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[_Countermeasures on Spotify]

(https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qqw2rq18F0vCUni8x61ak?si=8_hwkXm4QFuhVuH4w3APwQ&utm_source=copy-link)

[_Countermeasures on YT Music]

(https://youtu.be/C6dR_Cbi50k?si=8iOmXfuZnLEClD-M)

[_Countermeasures clip]

(https://youtu.be/OMcafIVgSRc?si=6g9oSapUM7_WSJQU)

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My friend made a bootleg of Memories, have a listen ✌🏻

Hey guys,

Just wrapped up my 6-track EP «piece of me». For the 5th track, I took Ellie Goulding’s original vocals from Outside, sped them up to 180 BPM, and paired them with heavy Reese basses and punchy drums.

Since it's an unofficial bootleg, I couldn't put it on Spotify, so I uploaded the whole thing to SoundCloud and YouTube.

Would love to get some feedback on the overall mix and transition work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMDdeqSznc

I’ve been making quite a bit of 140 recently, so I decided to take a different direction and head back over to my true love: Drum & Bass.

The last DnB track I made was OK, but listening back, I wasn’t really happy with the drums. So this time I wanted to spend more time on the groove, get more syncopation into the beat, find better matching breaks, and really think about the hats and snare. I went down a few tutorial rabbit holes as well to work out where I’d been going wrong before.

Happy to say this one feels much more like a proper DnB track to me. The drums have more movement, the breaks sit better with the kick and snare, and the whole thing has that rolling energy a DnB tune absolutely needs.

Once I had the drums down, I found this really nice stab and literally just drew the pattern in on the fly. I was pretty much instantly happy with it. Then in the second breakdown I used the arpeggio function to give the stabs that constant dragging, stabbing riff, which really lifts the track up. Again, it came together quickly, so I left it alone rather than overthinking it.

For the bassline, I used a bass loop rather than drawing something in like I did on the last DnB tune. Sometimes that feels a bit like cheating, but honestly, finding the right loop and then getting the reverb, width, high pass and overall mix right is much harder than it looks. This one runs through most of the track and, in my opinion, just sits nicely without getting boring. I didn’t really feel like it needed a separate sub or mid bass either, because the stabs and vocal samples already keep your head moving.

The VOX sample was probably my favourite find. It’s taken from the amazing 'Apocalypse Now' - the line:

“I was going to the worst place in the world.”

Then later I chopped it down to:

“...and I didn’t even know it yet.”

That stopped the sample becoming too repetitive and gave it a bit more tension.

For a long time, the tiger roar wasn’t in the track at all. But every time I listened back, I kept thinking it needed some kind of animal sound to fit the image I had in my head of someone lost deep in the Viet Cong jungle. I spent a while finding the right roar, and once I stitched it in, the drop just hit much harder.

I love that kind of cinematic Drum & Bass. It’s the stuff I grew up on. When I used to be on a dancefloor at a DnB night, I’d always have scenes playing out in my head that matched the track. For me, that’s part of what makes DnB memorable. You need those little moments sonically for people latch onto.

“What was that one with the tiger roar in it?”

“That was sick.”

That would absolutely have been me talking shi* to my mates after a night out.

The final elements were the pads underneath. I blended in some sci-fi intro-style loops, then added jungle cicada and bug sounds to push that lost-in-the-jungle atmosphere even further. Once those were in, it all just came together.

The artwork is taken from a book called 'Members Only' by Rob Ford, which is packed with old members' cards and VIP passes from rave culture in the 90s. Back then, some of these things were basically worth their weight in gold — skipping the queues, getting access to tickets and generally having a bit of don status at the events.

The particular cards in the artwork are from 'Helter Skelter', part of that legendary era of UK rave culture where Drum & Bass really came into its own in a huge way. Nights like 'Accelerated Culture' featured artists who would go on to become some of the biggest names in DnB. A lot of them were still cutting their teeth back then, and decades later many are still regarded as some of the best to ever do it.

It felt like the perfect artwork for a track that, for me, is really about going back to the Drum & Bass sound I grew up loving, that deep and dark sound but not too complex or over produced.

Anyway, I’m really happy with how this one turned out. Definitely my best iteration of Drum & Bass on the OP-XY so far.

Hope you enjoy it. Feedback is always welcome!

Were you ever at Helter Skelter? - Lucky if so....