once you got things sounding nice then maybe you can go back and experiment with the upper bass layer.

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do you re synthesize the sound so its basically the same sound as the bassline with slightly different qualities so it sounds concise?

Sometimes I do actually. When you use the same sound but in a higher octave register it's almost like it comes from the same instrument family  because they share the same characteristics. (Cellos to Violins) Naturally things blend pretty well.

I wouldn't get too stuck on that though cause you don't need to use the same sound in the bass as you do in the leads. Anything goes. Just experiment with different instrumentations until you find a combination that you really dig and make it part of your signature style. Pretty soon people will be on youtube with HOWTO videos in massive on how to make a "r3mington lead stab"

so youre saying you have 3 bass synths playing at a time though? why is this.

I know this wasn't the original question but I understood your answer but of course that brought this question up

thanks

that would be dope

i know how to make it sound well with my music theory. thats not what im asking bud

I understand i have to have the main layers of a song

1. Bassline
2. Melody
3. Chords
4. Percussion
5. FX

but can anyone explain to me why most songs include stabs and what the premise is behind them?

it seems as when you only have these 5 layers everything is bland.

how can i fill empty space with melodic / harmonic types of sounds. what belongs in that empty space?

i understand that there is no cut and dry answer but some explanation could help

thanks

looking for percussion packs for these styles of music. looking for newer style packs. not too worried about the $$ just more curious on recommendations for percussive packs. keep getting recommended to cymatics but theyre mainly geared towards trap

thank you!

jsut trying to get an idea. just use similar sounding closed hats?

inyourop

whats a good vst that could recreate this piano. i know its simple but i just want that piano or something similar to have a piano. i dont have a piano vst and i have a voucher for native instruments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRN0yzCs_IU