Most of how to make dubstep in Ableton is bass sound design, so this guide spends most of its time there: a half-time drum groove first, then three bass recipes, then building the drop around them.
Edition note (Live 12): Drift is in every edition; Analog and Electric need Standard or Suite; Operator, Wavetable, Meld, Echo, Hybrid Reverb and Roar are Suite-only.
Step 1: Half-time drums
Set 140–150 BPM. In half time the snare lands on beat 3 of each bar, which leaves huge gaps for the bass. Use a punchy kick and a loud, bright snare in a Drum Rack. Layer two snares if needed, one for body and one for crack. Keep hats and fills sparse.
Step 2: Three bass recipes
Growl. Start with a saw in Drift or Analog (Operator FM or Wavetable on Suite). Add Saturator, then automate an Auto Filter with high resonance in rhythm. The movement is the sound.
Resampled chop. Record a minute of you playing with the growl's filter, then cut the best half-second moments and load them into Simpler in Slice mode. Sequence them like drums.
Clean sub. Under everything, a sine sub on its own track, mono, sidechained to the kick. Never let the growl carry the sub.
Step 3: Make the snare win
Group the bass layers and control them with Glue Compressor. Use EQ Eight to dip the bass group around the snare's crack (roughly 1–3 kHz) so the snare cuts through the drop.
Step 4: Build and drop
Build with a riser, a snare roll and an opening filter, cut everything for a beat, then drop. Use call and response: bass A for one bar, bass B answers, repeat with variations.
Step 5: Arrangement
Intro, build, drop one, breakdown, build, drop two with new bass sounds or a rhythm switch, outro. Keep drops to 16 or 32 bars.
Step 6: Final checks
Check the sub in mono. Make sure the mid bass has been high-passed so it stays out of the sub range. Compare against a reference at matched loudness.
Sound design workflow tips
- Save every bass you like as a preset or a short audio file. Dubstep producers build libraries, not single sounds.
- Resample in passes: record, chop, process the chop with Saturator or Auto Filter again, and record that. Each pass adds character.
- Name and colour your bass clips (A, B, C) so call and response is easy to arrange.
- Use Simpler's warp and transpose on resampled clips to fit them to the key and tempo.
- Keep a dry, clean sine sub on its own track the whole time. Every growl you design sits above it.
- Reference often. Bass-heavy music fools your ears quickly; take breaks and compare at matched loudness.
- Automate in clips, not just on the timeline. Clip envelopes on a resampled chop let each repeat sound slightly different.
- Commit early. When a bass works, freeze or flatten it to audio so you stop tweaking and start arranging.
Get the project file
The Subtronics – Hunter (feat. Flowdan) Ableton Template is a fully arranged Ableton Live project. The product page lists key D, length 3:36, Ableton Live 10 or higher, Serum as the required plugin, and all drum samples included (44 MB). Solo the bass group in the drop and count how many different bass sounds take turns.
More to explore: Dubstep Ableton templates and Skrillex Ableton templates.
This is an Ableton template inspired by the original track, built to show how the sound can be recreated in Ableton Live. It isn't an artist-made project file.
FAQ
What BPM is dubstep?
Usually 140–150 BPM in half time. The product page doesn't list a BPM, so check the tempo in Live.
Is there a free version of the featured template?
Yes, a FREE Trial version is also listed. Its product page says the subscription starts 28 days after your first download.
Why is my drop muddy?
Usually the mid bass is carrying sub frequencies. High-pass it and let a dedicated sine sub do the low end.