I made a banging drum and bass song despite never producing in the genre before. I think you could too if you follow Arc Nade’s tutorial.
And yes I named the song “Dan B” becuase I made a mistake once typing “DNB”.
The Tutorial
Here is the youtube link to the tutorial. Full disclosure, the tutorial is to make a song that sounds like the artist Bou. I have never heard of the artist I just like the sound.
Takeaways
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Start the song with atmospheric samples in the key of your song. Arc reccomends the key of F for drum and bass. F is a great key for EDM in general but I went with D# minor because that’s what key all of my samples were in.
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If you’ve been hoarding ambient one shots, this is the genre to use them in.
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Drum selection is key. You need to spend some time picking drum samples that go together, then adding reverb and EQing to get them right.
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Producing at a high BPM is nutty. 172 sounds and feels way different than a usual house tempo of 125. It’s refreshing for sure.
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The snare on the last beat before the drop is sick. Good technique.
Favorite Technique
My favorite part of the tutorial was the drop bass he makes in Serum. It is really simple and a great sound. I threw some OTT and Sausage Fattener on it and it was thumpin’. I recommend adding it to your arsenal.
Final Verdict
Drum and Bass is a blast to make. I will definitely make more in this genre. I’m interested in Jungle and more ambient DNB. Shoutout Arc Nade go check out his Youtube Channel.
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