MusicRadar

Wiley: responsible for a grime wave, apparently.

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It may have its roots in East London, but grime is now a truly international sound. MusicRadar celebrates its success by offering 22 tips for anyone who wants to produce in the genre.

1. Although grime draws its influences from both UK garage and US hip-hop, it's got a sound that's far removed from either of these genres. Grime beats, as popularised by the likes of Roll Deep Crew's Wiley, stay away from the conventions of four to the floor and two-step garage. Try starting with a regular two-step rhythm, then add more kicks and change the position of the second snare – this gives grime its characteristic disjointed feel.

2. Most UK dance music relies on multiple layers of percussion to create a wall of sound. Grime is much closer to something like dancehall, however, eschewing layers for very clear individual beats. Avoid overly complex arrangements, and concentrate on getting each percussion element sounding right in the mix. You may find compressing and gating each percussion track individually works better than using a percussion group, though when you mix down you might find the rhythm track as a whole benefits from subtle compression.

3. Try taking the Dizzee Rascal approach and use the rawest sounds you can find. If you've got a synth with pleasingly gritty oscillators, use them with minimal processing for that nasty sound. If they're too much, try using a notch EQ to take the edge off, or turn the sound down in the mix and boost the low end.

4. Although layering multiple rhythms can take away from the grimey feel, the stacking of individual percussive hits can make a beat sound much heavier – if you layer a muddy kick with a more bassy one, for example. Another trick is to layer simple sound effects with the beats, using them as another percussive element. The shorter the effect sample the better – you may find altering the sample's amp envelope can help you mould it to the beat.

5. Like two-step garage, grime's beats are generally of the clipped variety – note, that's clipped in the sense of being abrupt rather than excessively overdriven. To get that sound, you can experiment with your percussive sample's amplitude envelope – short decay and release times along with a low sustain level will give you that snap you desire. If you're using audio to sequence your beats, you may find editing your percussion sounds in a sample editor first is a handy way to achieve this effect.

"Avoid overly complex arrangements, and concentrate on getting each percussion element sounding right in the mix."

6. As with dancehall, there's no need to have percussion and bass constantly erupting all over the place – indeed, the silence between the beats is an important ingredient that gives grime its distinctive dynamic. If you find your beats are too rolling, try cutting out excess hi-hats or rides before any accented kicks or snares – this will provide more punch. Avoid using excessive gating as this may mask any quieter yet rhythmically important percussion elements, such as shakers or hi-hats.