How do dubstep/EDM dj producers mix so many different sounds within same beat/bar?

G

gjfukit

New member
Hello all, new member here hoping to be a positive contributing member to this forum.

Whether you love them or hate them, do any of you know how DJ/producers such as say Skrillex or Benny Benassi produce tracks where it seems like 4 completely different sounds/tracks blend naturally from each beat within a single bar?

Here are two examples I could think of:

From 2:11 to 3:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AmJX4zUrUA

From 3:15 to 3:30 below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQUDgzBJqlY

Is this just some really tight editing where there are say 4 tracks and on each beat or two, only one track is playing?

Or in a DJ context, just flipping the cross fader completely from one side to the other?

Thanks in advance!
GJF
 
Did you try and look for youtubes on how to make a moguai/deadmaus/skrillex type of beat? Could even search for that for your preferred DAW but that's not per se necessary.

Like:





And you can sometimes also find youtubes where those producers/djs/musicians show you how they made it.

To answer your question a little bit, it's experience/skill what makes them able to do what they do. Practice I'd say and watch youtubes, try and copy that.
 
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gjfukit said:
Hello all, new member here hoping to be a positive contributing member to this forum.

Whether you love them or hate them, do any of you know how DJ/producers such as say Skrillex or Benny Benassi produce tracks where it seems like 4 completely different sounds/tracks blend naturally from each beat within a single bar?
Click to expand...

It's actually pretty simple - Say if you have a beat that the midi goes like this{ | | | ||| | | | ||| | | }
| = midi bars
Then switch out each note with an different sound and you'll keep that flow of the beat going but just different sounds.
 
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Hey thanks for the feedback guys! Much appreciated.

@ Bsides - I did try searching but the question I have is very specific. It's not so much how to produce general dubstep/edm but specifically that part where it sounds almost like three different synced up songs all cut up so it's played one or two beats from each song in a single bar. In the videos you provided, they're mostly talking about general multitaskm multitrack recording which I'm already familiar with. But they do slightly cover what I was asking about in the middle of the vid. It's one thing to have 20 tracks you've written playing at the same time, but another when it's cut precisely that only one element is playing on each beat. Just listen to the sections I referenced and you'll see what I mean. The sounds aren't consistent but the timing Is and flows smoothly.

@MldlrDime - thanks man. I think you answered my question. But then the specific sample has to also be tight. Just cuz you have a guitar sample doesn't mean the melody will fit exactly within the bar but again I don't know as I've never done that style of midi editing. When I hear those songs, it seems like the guitar, vocals, sounds could all be an ongoing phrase in the song and not just a one off sample. Does that make sense?

Again, many thanks for the responses and at least I am closer to the solution.
 
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Hello all, just wanted to bump this thread AND BEG YOU VERY TALENTED KNOWLEDGEABLE PRODUCERS if any others had feedback on how to do this, what I think, very basic mixing/production strategy that is fairly prevalent in many mixes nowadays in electronic music.

I think the previous posters provided great feedback and help but I think the answer can still be refined more?

If it is just basic MIDI triggering the samples, what about the editing of the sample slices themselves? In this style of production, it sounds like the samples are not just basic sounds, but musical phrases that are still in time and in key with the song. It's not like disparate sounds just mashing up but it's the specific sample edits that make it sound cohesive.

Thanks in advance
 
It's not terribly difficult, but it's pretty time consuming. It's that complextro kind of stuff (ie; madeon).

The Skrillex beat sounds sample heavy, but the second one sounds like it's more synths than anything. Moguai's section is easier to explain for me since I don't work with samples much, but the premise is the same.

Maybe there's more than one way to do it, but I would go about it by doing a lot of automation. I'm willing to bet that you can nearly make that entire section with just one strong synth. At the least, I'm hearing LFO, pitch, reverb, chorus, low pass, and high pass automation. The LFO is pretty clear from the wobbles you hear. The bass heavier parts are coming from pulling down the high pass. Opposite goes for the low pass. The reverb is automated to sharply cut in specific parts. The chorus is automated to make a sound sharper or wider. And of course, the pitch is self explanatory. I can tell it's heavy automation because I can hear those usual light clicks in the background you get from instantaneous automation changes.

Just imagine looking at an automation envelope that has points and straight lines all over the place. That's why it can be really time consuming. Even if it was samples, as in the other track, you'd just have to do the same kind of thing. Hope this clears it up a little bit.
 
Ametrine said:
It's not terribly difficult, but it's pretty time consuming. It's that complextro kind of stuff (ie; madeon).

The Skrillex beat sounds sample heavy, but the second one sounds like it's more synths than anything. Moguai's section is easier to explain for me since I don't work with samples much, but the premise is the same.

Maybe there's more than one way to do it, but I would go about it by doing a lot of automation. I'm willing to bet that you can nearly make that entire section with just one strong synth. At the least, I'm hearing LFO, pitch, reverb, chorus, low pass, and high pass automation. The LFO is pretty clear from the wobbles you hear. The bass heavier parts are coming from pulling down the high pass. Opposite goes for the low pass. The reverb is automated to sharply cut in specific parts. The chorus is automated to make a sound sharper or wider. And of course, the pitch is self explanatory. I can tell it's heavy automation because I can hear those usual light clicks in the background you get from instantaneous automation changes.

Just imagine looking at an automation envelope that has points and straight lines all over the place. That's why it can be really time consuming. Even if it was samples, as in the other track, you'd just have to do the same kind of thing. Hope this clears it up a little bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the automation tips Ametrine! Much appreciated. I gave you a like on your Facebook page.

Also thanks for that Madeon tip. I've actually never heard of the guy but I'll check out his production style.

I see your point that whether it be a synth or a sample, just doing some extreme automation with various FX/EQ/settings/etc will give a similar effect. Will give it a go.

Thanks again!
 
good composition skills.. there's no magic behind it. There's even daw that have random button, if you don't want to create each sound pattern yourself.
 
@BeatbyAS - hey man, that's a sick beat always skilled. I liked it and following you.

Thanks for the tip. I hear ya, I guess I have to acclimate to this new technology to convey emotion that I used to rely on guitar to convey. Just curious, which daws have this "random" feature? Never heard of it before
 
Thanks for referring that guy and the recording tip BeatsbyAS! I dig his hip hop beat a lot with the guitar.

I've also started DJing recently to understand how DJs will ultimately play music we write and produce and I think the desire effect I'm really going for is fast cutting to multiple tracks that are beatmatched but in different sections. So everything is in time but completely different songs. So with that, it looks like there are many ways to achieve that effect which many have already answered in this thread. Thanks again all
 
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MilDlrDime said:
It's actually pretty simple - Say if you have a beat that the midi goes like this{ | | | ||| | | | ||| | | }
| = midi bars
Then switch out each note with an different sound and you'll keep that flow of the beat going but just different sounds.
Click to expand...


this is exactly how I do it. it takes a bit of practice but once you start it becomes easy and most of all fun.

1. make a catchy melody and find a great leading synth.
2. manipulate the synth and incorporate other synths and sounds to chop up from that melody you made.

what you're doing is moving parts around in a musical way. when this is playing, take this away. when that is playing, take this away. that's pretty much how it's done. how well you are at adding FX and creating something catchy and cool will determine how well the final mix comes out.


https://pro.beatport.com/track/ava-apple-vs-android-original-mix/6359753
 
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acetheface954 said:
this is exactly how I do it. it takes a bit of practice but once you start it becomes easy and most of all fun.

1. make a catchy melody and find a great leading synth.
2. manipulate the synth and incorporate other synths and sounds to chop up from that melody you made.

what you're doing is moving parts around in a musical way. when this is playing, take this away. when that is playing, take this away. that's pretty much how it's done. how well you are at adding FX and creating something catchy and cool will determine how well the final mix comes out.


https://pro.beatport.com/track/ava-apple-vs-android-original-mix/6359753
Click to expand...

Thanks for the knowledge acetheface!

So when I first read your comment, I had an "aha" moment but a minute after, still trying to comprehend the details of what you recommend.

So the midi part, changing sounds, in the original by milliondollardime, I got. And in your part about coming up with a cool melody and changing the synths, also get. But the part I'm not sure about (and maybe this is the part where it comes down to our creative side) how to chop it up and which parts to change diff synths to?

So using a very simple example, let's say you have 16 notes in your melody. Would you either have

1) 1 track with the melody and assign each note to a different synth or can be same synth but with different settings (ex. maybe low pass filter on one/phaser on another to add variety)

or

2) 6 tracks of this melody each with their own synth and then when mixing, you just keep the track with the specific note where you like the sound and either mute/delete the other 5 tracks

Thanks man! Also, great soundcloud track! I started following you as well but on your beatport link, wasn't able to play any of the songs there.
 
gjfukit said:
Thanks for the knowledge acetheface!

So when I first read your comment, I had an "aha" moment but a minute after, still trying to comprehend the details of what you recommend.

So the midi part, changing sounds, in the original by milliondollardime, I got. And in your part about coming up with a cool melody and changing the synths, also get. But the part I'm not sure about (and maybe this is the part where it comes down to our creative side) how to chop it up and which parts to change diff synths to?

So using a very simple example, let's say you have 16 notes in your melody. Would you either have

1) 1 track with the melody and assign each note to a different synth or can be same synth but with different settings (ex. maybe low pass filter on one/phaser on another to add variety)

or

2) 6 tracks of this melody each with their own synth and then when mixing, you just keep the track with the specific note where you like the sound and either mute/delete the other 5 tracks

Thanks man! Also, great soundcloud track! I started following you as well but on your beatport link, wasn't able to play any of the songs there.
Click to expand...


the answer is both. you can do either one and you'll get the same result but again it comes down to your creative output. sorry if me saying "chop them up" sounded funny. studio lingo can be quite sketchy lol. but yeah whatever you feel comfortable doing will make it happen for you. step one and two are both winners. the really hard part is manipulating the synth and creating a good melody.

odd. the beatport link works for me. maybe beatport was down? thanks for checking it out though man.
 
acetheface954 said:
the answer is both. you can do either one and you'll get the same result but again it comes down to your creative output. sorry if me saying "chop them up" sounded funny. studio lingo can be quite sketchy lol. but yeah whatever you feel comfortable doing will make it happen for you. step one and two are both winners. the really hard part is manipulating the synth and creating a good melody.

odd. the beatport link works for me. maybe beatport was down? thanks for checking it out though man.
Click to expand...

Haha, no worries man. When I hear chop it up, the first thought in my mind is Ableton, and maybe slicing an audio sample into 8 or 16 diff parts to come up with some crazy cool rhythm.

As for Beatport, now I know what the problem was. I wasn't logged in.

OH SHIT!! Your shit is tight man! I'm gonna buy a track to use in my DJ set (first gig coming up) if that's ok but I've got one more newbie question for you. I've only been buying songs off of itunes as it's easy to transfer them over to traktor or djay. If I buy something on beatport pro, how do i transfer it over to itunes? Do I have to take the actual file and stick it in the itunes folder? Also, I know this might be breaking some DJ code but you've got a great ear for melody. This small lounge specifically asked for deep house but deep house can mean diff things depending on age and location (can either be Armand Van Helden, Tchami or Frankie Knuckles). You got any recommended deep house tracks that hit?

Keep up the good work! I've been very lucky to have some talented guys give me some pointers.
 
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gjfukit said:
Haha, no worries man. When I hear chop it up, the first thought in my mind is Ableton, and maybe slicing an audio sample into 8 or 16 diff parts to come up with some crazy cool rhythm.

As for Beatport, now I know what the problem was. I wasn't logged in.

OH SHIT!! Your shit is tight man! I'm gonna buy a track to use in my DJ set (first gig coming up) if that's ok but I've got one more newbie question for you. I've only been buying songs off of itunes as it's easy to transfer them over to traktor or djay. If I buy something on beatport pro, how do i transfer it over to itunes? Do I have to take the actual file and stick it in the itunes folder? Also, I know this might be breaking some DJ code but you've got a great ear for melody. This small lounge specifically asked for deep house but deep house can mean diff things depending on age and location (can either be Armand Van Helden, Tchami or Frankie Knuckles). You got any recommended deep house tracks that hit?

Keep up the good work! I've been very lucky to have some talented guys give me some pointers.
Click to expand...

-wow man that would mean a lot to me. good luck on your 1st gig. that's a huge move. make sure to write about the experience. I'd love to hear about it on your FB post.

-choice of deep house records would depend on your demographics like you said so I'd need to know the lounge's name, location, and the targeted age group. message me in private.

-oh and as far as your itunes situation goes my friend you're on your own lol. I'm a PC man. apple makes things way too difficult for the likes of me lol
 
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