[HELP] I need some tips to make better DnB

[Thelastdevastator]

I started out making DnB and I made a really nice Drum & bass song after studying the genre and messing around but I feel that I can improve a lot from where I'm at now I'd really appreciate it.

[DJ TATCM]

Can you post it so we can offer some feedback?

[Lavender_Harmony]

Threads like this are very difficult to address properly. You need to give us some insight as to where you think you are struggling. If you need some feedback on a single piece, use the Music forum.

[Thelastdevastator]

Sorry about that I don't really use forum's that much. But besides that I struggle with putting a melody in the song sometimes it's to short and repetitive, Then other times I have a good melody going just for it to be over lapped by the little bass that I have made for the song.

(Sorry about not including more details my bad I hope this gives you a little more insight on my problem)

[Motivfs]

I'm no Drum & Bass expert, let alone expert at all, but I've been listening to it for about 4-5 years now, from my experience in melodies and basses, you have to make a very subtle subbass first off with your original bass (and cut out the subs from the original bass with an EQ), this will ensure that your regular bass does not take from the melodies you made because the sub will be gone, while you can adjust with the EQ and volume to make your new subbass work properly with the mix.

As for making not repetitive melodies, that's up to you really, I don't know what to say about that, it seems that's what most people struggle with when making music (other than the mixing/mastering). Remember, it's Drum & Bass. Not House/Trance.

Also are you doing old D&B? (Loops/Reese basses) Or new style D&B, which is more Kick/snare, arpeggios/plucks and gritty basses with lots of samples/FX?

[Thelastdevastator]

I'm no Drum & Bass expert, let alone expert at all, but I've been listening to it for about 4-5 years now, from my experience in melodies and basses, you have to make a very subtle subbass first off with your original bass (and cut out the subs from the original bass with an EQ), this will ensure that your regular bass does not take from the melodies you made because the sub will be gone, while you can adjust with the EQ and volume to make your new subbass work properly with the mix.

As for making not repetitive melodies, that's up to you really, I don't know what to say about that, it seems that's what most people struggle with when making music (other than the mixing/mastering). Remember, it's Drum & Bass. Not House/Trance.

Also are you doing old D&B? (Loops/Reese basses) Or new style D&B, which is more Kick/snare, arpeggios/plucks and gritty basses with lots of samples/FX?

I would probably say mines is more of an cross breed between the two the sides of the D&B genre I'll link you this to judge for yourself,
http://soundcloud.com/the_last_devastator/when-you-are-suffering

[Motivfs]

It's more of a new style type with some old style feel to it (if that makes any sense?) but what I would say first off is that your transitioning (much like my music) needs more FX or oomph to it.

Because there doesn't seem to be proper transitioning it sounds basically like a mish-mash of sounds, the melodies are fine, they could be a little more unique but I won't judge cause I get caught all the time with melodies I love and have this irk to not change them because of it (I usually do that at the end before I mix and master to make it more different).

You got the idea of your song there, basically what you need now is better drum breaks for transition and a few FX which shouldn't be hard to throw in, maybe tweak with the release/cutoff ENV a bit to make it happen because even though it's not Dubstep, Drum & Bass still has drops, and they still need to have a bit of a punch when that happens.

Once again, I'm not an expert of producing, but this is just what I get when I make D&B, since it's my one and only genre I love.

[Thelastdevastator]

It's more of a new style type with some old style feel to it (if that makes any sense?) but what I would say first off is that your transitioning (much like my music) needs more FX or oomph to it.

Because there doesn't seem to be proper transitioning it sounds basically like a mish-mash of sounds, the melodies are fine, they could be a little more unique but I won't judge cause I get caught all the time with melodies I love and have this irk to not change them because of it (I usually do that at the end before I mix and master to make it more different).

You got the idea of your song there, basically what you need now is better drum breaks for transition and a few FX which shouldn't be hard to throw in, maybe tweak with the release/cutoff ENV a bit to make it happen because even though it's not Dubstep, Drum & Bass still has drops, and they still need to have a bit of a punch when that happens.

Once again, I'm not an expert of producing, but this is just what I get when I make D&B, since it's my one and only genre I love.

Expert or not this really helped me out anyway my weakest skills as a producer are making melodies and Mixing and EQing and
Melodies will be something I will hope to improve on in the future It's hard to try to keep a melody sounding good with more that four to two bars, but thanks for the tip's these will really help me out in the future

[Motivfs]

Not a problem, I help with what I can, hope it helps you become a better D&B producer.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

I think that there needs to be more going on in the breaks of your song. Same thing that Motivfs said about DnB still having drops.

The style of DnB I've been really getting into as of late is some of the more obscure neurofunk stuff, and some jump up. One thing I noticed about them that is refreshing is that they don't use the standard DnB drum pattern of kick snare, kick-snare. They use more interesting syncopations, some of which are almost on the verge of breakcore.

Examples:







If you noticed the rhythm syncopations of all of those, not one of them uses the normal DnB rhythm pattern. Just something you should look into. It's not absolutely necessary, but it often makes the song more interesting to listen to.

Also, you can clearly tell the difference between the break and the rest of the song. The break should be more intense than the rest of the song.

Considering the fact that my preference of DnB is not the same as yours, that's about all of the helpful advice I can offer.

One last quick tip, if you want to make a break seem more intense, you should consider having a good buildup. I usually just synthesize what sounds like a jet taking off backwards, but even something as simple as white noise or the 'accelerating kick drums' will make for a decent buildup. Not every DnB song has or needs a buildup, but buildups make the break seem far more intense than without a buildup, and provides a decent transition (so it doesn't sound like a bunch of random noise).

Edit: Try using some interesting FX. It makes any song more interesting to listen to. As long as you don't overdo it for the style you're producing, you will be fine.

And most importantly of all, make whatever sounds good to you. It's your music after all. Implying that you don't need to use all of the sandard practices of DnB. You can add some aspects of other genres or do whatever the hell you want. If you like it, other people will like it much more than they normally would.