Please notice: this is an incomplete post; I will be adding as much information as I can every day. I’m doing this so I can use questions/input from the community to explain key things that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Before we start, you should know your way around a fair amount of distortion/glitch VST plugins. Glitch and distortion play a huge part in complextro.
A few VST’s I use-
Dblue glitch - free (If you don't have this already I don't know what the hell's wrong with you.) NOTE: Use this wisely! over using it not only dominates your CPU usage but is also like reverb, even slightly over using it could ruin your whole song. (http://illformed.org/plugins/glitch/) < DL here
Camel crusher - free (can be used for distortion but I mainly use it to beef up the drums and a few synths if needed.) (http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php) < DL here
Peach nes synthezier v1.3 extremely helpful for melodies within the drop - free (http://tweakbench.com/peach) < DL here
Sylenth1 (purchased) since this VST is not free and is not essential I will not go into great detail, but if you do have this and know how to use it, it can play a pretty major roll in complextro.
(for FL studio users) Gross beat works magic for complextro as far as sound glitch/diversity goes.
N.I. Massive (purchased) a ton of people already use massive. Massive is perfect for complextro. Note: Take advantage of performer. Instead of following a specific melody like dubstep, complextro follows more with rhythm so you don't typically here alot of basic wobbles.
Introduction- By now you should understand that complextro is a selective mix between dubstep and house. I say selective because complextro doesn’t have a true rule book when it comes to the mix (which means you can lean to either genre. Ex- 40% dubstep influence/60% house influence; 60% house influence, 40% dubstep influence.) This is what makes complextro such a diverse “chaotic” genre. The possibilities are endless. Typically, complextro is done around 128 bpm, and in my case; leans more towards house to give it that natural EDM feel. You may have heard of a few complextro producers like Knife Party, MordFustang, Wolfgang Gartner, Some work by Dillon Francis, Skrillex (ofcourse -.-) and so on… Basically, if you’re going to write complextro, you need to accept the fact (early on) that you will NOT sound like any of these producers. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen with time and practice, but don’t write music feeling like you need to sound like another producer. If you can’t accept that, you probably shouldn’t be writing because 9 times out of 10, you won’t finish a song.
The Key Elements- White noise, riser/sweep FX, side chaining, glitch FX, rhythm, and careful EQ’ing (IMO), are the most important pieces of a complextro track. White noise plays its roll as a filler/transition like it would in any other house song. If you’re leaning more towards house; white noise is almost required because you can’t just stack a bunch of elementary school melodies on top of each other without taking away from the rhythm. I use risers and sweeps to carry the tune (more than I would in an average song.) A good tactic for killing 2 birds with 1 stone is white noise FX. (Example- For the intro of the song, I’d use a lengthy side chained white noise sweep down that carries into a white noise riser as another melody/element of the song is being introduced.) With that being said, you need to carefully monitor the volume of each FX to avoid washing out the song itself. Glitch is like the Godfather of Complextro ‘sts.’ Glitch is so important because it can add a mind blowing amount of rhythmic diversity if used correctly. Rhythm is important because unless you’re writing a dubstep-dominant complextro track, you want to focus on a head bobbing rhythm; instead of an ear catching melody. Producers that don’t know a lot about music theory like complextro because your drop doesn’t have to resemble a melody AT ALL. (Since you’re able to base the song on rhythm.) This doesn’t mean complextro is an easy genre to work with; keep in mind, you do have to keep some type of rhythm throughout the song for it to even be considered a song. EQ’ing is the difference between shit and gold in the complextro world. This is the piece that is almost always overlooked (which is why most of us hate new-age dubstep.) Since you’re going to have a barrage of bass/synth/fx in your drop, it is ESSENTIAL that you eq/process each sound to its own space. (When you EQ; you want to focus on keeping the sub-bass from overlapping under each synth. Personally, I like to cut the bass on each synth relatively low so that you can feel the bass, but it isn’t moving your house. The reason for doing so is related to the kick. I like to have a really bassy, heavy, round kick that sits in the mix like a ‘trigger,’ which simply means: it sounds like each sound/synth in the song is being triggered by the kick.) Side chaining also relates somewhat to the kick. Side chaining can give the song more groove, but it can also be used to bring the kick out if it seems to get lost in the mix. (Side chaining is the gated sound that’s famous in house, I can’t explain the true meaning, but I usually refer to side chaining as- “when it sounds like a specific synth/fx goes from flat, to full in the interval between each beat.”)
Overview- Now we’re going to get into the actual build of a song. I’m going to explain how I typically make a complextro track, but I’m not going to explain it to you so you can copy me. The whole purpose of this text is to give you that starting push to get you going on the right track. You can pick and pull pieces that you like and utilize them until you can shape them into your own ideas. I don’t care, as long as you’re benefitting from it.
Structure- So when I refer to structure, I’m basically talking about the layout of the song, when it drops, where the intro ends, where the build starts etc… The neat thing about complextro is the fact that you can basically use any structure you’d like since you’re cramming 2 genres into one. Typically, electro songs of this matter are built on an “intro, build up, drop, a mix between the intro and the first drop, a second drop, and outro” structure. I found this pretty dumbed down/basic structure technique a long time ago-
I’m not certain as to where exactly this came from, and I’m not telling you to use this structure, but it is a pretty good starting place if you have no clue at all as to what you’re doing. I personally never use this structure. Add and subtract pieces until you have a structure that somewhat resembles a song that you would hear on the radio (or whatever fits that specific song.) Listen to other artists to get a better feel for structure, listen to their songs as if you were looking at them in your studio. Count the beats in your head and listen for the placement of transitions, where they added a piece, where the subtracted a piece, etc… A good technique you can use to learn; is to follow the same sound structure as your favourite producer, don’t copy their sounds; just copy the structure. (the length of their intro, the length of the build/drop and so on.) You’ll grasp the concept in time.Measures-
1-32 = intro (keep it simple, and easy to fallow rhythmically so dj's will want to match it up in the heat of a mix, or while performing)
33-64 = bass and drums - main meat of the tune
65-96 = add something (like a pad or slight change in bassline, some congas, or a arp synth) keep it rollin
97-112 = break (take out most) (put your little voice sample in here, and a riser or a buildup take out the drums maybe the bass too.)
113-160 = All in (bass, drums, pads) - climax of the tune..
161-176 = subtract something (take out the congas, or the synthy arp thing)
177-208 = outro (take out more stuff, get minimal here)
209 = ending (a little sound, or a delay echoing off into the distance, or your little voice thing you used in the break.) I like to mix tunes that I can ride all the way to the end, and let the song mix itself out with the last little noise.
I like to put fills in 1 or 2 measures before each change, i.e, measure 63 and 64 would be a drum fill, or a pause, or something to give it character. I find it nice to make each fill different. and that takes away from such a repetitive feel.
so fills would be measures
31-32
63-64
95-96
111-112
159-160
175-176
Intros- Most artists don’t spend much time on an intro because they want to jump straight into the climax of the song. I, on the other hand; spend a pretty good amount of time working with the intro because it’s like writing a book. You want to hook the listener with the intro so they stay interested in what’s going on throughout the song. Deadmau5, for example; I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a single one of his full tracks simply because ALL of his intros consist of a single kick that trails on for a good minute or 2. Skream on the other hand; I could listen to for days. He has those intros that create curiosity; you want to know what’s going to happen next. Again, your intro depends on whether you’re leaning more towards house or dubstep. (My house dominant technique that can be used either way-) First, I pick a scale (ex- A# minor, G major, blah, blah, blah) and start fucking around on my keyboard hitting random notes/playing random chords until I can build a basic 8-16 bar melody. I throw that into the song arrangement and start experimenting with backup leads/melodies/fillers until I get a bare outline of an intro. That’s when I go FX crazy. Most of the time I use a low pass or high pass filter on the first 4-8-16 measures that slowly fades into the original sound with some type of low-volume impact FX and a few sweeps to introduce the song itself. (The intro is also a good place to use a sweep-down that plays into a sweep up.) Again, you might want to experiment with FX like reverse symbols to indicate a change in the song, big or small. (You can get a pretty good sounding transition if you put an actual crash directly after your reverse crash.) If you honestly can’t get an intro for trying, just create a full intro of progression. Make a SIMPLE lead and add some percussion/blips/bleeps over time. If that doesn’t work, I feel sorry for you, and your only other options are to Deadmau5 it, or start the song on the build like a lot of UKF artists do. You’re also going to want to emphasize a lot of strength in your build. The more pre-hype you build, equals more energy in the drop. Another plus of making complextro is the amount of hype you’re able to build in the drop. Since there’s so much chaos/synth diversity in the drop; you’re able to put more energy in the build because it will transition into an explosion of noise instead of a regulated drop.
Everything I have to say about EQ’ing/Drops- First things first, you do NOT have to EQ every single sound you put into your mix. Too many people can’t seem to understand this concept. EQ/processing is mainly used to give sounds a more natural feel. (Other than cleaning the sound up) If you EQ a sound that doesn’t need to be EQ’d, you’re essentially defeating the purpose by ‘over cleaning’ which can make the sound flat/fake/empty. Instead of EQ’ing every sound you choose; you can use a spectrum analyser on the master track, to pick sounds that fit or almost fit into the mix from the start. You can use this frequency chart (http://www.dubstepforum.com/guide-frequ ... 26-20.html) to help determine where each element of your mix should be sitting. (this chart isn’t house specific, but it’s still a damn good little helper.) Now, I’m not going to contradict what I just said, but EQ’ing is very important when it comes to complextro, especially speaking of the drop. You want your drop to be as diverse and spontaneous as possible; which means you’re looking at a ton of synths/FX that have to fit together like a puzzle piece. Even something as small as 2 synths fighting for the same spot in the frequency spectrum can ruin the whole entire song. I like to start off by using a semi-low frequency bass cut to even the sounds out; you want to cut enough bass so you can have the full bottom end of the kick punching through the bass of EVERY synth. Again, this doesn’t mean you have to EQ every synth, but I’d say a good 8 times out of 10, you’ll have to. A super, super, SUPER amazing tip is to build a complete library of bass shots. Bass shots are soooooo helpful for writing complextro. You can use bass shots to add diversity, more sounds, more chaos, and to fill areas that you weren’t able to with your original bass line. KEY TIP: A major point of complextro is sound diversity, but at the same time; you have to avoid the use of too many sounds. If you use too many sounds, it’ll be pretty obvious because it’ll sound noisy/irritating and won’t follow any type of musical scheme what-so-ever. Usually you want 8 different synths per 2 bar loop but again it all depends on what direction you want to take your song.
