DnB Bored with drops

[Bmac]

So im in the middle of making an upbeat drum and bass track and Im looking for an interesting build to a drop. Something more interesting then a pitch rise or a white noise swishing effect! any ideas??

 

[dDUBlya]

Vocal / glitchy type sample opened up with a HP / LP cut on the EQ?

 

[felun]

resample a loop of your tune without the beats ...treat the sample like a reece (get a bit that sounds cool in your sampler that runs into a looped section) filter/distort etc and use that to build up

 

[kama]

Try the basic tempo change

---------- Post added at 16:22 ---------- Previous post was at 16:14 ----------

getting out of the 16bar loop mindset can help too. It will be harder to mix, but fuck that if you get an idea that works like a charm. After a huge basic build up, go down like pulling back, pitch everything down for example for 1 bar and then drop, or drop normally but draw it all under a nasty LP filter after 1 bar and start again etc.

My regular ideas for somethign more interesting (*although my drops are usually nothing spectacular)
-Resample some sound from the tune and just go crazy with it - stretch, vocode, loop, pitch bend, reverse, mix in a heavy distortion gradually etc.
-use something that is otherwise not used in the whole track, makes it more interesting (like if sampling, use another sample from the same source at the drop)
-drop only a single hit of bass, kick, stab etc on the 1st beat on the drop, then silence or a bass filtering thing or a short sweep, and continue from the second snare in the 1st bar
-change the rhythmic flow at the buildup (do triplets, swingbeat, half speed etc)
-use some creative FX with automations on the master (chorus, distortion, gate, reverb, even vocoder)
-get rid of the kick rush and do something with your other drum hits
-go over the top with a long long drumfill (sampling drum solos sometimes works)
-fake drops, huge buildup into a drop that just starts another buildup

 

[Innovine]

that tempo change thing was awesome

 

[kama]

that tempo change thing was awesome

dont tell anyone but I didn't change the tempo in that tune at all. I just played a hit every 3/16 so the tempo kind of turned into 2/3rds of 174, which is about 116 If i remember correctly.

 

[tv_g]

when im short on ideas i just listen to any genre other than dnb and usually get more ideas than i know what to do with. things like repetition, or playing with mono/width, adsr/delay automation seem to be common in techno.

 

[mistasfx]

its ur job as a producer to come up with something

 

[T:M]

-fake drops, huge buildup into a drop that just starts another buildup

Fake drops are huge! I love to play tracks with fake drops, makes the audience look like the have special needs when they don't expect it!

 

[noddynoodle]

Fake drop, would that be like instead of dropping, there's a 4 bar fill or whatever before the bass really kicks in? Gots to luv dat

 

[HyperonDnb]

build up bigger and bigger then about 2 bars before the drop, complete silence, sometimes silence makes the drop, however somtimes it doesnt! its your call

 

[jimjimjim]

listen to some hard house music - its all drops n build ups

 

[subprime]

build up bigger and bigger then about 2 bars before the drop, complete silence, sometimes silence makes the drop, however somtimes it doesnt! its your call

2 beats maybe...2 bars is nearly 3 seconds! Relative silence is really really effective, but it is pretty unsubtle. Some good ideas there Kama.

 

[Innovine]

dont tell anyone but I didn't change the tempo in that tune at all. I just played a hit every 3/16 so the tempo kind of turned into 2/3rds of 174, which is about 116 If i remember correctly.

Meh, same thing. There is also a 'tempo change' at 3:00 when everything rises in pitch.. the little snare roll to get back into the beat does it for me.

 

[richie_stix]

Try the basic tempo change

---------- Post added at 16:22 ---------- Previous post was at 16:14 ----------

getting out of the 16bar loop mindset can help too. It will be harder to mix, but fuck that if you get an idea that works like a charm. After a huge basic build up, go down like pulling back, pitch everything down for example for 1 bar and then drop, or drop normally but draw it all under a nasty LP filter after 1 bar and start again etc.

My regular ideas for somethign more interesting (*although my drops are usually nothing spectacular)
-Resample some sound from the tune and just go crazy with it - stretch, vocode, loop, pitch bend, reverse, mix in a heavy distortion gradually etc.
-use something that is otherwise not used in the whole track, makes it more interesting (like if sampling, use another sample from the same source at the drop)
-drop only a single hit of bass, kick, stab etc on the 1st beat on the drop, then silence or a bass filtering thing or a short sweep, and continue from the second snare in the 1st bar
-change the rhythmic flow at the buildup (do triplets, swingbeat, half speed etc)
-use some creative FX with automations on the master (chorus, distortion, gate, reverb, even vocoder)
-get rid of the kick rush and do something with your other drum hits
-go over the top with a long long drumfill (sampling drum solos sometimes works)
-fake drops, huge buildup into a drop that just starts another buildup

at 2.27... does that blend into triplets for a bar or two before the re-drop?

 

[Bmac]

Cheers for the reponses guys. Im liking the tempo change idea, and it seems to work quite well with the track but its pretty rough at the moment and Im trying different things to tighten it up. The brief silence build is something Im not a massive fan off though. Looping 4 bars of the tune without the drums and messing with different effects and automations makes some pretty nasty noise I must admit. all cool ideas.

its ur job as a producer to come up with something

thats true and originality is pretty important to me! but brainstorming ideas always helps!

 

[kama]

at 2.27... does that blend into triplets for a bar or two before the re-drop?

No, its just an extreme swing beat, I adjusted the off beats by hand.

A fucking pain in the ass to mix, that bit btw.