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Hey guys, my name is nick, i've been producing and making music for about 7 years now...i've done a lot of hip hop and rap beats but i've always been on and off with making electronic music...recently i heard a new artist who goes by the name Seven Lions, he intricately makes trance/dubstep, and does a damn good job, so much that he definitely inspired me to put an end to my rap and hip hop beats and put my full focus on dubstep/trance. i feel like i got it down 50%, i'm good with dubstep drum sequencing and making my own drum loops, i can make unique/epic trance melodies by ear, im good with making my own epic buildups, im decent at mixing all my sounds and drums and the track as a whole, im good with automation (i automate a lot of shit lol), and im somewhat decent when it comes to song arrangment, but the only thing that gets me stuck with every track im trying to do, is the drop/dubstep basslines. ive been trying to breakdown how he does his thing for about a month now and i just cant figure him out. i'm determined to make quality, detailed trance/dubstep, but i feel like im not going to get any better without some direction and guidance from fellow producers. i dont know where else to turn for help on this, I feel like ive got all the tools i need to make as good of tracks as he does, Im running FL Studio 10 producers edition just for the record too, i have massive, sylenth1, dblue glitch, and zeta.

Here's a few questions (all pertain to the drop/bassline) i have that hopefully some of you guys can help me understand or point me in the right direction or just give me a little guidance understanding.

1. if you listen to almost every one of his tracks, the drop/bassline almost always sounds glitched....so my question is, do you think he is processing the glitches to the bassline while hes making the track? or do you think he makes the whole song without any glitches, then bounces it down and throws it back into fl studio and just automates certain sections of the track with the glitch vst?....which way would be better? (by the way you can definataly tell he's using dblue glitch)

2. I notice he uses layering of synth/bass, which i know is done in pretty much every electronic song, and also which i have never really done, when i make a bassline for the drop, i just load up like 3 or 4 instances of massive and 2 or 3 instances of sylenth, find basses/leads that i like, then try to puzzle them all together randomely until it sounds decent, but it never really does sound as decent as i would like it to be.....maybe someone could direct me towards a good tutorial on layering synths/leads and basses in dubstep, or just break it down for me.

3. Should i always use sidechaining with the bassline and synths? or should i just use it on the drop? or just in random spots throughout the song?

4. This question doesn't really have to do with the drop/bassline, but more of the process of making a track as a whole, but when im trying to make tracks as detailed as seven lions, i feel like at first im really organized (i have my own created template that opens with fl studio), but after trying to add little detail after little detail i become more and more unorganized..any tips on keeping organized or what you guys do to keep organized throughout the whole time your composing would be greatly appreciated.

5. how can i go about making the basslines not so repetitive? in his basslines, it seems like its the same bassline sequence for 4 bars with little changes/glitches at the end of each bar. then a heavier bassline(almost sounds like a breakdown from a metal song) after the first 4 bar bassline..

6. am i just thinking/trying to hard about all this? can making this type of music be easier then it sounds? lol

i might have a few more questions that come to my mind throughout today so ill just come back and edit this if i think of any

Here is a couple tracks by Seven lions for you guys to listen to so you can idea of what i am trying to go for





Clearly there's a formula to making this shit that i just dont know anything about, im probably doing everything ass backwards too.

but all i know is wont be able to sleep until i figure all of this out and make and epic track like seven lions.

i know these questions will probably not all get answered but i appreciate any help and answers from you guys!!

if you took the time to read all this, thank you.

I'm not that familiar with the artist, but:

1. Bounce tracks down and edit, and do this again with a master bounce. Or put Glitch on the master.

2. Layer a subbass under your bass.

3. Whatever sounds best. There's no rules. Even try triggering an EQ cut.

4. Keep it simple. Name tracks, order them, group them, colour code etc. Also keep a note pad of what you want to do.

5. Copy/paste a loop, change it in some way (notes, automation etc). Copy and paste that whole thing, edit, etc as needed. "Be able to listen to it on loop for hours." Rusko describes this with drums in his master class video.

6. Dubstep is about subbass and a half-time beat. Get that down right first, then put anything over it.

am i the only one who thinks those two songs are horrifically unoriginal..

ehbrums1 wrote:am i the only one who thinks those two songs are horrifically unoriginal..

Nope, I don't get why people are so crazy about this guy...

Anyworm,
1) Get the drop in your head, maybe down on midi with a simple synth, can even be some random waveform, doesn't matter as long as it's clean, then make up your mind about what kind of sounds you want, what notes and all, bounce them down aaaaand it's sampler time, wouldn't use the glitch vst like you described but go ahead and try

2) make sure the frequencies don't collide with eachoter, eq them so they sit tight with eachother but not fight for space!

3) No rules mate, go with what sounds best.

4) Group drums separately, synths, bass etc.. make sure you can find what you want to find easily

5) You basically answered yourself there

6) Yep you are, just keep at it and take your time, try not to copy too much!

mai 2 cents

A lot of his newer stuff has resampled reese basses in, which you're not going to get straight out of massive/sylenth. Probably worth looking at SeamlessR's tutorials on YouTube.

ehbrums1 wrote:am i the only one who thinks those two songs are horrifically unoriginal..

That's the sad thing..most of these newer producers all sound the same! They all have the same style, it all blends!

haha...you guys are awesome. i respect all of your responses.. definately got my mind thinking and im gonna be trying this stuff out. lol and i dont know what it is about seven lions, his shit just amazes me. i haven't really heard any artists similar to him.

so let me get this straight...on bass resampling, i pick the sounds i want for the bassline, make the bassline in the step sequencer, then render it to a wav and load it back up as audio and just throw effects on it? should i bounce all my synth patterns and bass patterns and melodies to wav and reload as audio? or mainly just the bassline?

nmarch92 wrote:so let me get this straight...on bass resampling, i pick the sounds i want for the bassline, make the bassline in the step sequencer, then render it to a wav and load it back up as audio and just throw effects on it? should i bounce all my synth patterns and bass patterns and melodies to wav and reload as audio? or mainly just the bassline?

What I like to do, mainly with reeses, is make them and export one note, import it into Harmor and resynthesise it, export it, import it into Kontakt and add a few FX, then make a pattern of notes and apply furhter FX on the Mixer channel.

Never really resampled leads, could be cool especially for glitching.

good shit mthrfnk...gonna actually give that a go right now

I love him because of a very heavily melodic influence in a bass driven subgenre. I know most would say there isn't much 'real' bass going on in his tracks and I agree, given the perspective you're coming from. I think that he has really capitalized more on the euphoric characteristics trance has been built on, more than anyone else in the game. Early 'melodic' dubstep, I've found, is more prevalent in atmosphere/overall vibe of the track. And that's dope if that's what you prefer. And I do admit that overall vibes are capable of taking someone deeper, but for someone that loves that wall of sound intensity, I go for this side of things. There is definitely a certain cheesy-ness to A LOT of his sounds, and most are remixes but he is definitely evolving and more accomplished than myself so I'm in no position to pass judgement.

Toolman4 wrote:IThere is definitely a certain cheesy-ness to A LOT of his sounds, and most are remixes but he is definitely evolving and more accomplished than myself so I'm in no position to pass judgement.

His new OWSLA release is great, check it out.