programming jungle & d'n'b
2004-04-22 by Leo Cavallo
hi Paolo (are you the same Paolo from the Looper's Delight mailing list? I was hanging out there a few years ago, when I was still perfomring live with Chapman Stick and various looping devices... now I'm just a studio cat... hey, I miss those days a little bit...) I completely agree with the guy (sorry, I don't remember the name) who said that d'n'b and jungle as music styles are all about sound/timbre. it's really all about the sound, even before the usual fast rolls ot the typical sub bass lines. and obviously it's not a coincidence that the genre was born out of the use of digital samplers: using them the d'n'b pioneers were able to modify sounds in extreme and creative new ways. anyway, even it's all about the sound, this doesn't automatically mean you'll have to use the same old breaks and synth samples for creating your tracks: what really matters is the way you approach the processing/filtering/mangling of the sounds you're using... that really makes the difference. that's the reason, to me, why all these grooveboxes around (Command Stations included, sorry guys...) don't produce a decent d'n'b/jungle sound right "out of the box". they're too clean and perfect sounding, even when they try to imitate nastier sounds (Roland and Yamah suck big time in this area, IMHO) they can sound great on their own (and the Command Stations do sound great!) or fit perfectly in other music styles but the sound of the genres we're talking about is way rougher, more crude and filtered than what just working with a groovebox can offer. having said this I wanna add that my MP7 is a great STARTING POINT for creating new breaks. program something simple hitting those pads or using the excellent step sequencer (those knobs controlling velocity values are ideal for creating the right nuances in programming ghost notes and realistic snare/hihat patterns) and then sample it to take it to the next level. try to limit your GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and stick to Logic. it's a great working environment and the huge amount of plugins included with the software can really make a big difference when trying to improve the quality of your sounds. in my experience the key elements for creating convincing jungle sounds (from breaks to sfx) are just a few and not THAT difficult to master: - compression: the breaks, the bass lines and the vocals (mostly if you're using MCs) are usually very compressed, removing most of the dynamic of the performance but getting a really heavy, in your face sound. try progamming a basic break (nada too complex. the frenetic programming stage will come later) on the Command Station, sampling it in Logic and processing it with load of compression (if you have good hardware, even better). most of the times you don't want to attenuate the transient of the hits in the break (so Attack time should be set to medium-slow rates). decrease the Release rate instead, so the weaker part of the break (the "and" part of the beat, where usually hi-hats, ghost notes, reveber tails, etc. are) comes up in volume, giving you a stronger sense of ambience and roughness. adjust the treshold and ratio parameters to fit the nature/volume of the break. - filtering: never enough. good sounding, resonating filters are essentials to good d'n'b programming. go to the extremes with LP, HP and BP. - distortion: from analog to digital, a well-dosed amount of distortion doesn't just dirty up the sound but create/add new harmonics, resulting in more interesting samples. - reverb: usually all the "accessory" sounds (basically everything except the drums and the bass. like pads, sfx, voices, synths, etc.) float in huge virtual spaces. giving the right sense of space is vital in d'n'b programming. well, obviously this is just my very personal view on the topic and for sure it's not intended to cover the whole subject of producing great d'n'b tracks. there are so many other elements and details to take into consideration... and I just realized that I'm incredibly late! :) anyway, I hope all this can help/inspire you. feel free to ask more, either on the list or privately. ciao leo cavallo www.groundloops.com