Bassline Generator
Offbeat, rolling and galloping basslines that follow your chords and lock to the kick. Shape the sound, then export the MIDI.
Bass pattern
Sounds to load your MIDI into
Supersaw Essentials: 25 free trance presets for Vital, the free synth. Leads, plucks, pads and gated stabs, voiced for every tool on this site.
How trance basslines work
Trance bass is all about the space between kicks. The kick takes every downbeat, so the bass sits in the gaps: that push-and-pull is what makes a trance groove feel like it's moving forward. The bass usually just plays the root of each chord, which keeps the low end clean and lets the chords and leads carry the harmony.
Offbeat puts one note on every offbeat 8th, the pumping bass of 2000s anthems. Rolling fills all three 16ths after the kick, the busier, driving sound of most modern trance. Gallop plays two quick 16ths and leaves a gap, and Psy roll rolls with an octave jump at the end of every beat for a harder edge.
Octave jumps lift some notes an octave to add bounce. Passing notes swap the last note before each chord change for the scale note next to the coming root, so the bass leads your ear into the new chord.
Getting it to sound right in your DAW
Use a single saw or square with a short filter envelope, like the cutoff and decay here. Keep the bass mono, high-pass it around 30 Hz, and sidechain it hard to the kick so the two never fight. If the kick and bass clash, tune the kick to the key with the Note to Hz chart.
Questions
Will the bassline line up with my Chord Lab MIDI?
Yes. It uses the same key, progression, tempo and bars per chord, and the Bassline Generator picks up the last progression you built in the Chord Lab. Drop both MIDI files at the start of the same bar.
Which octave is the bass in?
Roots sit between A1 and G#2 (about 55 to 104 Hz), the range most trance basslines live in. Shift the MIDI an octave up or down in your DAW if your synth patch needs it.
Why doesn't the bass play on the kick?
Both live in the same low frequencies, so playing together muddies the low end and eats headroom. Leaving the downbeat to the kick is the core of the trance groove.
Can I use these basslines in released music?
Yes. The MIDI you export is yours to use however you like.