Why distort an 808?
- To be heard. A clean 808 is close to a pure low sine wave, which phones and small speakers cannot play. Distortion adds harmonics above the fundamental, so the ear hears the bass from the overtones.
- For attitude. Grit makes an 808 sound angry, dirty or lo-fi, which is the sound of rage and hyperpop.
- To even it out. Saturation and clipping control the peaks, so the 808 sits at a steadier level.
The kinds of distortion
- Saturation: gentle, warm. It rounds the peaks and adds harmonics little by little. The safe first choice.
- Overdrive: stronger, with a clear, driven character. Good for mid-range bite.
- Waveshaping: bends the wave along a curve you control. It can be subtle or extreme.
- Clipping: cuts the peaks off flat. Hard and loud; a light touch evens the level, a heavy one is a sound of its own.
- Bitcrushing: lowers the bit depth and the sample rate. Digital, gritty and a little broken.
FL Studio ships with several of these: Fruity Waveshaper, Distructor, Fruity Blood Overdrive and Fruity Soft Clipper for distortion and clipping, and Fruity Squeeze for bitcrushing. Other DAWs have their own; the steps below do not depend on the plugin.
How to distort an 808 step by step
- Tune it and set the levelTune the 808 to the key and keep its peaks well under the limit before you add anything. Distortion makes it louder, and you want room.
- Send a copy to its own trackRoute the 808, or a copy of it, to a separate mixer track. The clean one stays as it is; the copy takes the distortion.
- Filter the lows of the copyPut a high-pass on the copy, from around 100 to 200 Hz as a start. The sub stays clean and only the harmonics are processed.
- Add the distortionStart with saturation, then raise the drive until you hear harmonics in the mids. Move to overdrive or clipping if you want it harder.
- Match the levelLower the output of the distortion so it is as loud as it was before. Louder always sounds better, so compare at the same level.
- Blend it under the clean 808Raise the distorted copy until the 808 is clear on small speakers, then stop. A little goes a long way.
- Shape with an EQAfter the distortion, cut the harsh highs and any mud around 200 to 400 Hz. The EQ goes after the distortion, because the distortion creates new frequencies.
- Check itListen on a phone or a laptop, in mono, and at a low volume. The 808 should still be audible and the sub should still be there.
How to use a bitcrusher on an 808
A bitcrusher adds a digital texture that saturation cannot. Put it on the same distorted copy, after the distortion, and start gently: a high bit depth and a small drop in the sample rate. Lower them until the 808 starts to sound broken, then back off a little. Blend it in rather than putting it on the whole sound, and keep the sub out of it, as before.
Common mistakes
- Distorting the sub. It loses its weight and can sound flabby. Distort the copy and keep the lows out.
- Judging by loudness. A louder 808 sounds better for a moment. Match the level first.
- Too much fizz. Harsh highs from the distortion fight the hi-hats and the vocal. Filter them.
- Forgetting mono. Keep the sub in mono below about 100 Hz.
- Skipping the check. If you only listen on studio speakers, you will not hear what the distortion was for.
A plugin that does it in one window
SHROOMDECK VST is a multi-effect plugin with Distort, Crush, 808 Bass and Clipper among its eight controls, a mix control that blends the effect with the dry sound, presets and a random sound button. It works as VST3 on Windows and macOS (and AU on macOS), and a Personal license covers 1 device, from $29.
SHROOMDECK VST
Multi-effect plugin · VST3 · AU (macOS) · Windows and macOS.
Questions
Should I distort the sub of an 808?
Usually not. Distort a copy of the 808 and keep the lows of that copy out, so the sub stays clean and the distortion only adds the harmonics higher up.
What is the difference between distortion and saturation?
Saturation is the gentle end: it rounds the peaks and adds warm harmonics gradually. Distortion goes further and changes the shape of the wave more, so it sounds harder and rougher. Clipping, which cuts the peaks flat, is the hardest.
What is a bitcrusher?
An effect that lowers the bit depth and the sample rate of a sound, so it breaks into digital steps and aliasing. It gives a gritty, lo-fi or robotic texture.
How do I distort an 808 in FL Studio?
Send the 808 to a mixer track of its own, put a distortion, a waveshaper or a soft clipper on a copy, filter the lows of that copy, then blend it under the clean 808. FL Studio ships with Fruity Waveshaper, Distructor, Fruity Blood Overdrive and Fruity Soft Clipper, and Fruity Squeeze for bitcrushing.
Why does my 808 sound weaker after distortion?
Most often the distortion changed the level, so the comparison is not fair, or it ate the low end. Match the loudness, and keep the sub clean in a parallel chain.