Low End
Kick- used an eq and spectrum to level out frequencies so that its pushing through around 50Hz. Used a drum bus and Max4Life compressor “Bass-Punch” to make it more punchy and definitive. I also layered a breakbeat into my kick and used a gate which allowed me to add more texture and groove to my kick loop.
Bass – i used a lot of the same plugins on my bass as i did on my kick including a saturator to give it more character. Furthermore as the bass i am using is quite plucky i added a delay to help add more groove and make it sound more full.
Synths
I started with the Korg Odyssey synth and used an arp which I changed by adjusting the ADR parameters as well as the cutoff and resonance. I also used an lfo set to 8 bars on an autofilter to add more movement along with the use of a Bitcrusher to add extra texture and presence. For the midi I followed the bassline but with a more straightforward rhythm with emphasis on octave jumps.
I used a lot of automation on my synths to create a dreamlike texture which is displayed throughout the track. To add to this I used a Max4Live plugin called “Trance Pad Gate” and after playing around with the parameters I managed to create very unique textures which layered very well with the filtered chords and pads.
Drums
My drums follow a very simple 909 house like template with 4×4 kick drums followed by claps on the 2nd beat along with open high hats and rides on the off beat. My processing with this was very limited as I find with the right sample selection you don’t need to polish or manipulate everything. However I did use a Decemort (D16) (Bitrusher), which helped create a more raw and rugged sound.
vocals
Used a vocoder on some short adlib vocals add the end of most 8 bars to add extra character and depth. Although what’s displayed may not sound like an actual vocal i believe i wouldn’t be able to get the same result using something else as the texture a vocoder brings is unlike any other.
Fx
I have used a mixture of effects to create tension and release. For example I sampled a plane taking off and landing used within my breakdowns (heard at 1min45sec) as I felt it was really unique but still fitted perfectly within the overall song.
