Lets create Trip Hop like we're back in 2021

In this video I'll use the recently released Steinberg Absolute 5 collection to create a moody trip hop track. From heavy bass and breakbeats to spooky vocals and dreamy Rhodes, I had a lot of fun creating this one.
The track I created in the video is available on my bandcamp page: estuera.bandcamp.com/releases
The software used in the video: new.steinberg.net/vst-instrum...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:45 Moody bells from the Backbone
2:14 Electric bass
2:42 Breakbeats: Groove Agent and Halion 6 BBox
4:28 Amped Elektra
4:55 Padshop granular pads
5:28 Dreamy Rhodes
6:10 Mysterious movie sample magic
7:33 Backbone falling effects
8:05 The final track
Want to support the channel ?
The music that has been created especially for the videos here is available on bandcamp: estuera.bandcamp.com/releases
Or if you are looking to buy new gear you can use my Perfect Circuit affiliate link: www.pntrs.com/t/TUJGR0tHS0JHS...
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[@seedbarrett6853]

Still the most underrated music/synth channel out there

[@nnuae]

Well, it's still not a year old so no surprises, the early subs are those who grew up with Jonas Steur tracks such as myself. The algorithm will do its part, I predict 300k+ subs by the time this channel is 2 years old.

[@Chunda8]

Yep. I've been working on my album since 2019 and got pretty stuck. This one popped me loose, it's very much like Portishead, Tribe, etc., that whole crew.. I think I have a chance to finish the record by March I hope, thanks Jonas for putting me back in motion.

[@m0teef]

This one takes me right back to 95-96. Playing Diablo 1 with massive attack and moby on loop.

[@larsbwk]

This would fit perfectly in a 90's British heist movie.

[@roland-d5050]

The hardest part is making it look easy. Jonas knows a lot of that.

[@bradylasserre9320]

Create something in the style of 90s IDM? Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Autechre, ect.

[@pedroxyo]

yeeessss

[@sct777]

Great idea. Would love to see Estuera's take on IDM

[@johnnymalaxa8453]

Oh fuck yeah

[@scrummyvision]

that'd be a cool one

[@johntammaro]

That pad was super haunting. You did this style justice. If I could change one thing, I'd take the tempo down ever so slightly, but this could be personal choice. Have to add, your video montage fit this track so well.

[@addictedtocraic]

I'm on a total binge now. Started with the Gabber vid (which reminded me if living in Hillegom in the 90s) and now this....wow.

[@wanggang3885]

You’re like a superstar that doesn’t want it.

[@jasonchambers6787]

Maybe throw some RC20 on the drums, then resample them with the vinyl crackles and pitch the entire track down a bit. Great groove!

[@janickimusic]

Cool love the trip hop… it’s about the time it’s popular again

[@MrMargaretScratcher]

Great stuff, sounds like the classic Ninja Tune / Mowax stuff!

[@christianholmstedt8770]

One of your best creations yet! It's very much like the 'Mezzanine' album from Massive Attack. Very good.

[@mdjey2]

For me it sounded more like Balance of the Force album.

[@VinceRiviera]

One of my favorite styles from back in the day. A very British style of music, merging the cultural flows into the UK that created something that had virtually nothing to do with the culture I'm from, but nevertheless spoke to me with it's gloomyness :) One element additional to the ones you mentioned that was heavily incorporated especially by Massive Attack is Dub that had flowed in from the west indies. Then you had artists like Thievery Corporation who sometimes incorporated more Indian and middle eastern elements, really hard to replicate and sample well at least for someone like me who's not really trained in or exposed to much of that type of music. :) I think you did a good job expressing the more Tricky-type trip hop - keep up the good work with these videos, I always enjoy them!

[@JimijaymesProductions]

To me certain Trip Hop, 2-step and early Dubstep (the really atmospheric dubby stuff) tracks always gave me the vibes of a british city at night in the rain. Sounds that just could never come out of say Miami. Same goes for the no wave/darkwave stuff, you can't make that in nice sunny beach weather.

[@samthedystopianrat1945]

​@@JimijaymesProductionsThough not from Bristol, I hail from an industrial English city jokingly known for its rainy-ness. I can confirm it fits incredibly well

[@FirstNameLastName-wg8ld]

Mad props for still hearting comments. This is exactly what I wanted. Thanks for putting it up on bandcamp too.

[@Estuera]

My pleasure

[@stacyswirl]

Really awesome. Trip-hop was a big favorite genre of mine, and you nailed the sound.

[@alfr83]

Another great one ! It's so smooth and you've implemented the right amount of details and variations so that it never gets too repetitive.

[@alunfoster8654]

Excellent! The whole series in fact. Zeer goed gedaan!

[@usefamin]

Holy moly. Incredible, and you made it seem so effortless.

[@evilscientistrecords]

Great use of new software to create a pretty authentic 90s vibe!

[@fredh9808]

That one note bass is killer, nice track!

[@Bangulo]

Dude this is super dope! Love the aesthetic you added as well!

[@brad7957]

That final track is amazing!

[@GordonBraicks]

Smooth as butter, another great track.

[@pauledwards5266]

I think the movie dialogue is from the movie "The Others"

[@Estuera]

Bingo ! Well played 👍

[@Bangulo]

That line you put with the chromatic bell actually sounds like something that you would hear in silent hill. I feel like even silent hill soundtrack had some trip hop influences

[@Englebert3rd]

Silent Hill was massively inspired by Portishead, especially the main theme.

[@slimyelow]

Damn. The music video is fantastic! well done.

[@zbsfm]

Inspiring! Great job with the track. i could totally hear 3d coming in with a whispery verse

[@VNDM-MUSIC]

Sweet track Jonas. And love your shirt.

[@useless...6295]

I love this track😍

[@Britske84]

Yes! Trip hop. We need a trip hop revival.

[@JonMichaelDeShazer]

There sort of is, it's just called Lo-Fi Hip Hop now. However it isn't nearly as dark and moody as Trip Hop is.

[@PapyPetitPois]

@@JonMichaelDeShazer It's happening. I add on top of that the 'Deftone part of the job'. There's a interview from a friend, a producer and DJ called Pat Lok, where he invited Duke Dumont. You may have heard of it or seen it on Sol State's channel (where I made an appearance I think hahaha) where Duke explains that a lot with Pat. EDIT : Ok, chat integrity is fine on Sol's video. You can find the whole video on Pat's YT channel. There is that part around music and Trip-Hop / Shoegaze.

[@solarsailer5702]

great video as always!

[@DJ-Coma]

Dope af! Nice work!

[@NAM999DnB]

Wonderful video.

[@Chunda8]

Jonas thanks for putting this up. I hit the thumbs up and subbed so fast, I think I hurt my finger. I've been a union pro musician since the 90s, been producing since 2018 and I literally, actually said "Nice!" out loud three times in this video and played it again. The kids these days say "Fire!" or it "Slaps", but I gotta go old school and say it kicked my a$$. Also it's super clear what you did here so others can do something similar with a different DAW, other vsts, presets or Native instruments. A colleague of mine uses Cubase but it's out of my budget....More power to you!

[@cianrov3466]

Dude, what a tune

[@Hakucho64]

You're right, the bells were a good starting point. Makes me think I could use my FM synth for that rather than a sample.

[@LightBlazeMC]

incredible video once again !

[@VladoT]

Great video and keep up the good work 🙂

[@goviktor]

Very interesting and useful video!!!!

[@AmeyahOfficialTV]

what a groove at 4:00

[@AmeyahOfficialTV]

end result just breaths 90s

[@RUNCNC]

Another great one, Jonas!

[@emphatic001]

Nice. I feel like putting on my Portishead - Live In NYC DVD now.

[@jsav100]

Great performance 👍.

[@jjbing3]

Awesome!!!

[@valentinsurner]

amazing 🤩

[@martyk7211]

Really good!

[@estrato73]

me encanto muchas gracias

[@DM-hv6sc]

Great video. Thank you. Subscribed.

[@monocore]

My favorite one! Love the series. Please consider making some Aphex Twin/Boards of canada next. I'd love to hear your take on geogaddi-sh sounds.

[@tziirkq]

The sample is from "The Others." Good video.

[@LizaLavolta]

I love the trackkkkkkkkkk

[@wrmusic8736]

Much like with Big Beat - a lot of Trip Hop character also came from sampling old vinyl rock n roll / jazz records into 12 bit AKAI samplers which just mess and fatten up those so much

[@Estuera]

Agreed. Some of that style of processing went into the loops I used as well. Especially the first one is quite crunchy

[@WotanSkyFather]

Knocked it outta the park

[@mdjey2]

Reminds me more of Waldeck, than Massive Attack. Great tune!

[@joedinkinsjr.677]

Awesome vid/subscribed :D

[@persona83]

Maybe we could have this on the new Matrix movie.

[@MarysAbyss]

Funny, I thought the same thing

[@ViktorVanRiver]

Trip-hop, finally! :D

[@lucsolomusic]

Backbone ♥️

[@bruno_g_vilela]

Underground ❤️🔥🔥🔥

[@findjonmoses]

YES MATE!! Now we are talking!

wow

[@shadowgiratinasevilclone1357]

I don't remember the movie, but I know that Venetian Snares sampled the whole scene on a track on his Find Candice album. Children's Limbo I think?

[@bayann1402]

Йона !!! Очень красиво 👍

[@canecreek00]

Circa 1994 I was getting into DJ Shadow, I used to call his music instrumental hip hop, when Mix Mag reviewed his what does your soul look like back in 94 they coined this term “trip hop” to describe his music, basically Mix Mag invented the term trip hop and DJ Shadows music was the first music to ever be called trip hop, as time went by your massive attacks etc started being labelled trip hop, but just to clear things up trip hop didn’t evolve from Bristol it evolved from Mix Mag to described DJ shadows music, This isn’t something I was told it’s something I witnessed-reading magazines and collecting vinyl back then.

[@Estuera]

Yes, that's why I said 'It's being said it came out of Bristol' as that seems what you will find when looking up the history of the genre. In reality its always more complicated and nuanced off course as with any music style.

[@canecreek00]

@@Estuera Yes my intention wasn't having a negative view on your video which i really enjoyed. I just thought id leave that comment as i was there seeing that scene develop.

[@Estuera]

I didn't interpret it as negative. I'm always interested to learn about the different perspectives there are about music genres.

[@partirparlesarmoires]

I thought DJ Shadow was labelled as "Abstract Hip-Hop", and then there was also the term "Downtempo" (maybe used more for artists like Tosca, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation, ...). I never clearly understood the clear differences between these genres anyway... Different shades of awesome :)

[@patrikknoerr9777]

Interesting. I just bought the Hip Hop Card for my JV 2080 and I try to get something out of it. It's hard for me. I guess this video helps me with the challenge.

[@leonaRt7470]

Fucking genious man!!

[@richardarizagadna-r3366]

Hi there! Let me tell you.. Amazing track and video! I hope, one day make great music loke you! Gretings from México! Peace!

[@nate4732]

Amazing! Could you please do a vid on arrangement? I always struggle with that, or getting out of the loop phase

[@Estuera]

I'll keep it in mind. Its quite a challenging subject for a video. Especially striking a balance between too general and too specific as arrangement can differ quite a lot between genres.

[@MrPerfectpizza]

Sounds fantastic! Excellent choice of sounds which capture the trip hop vibe really well. Just curious - do you use the Strymon Big Sky reverb pedal on some of your more ambient/trance stuff? Am asking because your reverbs always sound huge and lush.

[@Estuera]

My reverb of choice is the Valhalla Vintageverb.

[@MrPerfectpizza]

@@Estuera Thanks. Have to say you've got me routing through my old hardware again and I'm lovin' it! I found my old TX81Z module and Korg SG-Rack at the back at the back of my loft. Now, if I can get some sound editors working a bit like the PolyBrute Connect does, then I'm keeping 'em!

[@shoujocafe6757]

It's really difficult to make this style because even trip hop It's self is a catch all term. I think the best way to think of this style is that it's very syncretic and based off the time period it was produced in. If you listen to blue lines by massive attack and dummy by Portishead they're Extremely different from each other. At the same time they're borrowing many elements from the music of that time period. Dummy has many elements of Gothic rock, rave and drum and bass. While blue lines is more of a chill psychedelic blues sort feel.

[@nnuae]

I feel like it's instantly recognisable as a genre, despite the fact that albums can vary in stylistics. My favourite trip-hop album was made by a Norwegian Black Metal band (Perdition City) so influences can obviously vary, but the highly reverberated break beats and the intent to create a gloomy atmosphere with the synths above them are mostly unique to trip hop.

[@shoujocafe6757]

@@nnuae I'll definitely check em out thx! 🙏

[@ChristianHolmMaagaard]

It that Kruder & Dorfmeister? 🤔🔥

[@saftpackerl]

Fantastc! Very moody. But For THAT sound you should shave like 20bpm off. ;) I was waiting for the resampling and than slow down pitch down trick the whole time....but it didnt come :D The Sample Playback Speed Modulation with time stretch is a feature of Halion? Its cool.

[@virginiafaraci8743]

Where can i find that amazing “music genre circle” you show in the beginning? 😍

[@Estuera]

Here: i.redd.it/k0kfuu1ad2c61.jpg

[@Banglish123]

Awesome. Did you do a UK Garage tune yet?

[@Estuera]

Not yet but its on my list.

[@gctechs]

Personally I would muffle the bassline a bit, especially around the 100 Hz mark. Otherwise it's perfect.

[@coontree14]

Portis head 😌

[@mixtlillness9825]

I see. So this was just a very long commercial to get me to buy some music. Well sir I’ll have you know that it worked!

[@Estuera]

😁

[@veksabal1513]

Hey there, what are you using to play the dreamy Rhodes? Can I find it in the absolute 5 collection?

[@Estuera]

Yes, there are a couple of rhodes patches in the collection.

[@jsav100]

This track is lovely. Definitely has that vintage trip-hop sound 👏! Did anyone guess where the movie sample is from yet??

[@Estuera]

No, want to make a guess ? 😉

[@GregoryDumont2]

@@Estuera Is it something to do with Isaac Asimov's novel by any chance?

[@Estuera]

Nope ;)

[@SKINNYSHIELD_4A_SKINNYKNIGHT]

@@Estuera is it Mulholland drive ?

[@Estuera]

Nope ;) The correct answer already has been given somewhere else in the comments though.

[@FedericoBudassi]

If you had to choose one of these instrument compilations from different brands (like absolute 5), which one would you go for to produce trance tracks?

[@Estuera]

Hmm. For trance... I think it wouldn't matter too much. They all have multiple ways to make beats and different kinds of synthesis.

I don't get the 2021 part in the title. Do you mean 2001? Solid tune as always, though! 👌

[@Estuera]

I meant 2021 😉 as that was the year this video was made. It was a bit of a 'joke' variation on my usual 90s/80s in the title. This to indicate its going to be about modern production techniques vs doing it the old school way.

@@Estuera Ah, sorry, I'm extra slow today. Anyway, you nailed it again, not sure how I missed this previously.

[@tibitoth_hu]

So basically many Netflix intro are trip hop? 😮 (Daredevil, House of Cards, Jessica Jones, etc)

[@Estuera]

Some of those certainly have the vibes.

[@user-cu6lw3ho2c]

I'm using the same Amped Elektra preset as in the video at 4:50, but my sound is just a normal dry electric piano. I'm missing something or there's some heavy processing going on not showed on the video?

[@Estuera]

There is a Valhalla tape delay used on the inserts.

[@dodskot8714]

what daw is that

[@Estuera]

Cubase Pro

[@earlsfield]

Very nice, although for the ultimate trip hop (of the 3 most seminal influences like Tricky, MA and Portishead), this is too clean. Entire appeal of Maxinquaye was Tricky's unique and sometimes utterly wrong use of samples (he had a guy helping him with Akai S2500, often having samples out of tune or tempo). Also, what your tracks lacks , and what separated top artists from countless knock offs, were unique vocals - they dont have to be like Martina's or Beth's, it could be pitched or sampled stuff ,but choppy vocals are one of the most important aspects of the genre. Look at the later incarnations of the genre, taken in any direction, but good vocal structure for me makes trip hop complete. Also, your drums are maybe too fluent, and tempo to high - usually it would go from 60-70 to maybe 90 tops, and chopped and less streamlined. Ofc, many times this would be half tempo, so actual song tempo would be 140 or smt like that.

[@Estuera]

If my goal was to truly recreate that 90s style trip hop you make some good points indeed. For this video I kind of went with what worked for me at the moment without referring to any old school tracks.

[@earlsfield]

@@Estuera oh it wasnt criticism, i love your tracks, I was just looking forward your take on one of my favorite genres.

[@mostlyspace3175]

Wait, you released this in 2021. What do you mean “like we’re back in 2021.”?

[@boh.8.]

what does it mean - like back in 2021 haha?

[@Estuera]

This is how it was done back in '21 😉😁

[@johnmax5652]

THUMBS DOWN? PARANOIA TRALALALA TRALALALA......

[@victotronics]

Pretty cool track except that the bass drum and the bass guitar are annoyingly unsynchronized.

[@Estuera]

Explain what you mean with unsynchronized ? Everything is in time as far as I can hear.

[@victotronics]

@@Estuera Yes, they are on the beat, but not on the same beat. Sometimes they hit on the same beat, sometimes just after another, sometimes they have totally nothing to do with each other. Comes from picking a drum loop after you've played your bass line.

[@Estuera]

Actually I added the bassline later on ;) In the video I show it in another order but this bass line was played exactly the way I intented to after the breaks were already there. So all timing you hear is 100% intentional to get the groove I wanted.

[@ledgermanager]

love the quality, but what a horrible music. well done!

[@Estuera]

Can you explain this contradicting comment ? I think I know what you mean but i'm not sure.

[@ledgermanager]

@@Estuera Sure various music genres can have various impact on ones mood While the performance and creation of that track was awesome to watch.From a technical viewpoint The mood this genre caused was horrible. But hey quality doesnt depend soley on my taste , right:D

[@ledgermanager]

And even if the style is moood incompatible, i prefer the suffering over missing out! That much i love and appreciate the impact of your productions.