How do you guys make FREAKING HARD drops?

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

^ Title says most of it. In dubstep, or other forms of "Hard" EDM, what do you do before, during, and after the drop to make it EPIC/HARD/DIRTY/ORGASMIC/ADLSKFJQ?

[Foxtrot89]

It's fairly straight forward. You go from sparse instrumentation to silence, or a build up. Then you just "drop" in the meat of the song. The hard part of it is writing the actual music and/or finding the heavy hitting sounds. Kind of difficult/impossible to tell someone how to write a decent, hard hitting song, so that part is all up to you.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

It's fairly straight forward. You go from sparse instrumentation to silence, or a build up. Then you just "drop" in the meat of the song. The hard part of it is writing the actual music and/or finding the heavy hitting sounds. Kind of difficult/impossible to tell someone how to write a decent, hard hitting song, so that part is all up to you.

Oh oops. I guess I wasn't clear in my question. I'm not asking how to make a drop. I'm asking for tips and advice on how to make the drop AWESOME! Thx for replying though.

[Lavender_Harmony]

There is no rulebook on making your drop 'awesome'. This is something that comes with time and lots of practice. I know that's pretty vague so I'll give you a few pointers to at least get you started.

First of all, you should learn how to mix properly. I know this is pretty basic stuff, but if you know how to adjust your levels dynamically, using automation and such, you can improve not just your drops, but your songs as a whole. If your mix is clear, crisp and punchy, so will your drops. Learning how to properly spread out your sounds in the frequency spectrum, EQ each one individually to prevent any clashes and be in total control of your mix is absolute paramount, above all else. You could have the fattest, most intricate drop ever, but without proper, decent mixing, it won't be as memorable.

Next you should learn sound design. It doesn't matter what synth you use, the most popular being Massive, but any synth is capable, Reaktor, Sylenth, the important thing is to learn how to use them. It's all and well making some screechy wobble sound, but I've literally had well known musicians in the community ask me what some of my simple pads and saw leads are made in, and when I tell them Massive they are dumbstruck. Fact is 90% of brony musicians think Massive is for wubs only, and don't realise that it is an incredibly powerful synth. A major part of making your bass sounds have decent presence is to modulate the sub. If you make the main sound wobble, then you should put the sub (Which itself should only be a pure sine wave, nothing more) though a low pass filter, and apply the same speed as the main wobble. This will in effect make that sub 'pump', similar to the effect of sidechaining but more pronounced, and the impact is very noticeable on a club system.

Another important part of sound design is learning to control the low end. So many people who make electronic music in this community never touch an EQ, and as a result their mix becomes muddy, distorted and unfocused. One rule is that your stereo field should go outward as you climb up in frequencies, so essentially everything in the low end- your bass, kick and the low end of your snare, should stay centered, and then all your high elements can be wider. This is not to say put a stereo widener on everything on the high end, I personally never use stereo wideners. I just pan stuff around, put chorus effects on things occasionally if they suit, but I never truly artificially widen things.

The next part has nothing to do with wobbles. Your drums are one of the key parts of your mix, and if they're not punchy, they won't have presence in the drop, and no matter how good your synth skills are, it'll still sound week. Get a hold of some good samples, there are lots out there that are free. The key for snares is to layer them, sometimes a little bit of compression can also go a long way, but remember to keep your mix within your own control, bring everything down to -4db or lower.

Lastly, you need to focus on structure. You should listen to a considerable amount of the genre, get a feel for the overall layout of a track, how it builds up, gees into the drop, how it leaves the drop and breaks down, and how it re-enters, what variations there are and so on. As much as people hate on Skrillex, there is a lot of thought put into the composition, and his tracks do follow a coherent structure, even if he himself denies it, it's something that you eventually aren't entirely aware of, a second nature if you will.


Like I say, there is no right or wrong to this. It's all trial and error, and it will take time. Have patience, keep working at it, keep asking for feedback, and you'll get there if you persevere.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Thanks a lot.

Although I knew a few of those things already, there was some incredibly useful advice in there.

[Kopachris]

1. Big buildup (I mean big)
2. 1 beat of sudden silence (adds an effect similar to syncopation when you throw in the "meat" of the song)
3. ???
4. Profit!

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

1. Big buildup (I mean big)
2. 1 beat of sudden silence (adds an effect similar to syncopation when you throw in the "meat" of the song)
3. ???
4. Profit!

^ dihs gud.

[jackupthoseapples]

there's a multitude of tutorials on youtube for making hard drops for every DAW. when in doubt, youtube.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

there's a multitude of tutorials on youtube for making hard drops for every DAW. when in doubt, youtube.

No. When in doubt, pony.

[VINXIS]

I had ask something close to this before, but as of what I was told to make something really distorted to sound heavy, use the parabolic shaper with a scream filter and 3 screamer osc with different oct. and 4 voices, with a LFO on the cutoff and the osc. Wt-Pos, and then add a classic tube and dimension expander, on eq, add low to max, boost to about 4:00, frequency to 3, and high shelf to max. It's the simplest bass heavy drop/wobble/wub.

[Navron]

Everything Lavender said above.

I'm currently working on mixing a song with some heavy drops, and to say the least, it's a mixing nightmare.

You pretty much gotta use every possible mixing skill, and use it well, to achieve a heavy drop.

Side-chains, compressors, EQ, panning, and fluidly timed automation all play a key part in making your drop sound hard.

[vladnuke]

It doesn't matter what synth you use, the most popular being Massive, but any synth is capable, Reaktor, Sylenth, the important thing is to learn how to use them. It's all and well making some screechy wobble sound, but I've literally had well known musicians in the community ask me what some of my simple pads and saw leads are made in, and when I tell them Massive they are dumbstruck. Fact is 90% of brony musicians think Massive is for wubs only, and don't realise that it is an incredibly powerful synth.

EXACTLY
MY USE OF MASSIVE IS NOW REDEEMED.

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Try adding some hardcore FX instead of just using a growls bass. Example 1: transformers sounds. Just resample and screw around with LFO and pitch. Example 2: http: industrial noise. Add some power drills, buzz saw, knives, hydraulics, etc.

And if youre in a violent mood, add the sound of people screaming, panicking, or dying brutally. Note: this last type of FX is better in death metal or goregrind intros.

Just add something interesting to the drop. Straight bass can get boring. Liven up the mix.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Thanks guys.

I like to use white noise downlifters at the drop. It's a cheap but great way to make them sound full, and it works for any genre ever. Sometimes I even side chain it to something and let it play for the entirety of the drop.

[Habanc]

It doesn't matter what synth you use, the most popular being Massive, but any synth is capable, Reaktor, Sylenth, the important thing is to learn how to use them. It's all and well making some screechy wobble sound, but I've literally had well known musicians in the community ask me what some of my simple pads and saw leads are made in, and when I tell them Massive they are dumbstruck. Fact is 90% of brony musicians think Massive is for wubs only, and don't realise that it is an incredibly powerful synth.

EXACTLY
MY USE OF MASSIVE IS NOW REDEEMED.

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

I concur...

Although, does it justify having 6 separate massive plugins for a single track? Because I miiight be doing that right now... (2 main synths (layered), Bass, 2 side synths and a pad)

Maybe I should try to utilize Z3ta more.

On topic: Sometimes having a surge of sub-bass in that one "second of silence" before the drop can be useful, but it's situational I guess (I can't contribute much after what's been said).

[Lavender_Harmony]

It doesn't matter what synth you use, the most popular being Massive, but any synth is capable, Reaktor, Sylenth, the important thing is to learn how to use them. It's all and well making some screechy wobble sound, but I've literally had well known musicians in the community ask me what some of my simple pads and saw leads are made in, and when I tell them Massive they are dumbstruck. Fact is 90% of brony musicians think Massive is for wubs only, and don't realise that it is an incredibly powerful synth.

EXACTLY
MY USE OF MASSIVE IS NOW REDEEMED.

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

I concur...

Although, does it justify having 6 separate massive plugins for a single track? Because I miiight be doing that right now... (2 main synths (layered), Bass, 2 side synths and a pad)

Maybe I should try to utilize Z3ta more.

On topic: Sometimes having a surge of sub-bass in that one "second of silence" before the drop can be useful, but it's situational I guess (I can't contribute much after what's been said).

For Ruby Skies and Violet Clouds I used about 30+ instances of Massive.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

For Ruby Skies and Violet Clouds I used about 30+ instances of Massive.

Wow. I don't think I've ever used more than five.

[Habanc]

For Ruby Skies and Violet Clouds I used about 30+ instances of Massive.

Oh damn... Hold on, I think my computer overheated and exploded just thinking about that.

[HoovesUp!]

Lavender put it best, if not for how much information you can get out of there. I'd just be restating all of that! XD

Be careful with sub-bass/808-style drop sounds. Logic's got one in the Downtempo 2 Ultrabeat kit that works just fine, but the same goes with every sample or synthesized sine drop: too much sub-bass at one point can kill a mix. Also, if you're using Massive (who isn't nowadays? ), the performance tab is your best friend when it comes to adding some movement to otherwise static-sounding wobbles or mid-range stuff.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Lavender put it best, if not for how much information you can get out of there. I'd just be restating all of that! XD

Be careful with sub-bass/808-style drop sounds. Logic's got one in the Downtempo 2 Ultrabeat kit that works just fine, but the same goes with every sample or synthesized sine drop: too much sub-bass at one point can kill a mix. Also, if you're using Massive (who isn't nowadays? ), the performance tab is your best friend when it comes to adding some movement to otherwise static-sounding wobbles or mid-range stuff.

Yeah, it goes without saying that too much sub can, quite literally, destroy your mix. Finding the right balance is one of the hardest things to do in a drop. (Which is why I keep my drops quite minimal for now)

[natsukashi]

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

So do I~

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

So do I~

WHO DOESN'T?!

[Lavender_Harmony]

But seriously, I use massive for everything ever.

So do I~

WHO DOESN'T?!

I use Massive, Razor, Reaktor, ES2, but enough about me. You should see Tomb's squad of synths

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

So do I~

WHO DOESN'T?!

I use Massive, Razor, Reaktor, ES2, but enough about me. You should see Tomb's squad of synths

I use mostly Massive, 3xosc (mostly for its awesome white noise) and subsonic. On occasion I use some weird free vsti like that Kira-whatever (the name always escapes me) But yeah, I mostly use massive.