FUTURISTIC POLAR BEARS

How do the London house trio make sure their drops have the utmost impact on an expectant dancefloor?

: How do you approach the track arrangement and mixing process in order to make sure your drop hits the hardest it possibly can?

FPB: “The build-up towards the drop plays a crucially important part before the drop itself. We tend to make the build less bass-heavy by using filters – this makes the impact of the drop more intense when it finally comes in.

“We always make sure that the kick is nice and punchy, with a nice attack on top – often using the Vertigo Sound [VSC-2] compressor to achieve this. Then, we’ll roll off some of the lowend to make way for the lower, bassier tones from the sub frequencies. It’s important to always make sure that each musical part in the drop has its own space and doesn’t clash with other parts; you can do this by making EQ cuts to each sound and constantly monitoring them, both individually and played together, until you hear that everything sounds right.

“Different frequencies should fill different areas of your track: for example, the very high sounds should be your white noise, the mids should be your main lead sound and supporting synths. Sometimes, your main lead sound is better in mono and should therefore be louder and more present than the synths supporting it. The supporting synths should just be giving some width and filling any gaps around that main lead.

“Your low-mid sounds can be a held chord with not so many highs – this frequency range could also be home to a supporting bass sound that follows your sub. We make sure to roll off the sub frequencies in the low mids.

“The very low sounds in your track should be your kick and sub. You can easily take out any frequencies above 300Hz here and put the sub in mono – this will work wonders in nightclubs.”

: What about the build-up before the drop? Do you have any tricks for building tension in the run-up to the big moment?

FPB: “We always aim to make the build-ups before the drop as dramatic as possible. We get this done using automation of the reverb wet level (mix), energetic riser effects, and high-pass filtering on the leads and chords. This accentuates the power when the drop finally comes in. Sometimes, continuing the build-up an extra four to eight bars can really add to the climax.

“On the main drop, we’ll always add some sidechained white noise for extra energy. We also like to add what we call an ‘energy hold’, which is simply a held and sidechained detuned saw, in the key of the track. This adds tremendous energy and drive.”

: There are certain sounds that we’ve heard used time and time again for build and drops – risers, white noise… the list goes on. How often do you stick to ‘the formula’, and what ways do you have for mixing things up?

FPB: “We tend to use the same white noise risers, builds and crashes in all our tracks, but we use synths such as Reveal-Sound Spire to create long, unique risers. LFO automation, pitchbends, and generally getting creative can make your production more unique.”

: Can you think of any standout tracks that have the perfect drop, in your opinion?

FPB: “That’s an impossible question – there are so many that we love, but off the top of our heads, Tiësto & Kshmr’s Secrets ( bit.ly/TKsecrets) the perfect balance when it comes to power on the drop. It’s melodic yet super-powerful, and a great track for budding producers to reference space and power in the drop.”

: A drop can get no bigger than when it’s played out to a crowd – how does that experience feed back into making your next drops even bigger?

FPB: “Seeing and feeling the intense moment when your new music goes off at a festival for the first time is one of the best feelings you can have as a DJ – we always take inspiration from these moments while creating new music.

“Sometimes closing your eyes, visualising and feeling those emotions while listening to music you’re creating in the studio bares a huge amount on the final product.”

: Finally, can you give us any more insider tips or tricks for maximising a drop’s dancefloor impact when crafting an arrangement?

FPB: “Find and experiment with notation to find a very simple yet original and catchy riff. Nothing too complex; something that the crowd can instantly relate to. Also, choose one lead sound and stick with it. Make this the main element and build your other sounds around it.”