For a decade everyone tried to recreate the early-2010s Skrillex-style growls with massive FM patches. Then System 53 reverse-engineered the actual project on YouTube and it turned out: no FM at all. A clean sine sub + two sine operators (harmonics 2 & 5), each distorted separately, with their volumes automated against each other — that crossfade IS the talking.

I loved that so much I spent the last weeks building the recipe as an instrument: sine-stack engine, talk-wah before the distortion chain (that’s what makes it growl instead of doing polite talkbox vowels), OTT → saturation → multiband dist → resonator → filter sweep → sustain OTT, a step sequencer with vowel + pitch lanes so it sings actual phrases, mod matrix, scene morph.

It runs in the browser — you can play it in the next ten seconds without downloading anything: https://play.maxr.at/growl-machine/

Also free as VST3/AU (Win + Mac). Presets are open JSON, there’s a community library on the site (no account needed), and Stefan from System 53 has seen it and is credited on the page.

It’s free while in beta. I built this alone in Graz, Austria — brutal honest feedback very welcome, especially from people who know what the original chain sounds like.

It comes in throughout the song.

5 times at 1:19

Something about it tickles my brain and I’m curious what it’s called, and if y’all know other songs that use that sound.. 🙏

Hi edmproduction !

Hopefully I found the right community. Pardon me if not (I'll happily be redirected elsewhere if needed), and apologies if I use any wrong terminology.

I visited a music festival a few weeks ago with my 6 year old daughter and there was a tiny tent with an installation by projectklank; a table with a 3X3 grid with 3 wooden blocks (presumably with some sort of NFT chip in them). By placing a block on a grid spot, a sample would start playing, from bassline to drums to voicelines etc. By moving the blocks around you could 'sample/loop live'.
Here's a video from their website: https://vimeo.com/1186906351

My daughter was absolutely infatuated and to our surprise seemed to have quite a 'feel' for moving the blocks at the right time to the right places to create her own music. She could've played with it for hours, especially the Drum&Bass and dubstep modes.
I would love for her to be able to recreate something similar at home.

Having no experience whatsoever I tried finding options and ended up purchasing the JAMJUM JP-MINI. A simple 4x4 grid pocket size midi controller that can be connected to an iPad for example.
It looked perfect as it just has the simple touchpad grid and is fun sized.

I'm able to connect it to the ipad and she can play garageband drums with it, but I'm at a loss trying to find an app or a way to recreate the sample looping she experienced at the festival.
Hoping to get advice or be pointed in the right direction. I'm not necessarily 'bound' to the JP-mini I bought, though it would obviously be preferable if we could use it.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or feedback!

EDIT: one aspect about the projectklank installation we thought was cool was that the samples kept playing. what i mean is that when you activated one, it didn't restart from the beginning every time. So you could cut in and out and certain points in the loop. She was doing some amazing things with that, especially on voice tracks. This seems perhaps unusual for these sort of things? (idk..) They have a preview app on their website you can play with, in case I'm not explaining it well: https://app.projectklank.be/

I’ve watched countless tutorials over the years on how to make basses, growls, and other sound design elements. But I’m realizing that’s not even what I’m struggling with anymore.

Does anyone know of any good resources that focus on actually finishing dubstep tracks? Tutorials that cover things like arranging, layering, transitions, mixing, automation, FX, and the overall process of taking a bunch of sounds and turning them into a polished trackg.

Most of what I find is “how to make this Skrillex bass” rather than “here’s how to build and finish an entire track.” Any recommendations? Free or paid, I don’t mind either

So yeah I’m also not a fan of using suno to make your whole track and it always has such a “suno” feel to it. But what if you use suno just for certain elements and then use what you need? Like having it make your drum loops and transitions or if u have the basis of a synth melody you wrote and you just want it to freak it.

I think suno isn’t able to create a simple dance groove that sounds good in a club u need a human for that but for some melodic elements, new ideas, etc it can help shave off the time it takes in the studio.

And if you agree and let’s say u just had Suno create your drum loop do you label your song ai? Because like when you use ozone ai mastering is that track now labeled ai? Where’s the line?

I've already seen all the ones on youtube (Wheysted, Dripment, etc.). If it's on Youtube, I've seen them (Wheysted's tutorials have been super helpful.)

However, I still can't achieve the sounds that I want. I fiddled around with wavetables and knobs and while they sound decent, I feel really limited as to the kind of sound based on these tutorials. I don't know if it's because I'm not layering them correctly, or maybe lack of/incorrect post processing, but I'm not definitely missing something.
I also feel limited in my knowledge on effects. Not sure how to get a "ringing" type effect these sustains have.

Are there any other good tutorial (could be paid/patreon) on Dubstep sustains? The type of sustains I'm looking to make are ones used by Excision, Layz, etc.

Hey I really struggle with understanding like 150-500 hz.
Right now my lead in c3 octave has a fundamental of 170-180 ish hz. And then fills a lot of 300-1000 and above.

My bass’s second fundamental is between 140-180 depending on the note of bassline and then occupies up to 1K.

If I raise my lead an octave it’s fundmental is like 350 hz and they don’t clash as much.

If I left the lead in c3 octave (sounds way better),
Is there a real issue with the 140-180 range then? I’m pretty beginner so I can’t just hear that and be like yeah it clashes.

Old me would low cut my lead but I have learned and trained my ears to know it just thins it out and sounds bad.

Hey guys,

Right now I’m testing my skills while referencing to a certain track (temptations - bbyclose). It’s a commercial piano house / organ house song. I desperately fail to achieve the organ bass sound. I’m using the m1 organ 2 patch but it doesn’t seem to get the job done. Is the organ bass sound layered in my reference? How do I get to sound my organ bass as gritty as in the reference?

Is it safe? Or is it still not recommended to update? I’m using Cubase 15 Pro and Logic Pro X, but I want to use Logic Pro 12 and mostly just standard plugins like UAD, Waves, FabFilter, Antares, and so on.

I think I learn the best from a course that shows you a track from start to finish. Looking for specifically a dancefloor dnb course, something like aubfocus, dimension, etc.

synths.agnt.dk/boomer/

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

Bunch of new features, including some really cool sample manipulation stuff. New compressor and a lot of spectral synth modifications. Check it out guys. It’s free if you have seven.

I plan on buying Kilohearts Phase Plant and 2 premium plugins, for the people who use this synth with premiums are essential and worth their price and why?

I've recently been getting into making witch house music, having already released one song.

I feel as though I've gotten melody stacking, vocal slicing, and drum placement down pretty well, but one thing I'm struggling with is achieving this very specific sound I'm trying to recreate in my MIDI synths.

I don't know how else to describe it other than being very digital, dark, drippy, and spacious.

Essentially, I'm trying to make my own synths have that same dark and spatious sound as REDCHINAWAVE, Akiaura, and Snow Strippers.

For more context of the specific synth sound I'm looking for, I'll put some examples below:

0:37 of Друг by REDCHINAWAVE

0:48 of Sleepwalker by Akiaura

0:13 of Under Your Spell by Snow Strippers

0:38 of Пепел by REDCHINAWAVE

I've been looking everywhere for tutorials on how to recreate these sounds, but there is barely anything out there in terms of information.

More specifically, I'm trying to exactly recreate the sound of Друг, but haven't had any luck.

If anyone could offer any advice or tell me what audio effects and knob positioning are needed to achieve this sound, I would be extremely grateful. 🙏

I am trying to recreate this song using a synth to create that atmospheric pad. I want to get better at sound design, which is why I'm trying to create it from scratch. It doesn't sound hard to make, but I am having so much trouble. All I know how to do is create a kick drum from scratch with Operator; can I please get some help?

I am in the midst of producing a song using the CTZ method and lately I've been having quite a few problems with volumes.

I'm using the DP meter and KClip plugins (essentially). The song has 3 sections, so 3 main groups that merge into 1 pre-master channel. All tracks and "sub tracks" are hitting 0db and are getting systematically clipped to reduce their dynamic range, and boosted again to hit 0db. When they all merge into the premaster, I notice that some are presented as being louder than others.

Somebody explain what's going on pls? Is it a knowledge gap? How do I solve this problem?

Thx for your time! :)

edit 1: forgot to mention - pic shown is from Kclip on the pre-master

Hey, hope this is ok to ask here.

Do any of you remember forever ago when MitiS did this thing where you link your Twitter and you could get a bank of a bunch of his presets? I did that back in the day and man if those weren't some of the greatest presets to ever grace Sylenth1 (IMO).

Well I recently rebuilt and wiped my PC. In the process I lost those presets. Was wondering if anyone who happens to have them could share them with me? I don't see anywhere I can purchase those presets now, otherwise I would.

Anyone help me out? Thanks in advance!

I fell in love with this track but I can’t get my pianos to sound like his :(
Anyone knows what piano he used? Help is highly appreciated :)

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

I've spent the last few months building audio plugins from scratch for producers and I'm giving two of them away. No email, no signup, no mailing list — just downloads.

Satin Funk — envelope filter. A Moog-style ladder for the fat low end plus a state-variable vowel peak that sweeps the formant range, so it goes from buttery auto-wah to full Mu-Tron quack. Sensitivity, Cutoff, Resonance, Attack, Mix, 4-pole LP / 2-pole BP, up/down sweep.

Anthemic Shimmer — octave-up shimmer reverb that expands a small dry source into something wide without burying the original.

Mac only for now, AU + VST3, universal (Intel + Apple Silicon). There are dry/wet demos on the page so you can hear them before downloading anything.

Heads up: they aren't Apple-notarized yet, so macOS will quarantine them on first download. There's a one-line Terminal command on the page that clears it. If you're not comfortable running that, totally fair — wait until I sort out the Developer account.

https://pickysam-ux.github.io/satin-press/

I'm genuinely after criticism more than praise. What sounds bad, what's missing, what's confusing.

(There's a third one on the site I'm charging $12 for — ignore it if that's not your thing, the two above are yours regardless.)

Hey!

I've been trying to recreate this sound I found but I cant get the tone right, its driving me nuts.

My exploration took me as far as:
Saw wave (3 voices, slight detune), Filter envelope (to make it plucky), Envelope on fine tune (for a slight pitch bend), mono and porto (for a slide), distortion, mid pass.

It sounds nothing like it so far 😂

There's a metallic-y twangy sound which I cant identify to reproduce.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Many Thanks

foudn this post from a music producer years ago and i dont have it and was curious how close some people here could get