Dive into sidechain compression and low-end mixing tips to improve your drops immediately.

I’ll go right ahead and make the claim that all effective drops (especially the more outrageous ones) employ sidechain compression to some degree. A clear kick and bass is integral to an effective drop. This overlap causes frequency masking: you won’t be able to hear either instrument clearly and there will be a boomy, overblown low-end that wrecks your mix and dancers’ expectations. Low bass frequencies overlap with important kick drum frequencies around 20–100 Hz. Sidechain can do many things, but in a drop it is mostly there to compress and quiet the bass for a brief moment whenever the kick drum hits. Make sidechain your friendĭespite its prevalent use across the spectrum of electronic music, sidechain remains a point of confusion for many producers. Note: this article focuses on the rhythm and bass section post build-up, although I touch on build-ups too. And while a drop for EDM is our main focus, below you’ll find nine practical tips for producing drops that inspire positive reactions across all manner of electronic music. This article is here to clear up any confusion you may have.

But it can also be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of drop outside of a club environment. After building to a high point of tension, the drop provides a huge payoff for clubbers eager to shake it, and it's up to you to determine how it all goes down.įor producers, the drop is a really fun thing to produce in the studio. Whether you’re into subtle leftfield house or maximalist EDM, drops play a crucial role in keeping the energy up during a night out. In electronic music, a lot of effort goes into making things sound like they just happened naturally, and this is especially true with EDM drops.

The raw-sounding vocals in your song are held together by a patchwork of compression, reverb, and pitch-shifting. What appears to be a one kick is really five different samples layered together. But for anyone spending considerable time producing in a DAW, it becomes clear that there can be a myriad of little things happening at the same time for a single moment to sound good. On the surface, it seems like a lot of electronic music production is a matter of switching from one loop to another.

Sub bass drop sample