Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • "Worst rap album in history"
  • Superbooth 2025
  • Eilish vs Radiohead
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Lola Young
Artists “It was just the C shape, moved up, and it’s literally just that - that’s the whole song”: How Lola Young took two acoustic guitar chords and turned them into Messy, her worldwide hit (with a little help from some classic Yamaha, Korg and Roland synths)
Charli XCX
Artists “The verse tricks you into thinking that it’s in a certain key and has this ‘simplistic’ musical language, but then it flips”: Charli XCX’s Brat collaborator Jon Shave on how they created Sympathy Is A Knife
Charli XCX
Artists “The verse tricks you into thinking that it’s in a certain key and has this ‘simplistic’ musical language, but then it flips”: Charli XCX’s Brat collaborator Jon Shave on how they created Sympathy Is A Knife
PinkPantheress
Artists Underworld, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada and William Orbit: PinkPantheress has sampled the cream of '90s and '00s UK electronic music on new mixtape, Fancy That
Bruno Mars and Rose APT video
Artists “We weren’t trying for it to end up in the vein of Mickey, that was unintentional!”: The Toni Basil influence on Bruno Mars and Rosé’s APT was accidental, says co-producer Cirkut, as he explains how the song was written and recorded
Hardgroove
Music Production Tutorials “It’s tougher and faster than ever”: Jump aboard the modern hardgroove train and learn to build a club-ready beat
Max Martin
Music Theory And Songwriting “The verse and chorus of that song are exactly the same. But, you don’t really notice since the energy of the chorus is completely different”: Cracking open Max Martin’s über-succesful songwriting formula
  1. Tutorials
  2. Music Production Tutorials

Get the sound of Azealia Banks' 212

Tuition
By Future Music ( Future Music ) published 22 August 2012

Full video tutorial and step by step gallery

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Intro

Intro

Azealia Banks' debut single212– an ode to her area code – brought her stylish, versatile and obscene lyrical fashion to the masses and propelled her to stardom. She subsequently claimed the #1 spot onNME's Cool List 2011 and came third on the BBC's Sound Of 2012 new music countdown.

A less well-known fact is that the groovy backing track for 212 was entirely sampled from Lazy Jay's 2009 release Float My Boat – hence his credit on the track. Accompanying Harlem-born Azealia's wild performance, and the cheeky swing of Lazy Jay's rhythm track, is a distinctive Electro lead that swims all over the place. We'll look at the details required to get that lead part, complete with the gliding pitch and the spinning syncopation of the filter.

Page 1 of 6
Page 1 of 6
The beat

The beat

At 212’s core is the usual kick and clap combination, with a kick on every beat and the claps on beats 2 and 4 (the backbeat).

To make it skip, Lazy Jay starts by adding toms: one on the 16th before each clap and then another on the 8th after each clap. This feels like it’s missing something by default, so use a swing preset. We’ve pushed the 1/16 swing amount to 58%, which sounds a lot like 212’s groove already.

Page 2 of 6
Page 2 of 6
Program the lead

Program the lead

For the lead synth, start by drawing in one bar-long F#1 note. We’re going to use the scissors tool in the MIDI editor to split this into the correct rhythm.

You’ll want to use a less pronounced swing quantise than we did for the drums. About 50% swing will get close. Make incisions on beats 2 and 4, in the middle of beats 2 and 4, on the 16ths either side of beat 3 and finally on the 16th just before beat 4. Now we have the basic rhythm of the lead in MIDI form but we’ll need to get the sound right before we can get any closer.

Page 3 of 6
Page 3 of 6
Massive

Massive

Using Massive for the lead part, you’ll need to click File and then select New Sound from the menu. Now we pretty much have a plain sawtooth waveform, but we’ll need a couple soactivate OSC2 and detune both oscillators, one up by 10 cents and the other down by the same amount.

Set Massive to monophonic mode by navigating to the Voicing page and then checking the Monophon box. Now you’ll want to set up the envelope to emulate the lead from 212. Set FILTER 1 to Lowpass 4 and both the Cutoff and the Resonance to 0.

Drag 4 Env’s modulation handle to FILTER 1 Cutoff’s modulation slot and drag the control amount all the way up to the top. Note that 4 Env is already assigned to the main amplitude. Go to 4 Env, set the Attack knob to about 9-10 o’clock. Set the Decay Level knob to 0 and then the Decay knob itself to about 10-11 o’clock.

Page 4 of 6
Page 4 of 6
Reverb

Reverb

To give the sound a better spot in the mix, Massive’s in-built EQ provides high and low shelves.Boost the highs to bring back some of the brightness that the filter envelope takes away and then cut the lows to reduce muddy frequencies.

The amount by which you cut and boost will depend on your taste, so experiment until you’re happy. Next in line is reverb. Insert your favourite, with a relatively small mix and scroll through the presets until you find one that’s suitable with a short tail.

Page 5 of 6
Page 5 of 6
Pitch mod

Pitch mod

In the bottom-right of Massive’s interface is the MACRO CONTROL section. Right-click on Macro 1and select ‘Clear Macro #1’. Drag Macro 1’s control handle to the pitch modulation slots for both oscillators and push their amounts up to 29.00.

Right-click on Macro 1 again and select MIDI Learn and push your wheel, knob or slider of choice on your MIDI controller to get going. Pushing the pitch all the way up to 29 for the middle of the bar works but you’ll have to slide it just right to mimic 212.

Page 6 of 6
Page 6 of 6
Future Music
Future Music

Future Music is the number one magazine for today's producers. Packed with technique and technology we'll help you make great new music. All-access artist interviews, in-depth gear reviews, essential production tutorials and much more. Every marvellous monthly edition features reliable reviews of the latest and greatest hardware and software technology and techniques, unparalleled advice, in-depth interviews, sensational free samples and so much more to improve the experience and outcome of your music-making.

Read more
Lola Young
“It was just the C shape, moved up, and it’s literally just that - that’s the whole song”: How Lola Young took two acoustic guitar chords and turned them into Messy, her worldwide hit (with a little help from some classic Yamaha, Korg and Roland synths)
Charli XCX
“The verse tricks you into thinking that it’s in a certain key and has this ‘simplistic’ musical language, but then it flips”: Charli XCX’s Brat collaborator Jon Shave on how they created Sympathy Is A Knife
Charli XCX
“The verse tricks you into thinking that it’s in a certain key and has this ‘simplistic’ musical language, but then it flips”: Charli XCX’s Brat collaborator Jon Shave on how they created Sympathy Is A Knife
PinkPantheress
Underworld, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada and William Orbit: PinkPantheress has sampled the cream of '90s and '00s UK electronic music on new mixtape, Fancy That
Bruno Mars and Rose APT video
“We weren’t trying for it to end up in the vein of Mickey, that was unintentional!”: The Toni Basil influence on Bruno Mars and Rosé’s APT was accidental, says co-producer Cirkut, as he explains how the song was written and recorded
Hardgroove
“It’s tougher and faster than ever”: Jump aboard the modern hardgroove train and learn to build a club-ready beat
Latest in Music Production Tutorials
Yune Pinku
“We’d do a soundcheck and everything would be great, but when we came to do the show, it wouldn’t turn on”: 10 more things producers can learn from our In The Studio With... series
50 producers
“Listen closely to your mistakes, are they really mistakes? Many of the best ideas on our album came from these happy accidents”: 50 production secrets from the pros
Oasis
“He’s all right, he’s on tip-top form. We can’t wait": Noel and Liam Gallagher perform together behind closed doors for the first time in 16 years
Lexicon 480L
“It's rare to encounter a song from the last 70 years that doesn’t involve it in some way”: Why reverb is one of the most reliable effects in a producer's arsenal
Plugins Future owns
“Whether you’re looking to liven up a dull snare or beef up a lacklustre bass sound, these plugins are extremely handy”: Our resident platinum award-winning mixer and producer shares 10 of his go-to plugins
apple
“It provides the mix ‘glue’ that makes everything sound cohesive and finished”: Here's how to compress your mix bus for sonic punch
Latest in Tuition
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
Music theory basics: understanding intervals, and how they define the distance in pitch between two notes
“If you’ve never encountered modes before, this one tip could change your musical outlook forever”: 10 music theory tricks every producer and songwriter should know
Delay pedals
“When you want a boring sound to sound rhythmic and exciting - reach for the delay”: How to understand and use delay effectively in your productions
Full Bucket Music FB-3300
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: Full Bucket FB-3300
apple
“It provides the mix ‘glue’ that makes everything sound cohesive and finished”: Here's how to compress your mix bus for sonic punch
Recording vocals in a studio
“If you don’t start on time, that's not the musician’s problem”: Want to record some real musicians in your studio? Here’s how to prep for success

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...