Contextual studies 2:

This is a look at how I made the Drum & Bass track “Your Type,” the tech stuff I used, and whether it could actually sell. The track is a pretty good example of today’s electronic music because it mixes vocals that give you feels with some cool sounds and a beat that hits hard. People can chill to it or go wild in a club – that’s the way a lot of D&B is going now. I’m gonna break down how I made it, what I think I did well (and not so well), and see how it fits into what’s going on in the music biz right now. The whole idea behind “Your Type” was to play with feels. I wanted to mix some feels-y, deep melodies with some big, modern beats and bass. D&B isn’t just for DJs anymore; people listen to it when they want to *feel* something, so that’s what I was going for. The track starts with some chords and sounds that are meant to make you feel like you’re in a big space and set the mood. I kept it simple at first so I could add the vocals and bass later without making it sound too crowded. The main thing was to get people hooked emotionally right away and then slowly add more stuff as it goes on. I made the track using Logic Pro X. At first, I mostly used the stuff that came with Logic to get things moving quickly. Once I had the basic structure and sounds down, I started using other plugins to make the sound better overall. The drum beat is what really makes the track. I layered the kick and snare and used EQ to make sure they didn’t clash. I also messed with the attack to make them hit as hard as possible. For the hi-hats and other percussion, I tried to make them groovy instead of just repeating the same thing over and over. I used some stereo tricks to make them sound wider. The bassline is what drives the track. I made it using Xfer Serum and Phase Plant, and I made sure it changed throughout the track. I used LFOs to change things like wavetable position and filter cutoff. This kept it from getting boring. I layered a bunch of bass sounds and used multiband compression and distortion to give it some weight. I got the vocals from a royalty-free site. I picked them because they sounded good and were recorded well. I used FabFilter Pro-Q3 to EQ them, Valhalla VintageVerb to give them space, and Soundtoys Decapitator to make them sound warmer. I used Melodyne to fix the pitch a little, but I didn’t want to make them sound too robotic. I added some harmonies and panned them around to make the chorus sound bigger and more emotional. The track is set up like a normal D&B track – intro, breakdown, drop, second breakdown, and final drop – but I tried to add some surprises to keep people listening. During the breakdown, there’s a vocal part with some ambient sounds behind it. It’s meant to give you a second to breathe before the bass and drums come back in. I used automation and effects to make the transitions between sections smooth. I also added drum fills and changed up the bassline to keep things from getting too repetitive. I mixed everything in stages. First, I grouped the drums, vocals, bass, and effects and processed them separately. I used EQ, compression, and stereo to make everything sound good together. I used automation to control the energy, especially during the build-ups and drops. I kept the mix at around -6 dB so I’d have enough room for mastering. I used iZotope Ozone 10 to EQ, widen, and limit the sound, and I used an SSL Bus Compressor to glue it all together. I wanted it to sound loud and polished but still have some dynamic range.  After listening to it a bunch of times, I think the best thing about the track is how the vocals and music work together. You can always hear the vocals, even when the bass is going crazy. I also think the bass sounds and drum programming are pretty creative. I did get some feedback that the middle frequencies were a bit much during the drops and made it hard to hear the vocals. I fixed this by cutting some of those frequencies in the bass and turning up the vocals during those parts. Also, some people thought the outro was too long, so I made a shorter version for radio. Your Type” fits into some of the trends that are going on in electronic music right now. D&B with vocals is getting popular again, especially with younger people who listen to other stuff like UK Garage and lo-fi hip hop. Spotify says that D&B streams went up a lot between 2022 and 2024, so it seems like people are getting back into it. Because it’s got those emotional vocals and a beat that goes hard, it could get added to playlists on Spotify and Apple Music. Playlists like “Massive Drum & Bass” often feature tracks that are both catchy and cool – which is what I was shooting for. Besides streaming, it could also be used in TV shows, movies, or video games. The vocals and breakdown could work well in scenes that are either emotional or intense. It could also be played in clubs or on radio stations that support new electronic music. “Your Type” is a well-thought-out D&B track that combines real emotion with some up-to-date production tricks. From the beginning to the end, and with the vocals tying it all together, it shows that I know what I’m doing with this genre. By getting the arrangement right, being careful with the tech, and listening to what people had to say, I think I ended up with something that’s both artistic and worth buying. If people are looking for electronic music that makes them *feel* something and still sounds good, this track could do well. Whether it’s on a playlist, in a club, or on TV, “Your Type” shows what D&B can be.