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Pendulum are taking drum 'n' bass into the mainstream.

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7. Another good way of keeping the energy levels up on a switch is to introduce a kick drum roll underneath the main beat.

8. To create the familiar wah-bass effect you'll need a synth with an oscillator set to a wave shape with at least a few harmonics (ie, not a sine or triangle), filtered with a low-pass filter. An LFO – or, alternatively, a short attack and decay envelope – can control the cutoff of the filter. When using an envelope, the note must be retriggered quickly to create the requisite undulating bass riff.

9. Variation can be added to wah-bass riffs by modulating the LFO speed or envelope amount via key-following – eg, the higher the note played on the keyboard, the quicker the LFO oscillates or the more envelope is applied to the filter cutoff. Try varying amounts of one or both of these techniques to create progressively more twisted bass flutters.

"Layering chopped-up breakbeats is a good way to get that authentic DnB flavour."

10. When adding overdrive effects to filters, try out the different distortion types available and experiment with varying amounts of your chosen effect. Using vast amounts of overdrive may sound menacing, but in the context of a track, less is often more. Try starting out with a small amount of distortion and increase the levels slowly until you reach the optimum settings for your sound. Experimentation is the key!

11. Another parameter that requires judicious tweaking when creating distorted bass noises is resonance. While it's very tempting to whack everything up to the most ear-bending levels, try to stick to subtler settings – the highest dB filter won't necessarily sound the best. Experiment with a combination of filter types and resonance settings until you get just enough harshness to offset the deep, rumbling bass end.

12. If you're using an LFO to create your wah-bass, there are a couple of options available to you. Syncing the LFO to the track is a convenient way of getting it to play in time, but you may find the flexibility of the LFO rate control is worth making use of instead. Try any alternative phase and shape settings to create a variety of sounds.

13. Try using your synth or sampler's pitch envelope to automatically bend notes downwards. Experiment with different attack, decay and level values and additional LFO pitch modulation to create some unusual effects. If your instrument is capable of it, try applying different pitch modulation settings to each voice for yet more twisted bass acrobatics. Have some fun!

Big bad bass

14. A proper sub-bass is all-important when producing DnB. In order to create the desired wall of sound effect, the bassline has to hit the low end of the frequency spectrum. The easiest way to create a sub-bass is to use a sine wave with a very short attack time and quick release. Try using this sound to double a lead part, thereby adding beef, but remember to watch the levels, as you can have too much of a good thing.

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