I cant make things drop!

[the wiggle baron]

Wow, cheers for the feedback you guys! Nice one slothrop, some wicked advice.

As for the tune, I kind of hit a bit of a wall after a few days of persistent rearranging that I just couldn't seem to nail! I had all the parts I wanted to use, but just couldn't work them together. Anyhoo, I got to the point where I just couldn't bring myself to look at the tune anymore However, cracked it out again today and came to some kind of a solution thus:

http://www.divshare.com/download/5691197-a5b

Definitely not completely happy with it, but it definitely seems a step in the right direction towards making the tune as a whole a bit more interesting, and nearing some kind of "drop". Would love to know what people think!

Oh, and absoloutely love the tune blip! Know exactly what you mean about it not being a drop as such, but its an absoloutely punishing rhythm that comes in! Properly creating energy out of so little, spot on the kind of thing im going for! Will have a few more proper listens and have a looksy what you did there In fact, on a side note...I dont know how you do all this, but a 320 would most definitely get itself some air time from me

Cheers again y'all!

[manray]

With dubstep you don't really need big build ups and drops. The most important point is the fact you have a sick tune. Personally I like to go for the simple drops and just come in with the big bass, no fucking about. Check my myspace to see what I mean....

I'm listening to the track you just posted and your problem is quite simple on this one. The intro and drop sound practically the same. You have broken the beat up so much that there is no obvious way to tell that it's dropped as well. The intro just sounds slightly more broken up. Also the build up takes way too long, it feels like its about to drop for more than a minute. I would change up the drum pattern on the drop because its far too choppy.

Fundamentally though this track is wrong in many ways for a big drop, certain tracks need big drops and certain tracks are just rollers.

Big tune though I like it, love the xylophone or whatever it is.

[bitseq]

Ok if you guys want to hear some serious drops and kind of 'vacum' drops then check out Spor, his technique is outstanding!

You can find him on myspace.

[manray]

Ok if you guys want to hear some serious drops and kind of 'vacum' drops then check out Spor, his technique is outstanding!

You can find him on myspace.

As in the DNB guy?

[blip]

Ok if you guys want to hear some serious drops and kind of 'vacum' drops then check out Spor, his technique is outstanding!

You can find him on myspace.

I listened, and I am not sure what you mean by vacuum drops, is it doing a first drop onto an quite empty part, bass only for example, and then proceed to the "real" drop? He does that a lot, and well. It's effective.

And.. and... I... I... I... actually... li... li... li... ke some of his stuff.
Oh god, I said it.

[blip]

...and absoloutely love the tune blip! Know exactly what you mean about it not being a drop as such, but its an absoloutely punishing rhythm that comes in! Properly creating energy out of so little, spot on the kind of thing im going for! Will have a few more proper listens and have a looksy what you did there In fact, on a side note...I dont know how you do all this, but a 320 would most definitely get itself some air time from me

Hey, thanks! Sorry for taking forever... Wiggle Baron, I will PM you the 320, should anyone else want the link, PM me.

[pdomino]

Skreams "lightning" is perfect to 'analyse'.

[mandark]

Something I've been finding quite effective recently is writing the climax (normally the second drop in some sense) first. Or rather, working up the usual 8 / 16 / 32 bar loop that grooves nicely and a few variations / alternative parts that can be used as well, and then deciding what is the combination of parts that gives me as much energy as possible and using that for the second drop. Then work backwards from there, more or less. Have some stuff with less of the drums and bass in a breakdown section, then have a first main section that is a bit like the second drop but slightly toned down and with some different stuff thrown in. Tweak things, vary things, intro, outro and bob's your uncle.

That doesn't sound particularly revolutionary now I look back at it, but for ages I'd been working forwards through the tune and trying to add more stuff on to build things up. In particular I'd often end up writing in a load of dodgy extra percussion parts to layer over the top of something to make it really energetic when the tune peaks, despite the fact that the basic drums and bass were pretty lethargic. It felt a bit like flogging a tired horse to make it go or something. Thinking back, I should probably have realised that the tune was never going to go absolutely tearout at the end, and focussed on making earlier parts that were more relaxed so the climax was still a climax relative to the rest of the tune.

Oh yeah, the other thing I'm realising is that the basic energy of the tune comes from the core percussion parts and the bass. If you've got a really lumpen bass / percussion thing going on then layering a shitload of bouncy congas and cowbells and whooshes and woo yeahs over the top just makes it sound excessively busy but still not actually groove. At least, that's my experience.

That's some great advice, I never really thought of doing it that way. It does make sense to get a solid groove and then work backwards and take away instead of adding and hoping it will all fit together. Cheers mate

[fullyrecordingz]

And.. and... I... I... I... actually... li... li... li... ke some of his stuff.
Oh god, I said it.

Ahaha! Another great thread. Wiggle Baron, I just wanna give a bit of imput.

Firstly, when talking about drops, I dont necessarlly mean a bass drop..

In my book there are two types of drop, those you see coming, and those that you dont. You know a drop is coming when a producer knowingly or not, shows you their hand of cards. Like Midnight Request-Line. The build-up and the relative change.

Then there are those drops that creep up on you in disguise. The producer seeks to lure you one way and take you in another. These are my favorite type because they usually take more creativity and allow you to be unique. I'll give an example to you, a clip of mine, straight from REASON. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NFb1_cto3m8 See how your ears become use to the snare and then it aint there and then that haunting violin mocks you for not thinking otherwise.
It's like that moment, when walking a flight of stairs, when your foot goes to take another step that aint there.

[kindofblue272]

my cat is very good at making things drop. his technique involves jumping on the desk, and swatting at coins until they fall to the floor clinking.

pocket change can be a little cliche, so he likes to switch it up with stacks of mail, my computer mouse, or even a full glass of water or soda for an extra messy, dirty drop.