Keys and Scales in DnB

I write my tracks in G but that's just force of habit now, my fingers automatically play the B&E flats.

Remember lomax was on about a 'RAM scale', was on the xample & lomax production masterclass.

He didn't say which scale it was, but I'm sure if you watch his hands closely, you can work it out.

You can download it here:
http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php?...ction-Masterclass-Links&highlight=masterclass

He was just messing round with it, and it had that Shimon/Xample vibe that ram is known for.
 
dont get too attatched to a certain scale i reckon its good to change, get a completly different vibe
 
check out a note to frequency chart, then you will know the exact frequency of the notes you are playing. That is why a lot of dnb is in E, F or G, because these are the keys that will put your low bass in the right frequency range.
 
i've been playing guitar for about 5 and a half years now and i've studied classical and jazz theory/practice at university. i've only been producing for a little over a month but obviously i use guitar and the way i play guitar as my basis for everything i do harmonically, melodically and even rhythmically in production.

learning not only all the major and minor scales but also the all the modes is a great advantage as well as knowing at least major, minor, maj/min7 and maj/min9 chords and how they work, especially for backing, atmospheric chords. the modes are especially powerful because you can view them as more interesting versions of the major and minor scales. you can look up a tonne of info on the modes.

when i write melodies, if it's a lead melody, i think about it related to guitar. some tips for creating melodies and even basslines are:

-start melodies on off beats, either on the 4 and of the previous bar of when the melody comes in or on the 1 and of when it comes in. helps to give it more flow and sound less robotic.
-use notes in your melody that correspond to what your bassline/chord progression (if you have one) is doing. this is basic, but obviously don't put a major 3rd in your melody when the current chord or implied harmonic centre is a minor fourth.
-rhythm is your friend in melodies. straight 4th, 8th ad 16th notes can work sometimes but you can do so much more with syncopation. slotting in certain parts of your lead lines with cool snare/kick/hat patterns is awesome.
-if you are going to repeat a melody later in the song, maybe make it a harmony of what you played before, harmonies in 3rds and 5ths are always good.

in general, a lot of electronic music espec dancefloor stuff uses simple harmony and scale tonalities eg. blues scales and paired down version of them get used a lot.
 
Last edited:
Phat_Sam said:
A good way to look at bass frequencies is this:

G: Good bass sounds - the sub will come through on an OK system.
F/F#: Obviously a bit lower - the sub will rock any sound system.
E: Lowest freq without losing clarity - the sub will destroy the valve system and create a black hole full of sub bass. The world, as we know it, will be reduced to a woofer playing the low end of Machete
Click to expand...

Well E1 is 41.20Hz and that is fine on a club system, it will not destroy the valve system at all! Dillinger goes down as low as 30Hz in some of his tunes.

As some people have rightly said, it's good to try diffferent keys out, there are no rules, but certain keys are favoured because they are sub bass sweet spots.

This chart might be useful to some of you...

http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html
 
Back
Top Bottom