February 4, 2025
by GForce Software
Inspiration
In this article, I’ll walk you through how I created the intro demo for GForce Bass Station, which I created using a very special pack of presets included with it. The inspiration, as some of you will already hear, is none other than the mighty Tim Harbour of video production company Timmy Shot Me. For those now in the know, this is the original video that changed the history of the Bass Station forever for me:
The video blew me away when it was released. It’s genius, yet so whimsical and uplifting, and it kept the synth in my head ever since it was released. Considering the limitations of a one-man show, to me it’s probably the most iconic demo video of all time. So it only made sense to take that idea to the next level. A few of the presets were meant to emulate and improve upon Timmy’s idea with a bit of a modern twist, and this is the result:
Intro
The first part of the demo is made of four presets. The most obvious one is the percussive elements, which I called Nocturnal Insects. Then there’s the very aptly named Made For Chords, and another one with a simple yet effective monosynth style preset I called Timmychanga, then a layer that slowly fades in with a preset called Thick Acid. Then it stops briefly before the drop with a progression that emulates the main bass synth from Tim’s video, which I called Don’t Mess With Timmy. Did I already mention that Tim was the inspiration for this one?
Drop
Here’s when things get grimey. The main synth is from a preset I called Industrial Lord. Because it’s overpowering, authoritarian and… very industrial sounding. Full on 16 voice detuned pulse synth distortion onslaught. I recorded an automation with the aftertouch, which is linked to the Macro 2, which is then linked to the frequency and resonance of the High Pass filter to create a sort of wah pedal effect. Then I used my Metal Grinder preset with my Guitar Station preset on top to spice it up. Later, a hardcore rave style stab which I made using my Clenched Rage preset with a bit of pitch automation. Everything is repeated with some changes in the guitar lead, and then it’s met with a short hit from a preset called Buzzing With Yoy, which I’m sure will make you feel very yoyful.
The second part of the drop when the drums change brings the Industrial Lord filter down to make space for the rest. There’s an arp preset I called Two Fingers which is inspired in the part of Tim’s video where he brilliantly uses the arpeggiator on the Bass Station 2 by hitting four notes with two fingers that fit in the track. To make things a bit more epic, there’s a nice chord pad on the back which is the same preset I used in the intro, Made For Chords, while slowly opening the filter again on Industrial Lord before the end.
Outro
The outro is made almost entirely one preset, a personal favourite called Departure Earth. You’ve probably figured out by now that I love drone ambient, and Bass Station’s capabilities allow for a lot of that thanks to a very clean FX section which takes it to the next level. It fades in slowly as the last sustained notes of Made For Chords and Industrial Lord fade out, giving it a very cinematic conclusion.
Mixing
I did add some extra processing to the Industrial Lord synth. It features heavy compression on the lower band, along with fairly aggressive EQ applied beforehand and a clipper afterward to enhance its loudness.
That said, everything else required little to no additional processing. There wasn’t a lot of post-processing done to the synth inserts besides some EQ since I wanted the sound of the synth to shine as much as possible. So what you’re hearing is mostly what you’ll get directly from it. The trick to getting things nice and loud, however, is to keep the mix as clean as possible first, then put everything through a Sidechain Bus with two triggers: the kick and the snare. I try to keep the sidechain as “invisible” as possible, and it’s all thanks to ShaperBox by Cableguys. That plugin alone changed my life. It was Pythius who introduced me to it. The multiband sidechain capabilities allows you to blend in the bottom and top of a kick hit, as well as the fundamental and the tail of a snare.
Mastering
Then, all of that goes to my mastering chain, which is a combination of slight multiband compression to inflate things a bit, then an API 550b style EQ for a tiny bit of presence and clarity, then a dual stage SSL 4000 Channel E style analog saturation, then a Distressor type plugin to glue things a bit more, then I pass things through the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor Class A from Brainworx just to get that nice, focused steel tone without actually applying any further compression, then clean digital clipping and finally true peak limiting.
More Info about the Bass Station
Novation Bass Station
More Info about Zardonic
Federico Augusto Ágreda Álvarez, best known as Zardonic, is a Venezuelan synthesist, DJ, composer, producer and remixer primarily known for his heavy electronic dance music, dubbed as Venezuela’s top DJ act and one of the Top 10 best DJ masks in the world, with releases peaking at #1 in Beatport’s Drum & Bass releases of the week and Amazon’s Hard Rock & Metal Bestsellers. He is also featured in the game Warlocks Vs Shadows, making him the first Latin American musician to be ever featured as a playable character in a video game. A remix with Mikey Rukus to his original Revelation was used as the theme song of the All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view Revolution in 2020.
Since 2004, his tour history includes headlining events in 40 countries.
Some of his known tracks include “Bring Back The Glory” with Voicians, his remix of Semargl’s “Credo Revolution” and his remix of The Unguided’s “Phoenix Down”. Other remix credits include Bullet For My Valentine, Fear Factory, Blitz Union, Sonic Syndicate, Dreamshade and more.