I need some advice

AlienWeapon

AlienWeapon

Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Hi there, i'm a new member and i need some advice on my dnb production. Basically i'm finding it difficult to get the sounds to suit my melodies/tracks/ideas. What i mean by sounds is leads and basses etc. I use fl studio with sytrus, harmor, harmless and vanguard but it usually takes me an age to go through masses of presets only to find there's not something there to fit the bill, i have looked up some tutorials though on ones to make but its hard to find good ones. Also I'm having trouble with composition, i usually come up with a good catchy riff add some drums to it and a bass then think right now what? its hard to follow up that riff or build on it especially when it comes to making transitions fit in with the initial idea without it sounding kinda tacked on. I know some basic music theory (chord construction and some scales) so i don't think that is the issue.

I'm new to the genre so i guess it comes with experience, but i'm really looking to soak up as much info as i can. I would really appreciate any advice i can get on making things fit together and flow seamlessly and maybe some examples of some dnb that really pulls off those elements i'm struggling with, or a good formula for constructing songs in this kind of genre. Heres an example of an idea i started working on then kinda got stuck..https://soundcloud.com/8-bitheroes/an-idea-so-far

thanks!
 
hey bro! I will suggest you to start with a simple break, then build your whole track on it, Personally I think constructing a Liquid DnB is not that hard, just trust your ears, and I will suggest you few more plug ins, FL's default plug in's not have good sound quality, you need to tweak them A lot, purchase Sylenth, Massive, Zebra, they will make your job more easy when doing transitions try with an "Uplifter", i hope you got me, (sorry for my english) And as I said at first, start with a simple Break. and don't rush anything try to make everything perfect, and you will improve as the time goes. Enjoy!
 
Even though I use Massive for most of my sounds, I must disagree with Liquid State on this one. FL Studio stock plugins can do the job pretty well, you just need to know how to use them.

For the OP: check out SeamlessR videos on youtube, this guy is a monster when it comes to bass synthetisation using Harmor (he has a "series" entitled "How to bass"), and you also should check howtomakeelectronicmusic.com (both his site and his channel on youtube) for a more broad approach on diverse things related to FL Studio plugins.
 
Liquid State said:
@DarkYSidro! Bro I didn't said they are bad, I said you need to tweak them a lot to get the sound you want!
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Yeah, man. But this applies to every plugin, right? Even those that are more simple. My opinion was based out of a pad I'm using on a chillstep I'm working on, which is made on 3xosc. The result was better than when I tried using Massive.
 
Thanks for the sound advice. I will check out some of those synths. I'm basically going to try listen to as much dnb as I can to soak it up and use it. If anyone has more suggestions, ideas, please fire away.

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DarkYsidro said:
Even though I use Massive for most of my sounds, I must disagree with Liquid State on this one. FL Studio stock plugins can do the job pretty well, you just need to know how to use them.

For the OP: check out SeamlessR videos on youtube, this guy is a monster when it comes to bass synthetisation using Harmor (he has a "series" entitled "How to bass"), and you also should check howtomakeelectronicmusic.com (both his site and his channel on youtube) for a more broad approach on diverse things related to FL Studio plugins.
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I'll second the check out SeamlessR. I don't use FL but watch his how to bass videos for general knowledge, and it tends to make me jealous of FL! The stuff he does with Sytrus and Harmor is amazing.
 
I've been running into problems recently regarding composition too, but I'm starting to realize the problem's been me; I'd usually always hold out on the drums and bass and work on the pads first, but the process should be iterative. And besides, it's called drum 'n bass, why would you hold out on the drums and bass until last xD? So I'll be going that approach now.

As to you, I can only wish you good luck. It would help to have some understanding on music theory and any experience with any instrument, but you could try working out the main part of the song, stripping elements out, paring them down and rearranging them to create your intros, drops etc. Also not every element has to be present in every part of the track. Presets are good for bouncing ideas on but you'll usually have to do a lot of tailoring to make them your own. If you have any sound engineering/design experience that's a massive plus b/c you can make even shit synths work well in that case, but even if you're a noob in that field you can start w/ some amazing tuts at this site. I've been meaning to read more of these, they'll be a gospel of sorts and have fantastic knowledge you can apply to any synth.

The best advice I can give, tho, is just to learn by listening. Study your favorite songs and analyze every element of them, even if you don't know how they're doing half that shit. Just be curious and willing to experiment to figure out how, and then how to do something different still. It's important to focus on the technical aspect but don't gimp on the creative learning too which only comes with trying, failure, frustration, then triumph. Eventually it'll all just fall into place and you'll start pumping quality work out.

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AlienWeapon said:
Thanks for the sound advice. I will check out some of those synths. I'm basically going to try listen to as much dnb as I can to soak it up and use it. If anyone has more suggestions, ideas, please fire away.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
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Don't listen to just dnb; vary it up bro. Listen to and study some jazz, ethnic music, house music, hiphop, rock etc. If you're in the right frame of mind inspiration should come from many places not just dnb.
 
AW, at that stage, the best thing to do is focus on your sound design and learning your plugins first up. When you start producing, people (at least I did) tend to have unrealistic expectations on what it takes to create and compose a half decent track.

At the early stages, if you want the best and most efficient way to start producing successfully, i suggest learning as much as you can about the default plugins as you can.
Experimenting, tutorials, giving context. Everything.

From what ive heard FL studio has a large mix of decent and and awesome plugins that you can each learn how to use and get the best results from, and before you know it, you'll be making sounds as good as the ones you've heard in your favorite tracks.

When it comes to composition, the best thing to do is listen to heaps and heaps of music, all the time (and although i agree with mason about varying the styles of music you listen to, composition can be very genre specific, so I would recommend starting by listening to dnb tracks now, then varying later on when you know more about what you're doing). You will be surprised at how differently you will approach making music after you figure out the methods and trends experienced producers stick with.

Good luck mate
 
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