Kove layers up a gritty DnB bass riff

UK drum & bass producer James Rockhill, aka Kove, has released tracks on labels including MTA and Drum&BassArena. In his Sample Challenge he turns our simple elements into a rolling DnB break and multi-layered bassline.

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James starts by creating a drum break, turning to the Drum Loop sample as a source. In Logic he pitches the loop up to a more DnB-friendly 174bpm before slicing it down into individual hits for sequencing. He then lays the hits out on Logic’s timeline to create a classic rolling DnB drum pattern.

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To back this break up, James uses the 909 Kick. He speeds up the sample for punch and applies a low-pass EQ. The transient click from the 808 Kick is layered in too, to help the kick cut through. A 909 Shaker is blended with the beat to add shuffle. Aux reverb from Arturia’s Plate-40 adds polish to the drum mix.

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To create his bass part James starts with the Synth Bassline loop. He applies an extreme time-stretch to draw out the first note, he then adds three heavily detuned copies on top to create a Reese bass sound with a lot of movement. EQ is used to cut the mids and bring out the sub frequencies.

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This Reese bass sound is then loaded into Logic’s EXS24 sampler. Here James uses a low-pass filter and small amount of LFO modulation to create a dark DnB bass patch. He creates a simple two-note bassline with a little glide. EQ and side-chained compression are applied to finish it off.

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To create a more characterful bass sound above the sub, James bounces out the original bass again and applies distortion, more time-stretching and auto-filter to create some menacing growls. Xfer’s OTT compression squashes the sound to bring out harmonics and a short ValhallaRoom reverb adds space.

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More resampled high bass notes add extra interest and character. The bass is then grouped altogether to be processed with EQ, a limiter and Oeksound’s Soothe 2 dynamic resonance suppressor.