For some reason I could never get into a groove writing Drum and Bass, which is kind of unusual as DnB literally got me into electronic music and kickstarted my passion for EMP. My music now is fairly experimental and doesn’t follow a particular genre, so I thought it might be interesting to fall flat into the genre and try creating my own drum and bass track. I basically just wanted an excuse to write some music in my favourite genre, but I also figure it will probably help in progressing my usual sound. But as I said, for some reason I’ve never been able to hit the nail on the head when it comes to DnB, which is why I need to get studying.
Now the first track I wanted to look at was Bricks Don’t Roll by DJ Hazard. This tune is absolutely classic, anybody that’s been to a Drum and Bass festival has definltey heard it. It’s what would be described in the world of Drum and Bass as a “Roller”, due to the bassline kind of rolling through the beat in a bouncy way. Super simple track too, nothing much to it at all in terms of production, just a very well thought out rhythm and style that captures any DnB head instantly. In a lot of ways, it’s probably THE most boring Drum and Bass track around because of it’s unapologetic repotition, but the melody in that bassline will have everybody singing every time. I think that’s the trick with classic DnB tunes, simple desgin, catchy melody or hook and bright snappy drums. I really like this kind of approach because of the simplicity and effectivness of it, it really gets down to the fundamentals of what makes DnB so great.
I will break down this track in greater detail in a later blog.
For now I just wanted to at least get my thoughts into writing about the beginnings of my project. I believe the scratch track I have written is definitely heading in the right direction, now it will be more about how I’m going to flesh out the track and make it exciting, while covering some all important Learning Outcomes. Next I’ll be looking into the synthesisers available to me and how I can effectively record some of the other instruments I have in mind for this project.