Track Layout Rules

[hakka]

Is there a certain template on which producers swear by? IE how long an intro should be and when the drop comes in. I thought the intro to the drop was around 1.27 in most tunes? How long should the 1st drop be until the second breakdown?

[Depone]

Theres no set rules man.

But i would say that all depends mate.
Most tracks have either a 16 or 32 bar intro... then maybe a 64 bar first drop, back to the breakdown (length is debatable here) then finish with a further 64 + Outro

[hakka]

Wicked, just what i wanted to know. I have noticed that alot of tunes have the same kind of structure.

[kean1]

yo hakka not really hey i dont go by any rules wen making drops or builds its all wat feels right at the time like mala and loefa said in the dubstep documentary there is no formula for dubstep thats wat makes it so different and unique
well thats wat i think personally can i get a amen

[nowaysj]

sure u can

[AnalGangstaHo]

Treat your tunes like a woman. Sometimes they want teasing before bringin' forth the guillotine, other times they want smashin' like potatoes, straight up gangsta style.

[BananaBomber]

yo hakka not really hey i dont go by any rules wen making drops or builds its all wat feels right at the time like mala and loefa said in the dubstep documentary there is no formula for dubstep thats wat makes it so different and unique
well thats wat i think personally can i get a amen

[ResetTheAtari]

I try not to stick to any rules, but normally fall into the pattern off 1minute ish intro, 30 second breakdown (maybe), drop and main part for 2 mins ish, another 30 second breakdown, 2nd drop for a min, then an outro for a min.

[deadly_habit]

there is no rules, but people acting like mala and loefah don't follow the dj formula just cause they said something deep... those guys havent changed their sound over the years and it works for them
seriously it's all in 8 bar increments if you want a dj friendly tune, be it 16, 32, 64 bar intros etc. it's why you can double drop records so easy

[Elkie]

there is no rules, but people acting like mala and loefah don't follow the dj formula just cause they said something deep... those guys havent changed their sound over the years and it works for them
seriously it's all in 8 bar increments if you want a dj friendly tune, be it 16, 32, 64 bar intros etc. it's why you can double drop records so easy

doesnt it tend to be more 16 bar increments as far as the structure of the actual tune as a whole (intro, 1stdrop,breakdown, 2nddrop etc)?

im just asking this cause im genuinely not sure if people use 8 bar intros etc, i know i never have!

[deadly_habit]

there is no rules, but people acting like mala and loefah don't follow the dj formula just cause they said something deep... those guys havent changed their sound over the years and it works for them
seriously it's all in 8 bar increments if you want a dj friendly tune, be it 16, 32, 64 bar intros etc. it's why you can double drop records so easy

doesnt it tend to be more 16 bar increments as far as the structure of the actual tune as a whole (intro, 1stdrop,breakdown, 2nddrop etc)?

im just asking this cause im genuinely not sure if people use 8 bar intros etc, i know i never have!

well as far as intros breakdowns and drops it's generally 16 bar
8 bars is gen the rule during the meat and bones of the tune for variations

[JBE]

The only rule I go by is 8 bars. I do things in 8 bars. That doesn't necessarily mean I change stuff every 8 bars but I try to do something within 8 bars whether it be incidentals, maybe 1 extra hi-hat, just subtle things. I generally layout a skeleton track up to the first breakdown or whatever it is I want to do at that point. When I do this I usually designate 16 bars for my intro, 32 bars for the drop and then another 16 bars for the breakdown. Once I actually start doing things I'll increase or decrease those amounts as needed but I stick to the 8 bar rule so I increase or decrease in 8 bar increments.

[kaiori breathe]

I tend to go

A - 16 bar intro
B - 32 bar drop made of two 16 bar parts, the last 4 bars of each tend to have everything except the main elements removed
C - 32 bar mid section
B
D - 16 bar outro

[samurai]

2 minute intro.
1 minute loop.
4 second outro.

[Basic A]

Keep it in 8s 16s 32s 64s and Ill still mix it. Hell if its a good tune you can deviate from bar count totally too and Ill force it to work. You shouldnt sweat it man. Your the producer, and arrangement is where your time to get creative comes in... Just trust that if your tunes are quality, when you give em to DJs, well make them work. Honestly, I like a bit of deviance. Gives a chance to be creative in the mix too...

But, I can tell you you only want to make things as long as you can while keeping them interesting. Last thing anyone wants is a 2 bar loop repeted 64 times, even if you do throw a few crashes on the 16s, its still gonna be lame.

Keep it creative. Keep it interesting. Keep the word 'rules' da fucks outcho moufs.

[omm-0910]

Something I found useful was loading up a few of my favourite tunes in my DAW and analyzing them as they played, dropping in markers (called locators in Ableton) at the drops, breaks and other key structure changes. Then deleting the reference tune and structure my own tune around the markers. Helps break out of the 8bar loop nightmare too.

Worth noting that I found all the tunes followed almost exactly the same structure.

[hakka]

All the structure information i could ever need, cheers guys

[ResetTheAtari]

Something I found useful was loading up a few of my favourite tunes in my DAW and analyzing them as they played, dropping in markers (called locators in Ableton) at the drops, breaks and other key structure changes. Then deleting the reference tune and structure my own tune around the markers. Helps break out of the 8bar loop nightmare too.

Worth noting that I found all the tunes followed almost exactly the same structure.

That's actually a really good idea.

[JoshH]

make your own rules man!