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K so lately I've been trying to make more gritty, hard high energy music and the whole melody/chord type intros are a breeze for me to create.
It's just the transitions between melodic segment to drop are hard to make work :\
I do the typical tricks with risers, white noise, filtering, crashes, kick build ups but once it comes to make the first couple sounds on the drop are so friggin hard to make lol
I always end up scrapping most of my drops because they dont sound right (I also make sure Im in key), they always sound dry and offplace even when I do proper mixdowns (generally), anyone have any interesting tips on creating a heavier, wider, more atmosphereic drop that you hear in most dubstep drops these days, mine always sound try hard, cheap, lo-fi, dry and weak :l

p.s. im aware pads create atmosphere but Im looking for more interesting special fxs (futuristic, spacey type fx instead) to create atmosphere and also what are great ways about creating those heavy, thunderous drops?

LAYERING your sounds will make a big difference an give them more fatness/punch.
Also, make sure you choose your DRUMS well, because that actually makes a larger difference to the feel of the entire track than you would think.
Then the actual sound design is what I'd say is the other big factor.

^good post
For atmosphere its all about fx, white noise, build up and melodic progression

I didn't get what type of dubstep you want to make care to give an example?

word, thanks
I am open to more ideas though if anyone has anything else? Not trying to bite or anything lol but lately Ive been having mad writers black

I guess a mix between brostep and dungeon dubstep, has that heavy dungeon sub on the drops with the wild midrange goodness and with that "retro pop" vibe in the melodies


not the best example but I love the atmostphere on the drop and overall track

That's a pretty huge first sound

As for the tips, I'm with Sonika, good drums and a lot of layering/resampling on the bass. The sound design is huge on that one. For the atmosphere, add vocal samples/pads (huge pads) with lots of reverb and delay.

EDIT: I'm not sure (laptop speakers here) but I think the mid-bass is probably running through a reverb/delay send effect bus

Atmospheres are all about layering, tempo drifts, reverb, delay, etc.
Subtle effects at different stages of design, etc.
Push it back in the mix and filter.

how do you push a certain element in the back? I understand compression would bring something more upfront but backwards? and whats tempo drifts? lol

MassAphekt wrote:how do you push a certain element in the back? I understand compression would bring something more upfront but backwards? and whats tempo drifts? lol

you dont know bout tempo drifts? i thought everyone knew
its basically using real stick samples to create the element of speed

JTMMusicuk wrote:

MassAphekt wrote:how do you push a certain element in the back? I understand compression would bring something more upfront but backwards? and whats tempo drifts? lol

you dont know bout tempo drifts? i thought everyone knew
its basically using real stick samples to create the element of speed

um, no

Don`t let the tempo of your atmosphere sit at 140 all the time, allow the tempo to drift faster, slower, etc.
It will give it more life and more flavor.
If for example you are creating a tempo synced delay effect, it will always move with the tempo of the track.
Apply some careful tempo changes and rather than just bop with the beat it will create spacial differences which will move between existing beats.
Add a slight bit of a ping-pong style delay at slow speeds with a very wide sound stage.

Backwards is achieved by first adding reverb to add width and space, then eqing and filtering to shift the focus plus some creative volume controls.
I generally apply a low cut and a high cut to position the eq band above the kick and possibly a cut to remove too much high-end.
I`ll then apply some notch filtering to avoid clashing with snares and percussion.
What it does to the sound is to almost muffle it at times which gives you a pushed back feel to the effect.
When done right and automating the notches, you get some awesome sounding sweeps and rhythmic effects.

Understanding of course that these are all my descriptions of sounds you may describe differently.
Take a listen to some of my tracks or the one in my sig, you`ll hear how I allow the atmospheres to move around and always avoid a stagnant pad.
Unless required.
Space is your friend, use it.

Electric_Head wrote:

JTMMusicuk wrote:

MassAphekt wrote:how do you push a certain element in the back? I understand compression would bring something more upfront but backwards? and whats tempo drifts? lol

you dont know bout tempo drifts? i thought everyone knew
its basically using real stick samples to create the element of speed

um, no

Don`t let the tempo of your atmosphere sit at 140 all the time, allow the tempo to drift faster, slower, etc.
It will give it more life and more flavor.
If for example you are creating a tempo synced delay effect, it will always move with the tempo of the track.
Apply some careful tempo changes and rather than just bop with the beat it will create spacial differences which will move between existing beats.
Add a slight bit of a ping-pong style delay at slow speeds with a very wide sound stage.

Backwards is achieved by first adding reverb to add width and space, then eqing and filtering to shift the focus plus some creative volume controls.
I generally apply a low cut and a high cut to position the eq band above the kick and possibly a cut to remove too much high-end.
I`ll then apply some notch filtering to avoid clashing with snares and percussion.
What it does to the sound is to almost muffle it at times which gives you a pushed back feel to the effect.
When done right and automating the notches, you get some awesome sounding sweeps and rhythmic effects.

Understanding of course that these are all my descriptions of sounds you may describe differently.
Take a listen to some of my tracks or the one in my sig, you`ll hear how I allow the atmospheres to move around and always avoid a stagnant pad.
Unless required.
Space is your friend, use it.

and stick samples

no binaural stick samples

Well too much stick and u can easily be making srebme breaks not dubstep, unless that is what u want then be sure to lock ur tempo at 145bpm.

DimsiLuxi wrote:Well too much stick and u can easily be making srebme breaks not dubstep, unless that is what u want then be sure to lock ur tempo at 145bpm.

yeah you have to be careful

noooo, this is not an srebme breaks thread

What I do at the very beginning of my drops is ill take 1 or 2 of my effects(risers,pads,stabs etc.) automate a couple parameters along with a high to low or low to high filter sweep or other automations and put it at the very first hit of the drop to addd energy and also maybe for that first kick ill use an explosive 808 kick layered with another kick to give it a nice boom instead of using the kick your usin for the whole track. Maybe also have one or a few of your synths automated in a climbing or dropping effect with freq,distortion parameters or octave drops or climbs will give a nice energetic atmosphere.

These are just some tools that I like to use but that first measure in your drop is THEE most important part to make whoever is listening shit in their pants. if anyone has different methods please post them
-Cheers