Recreating the house beats of Skrillex and Four Tet

Today we take a look at a super unusual and surprising collaboration between Four Tet and Skrillex. The song in question: / butterflies
Let's remake something in this style in 4 levels of complexity!
We cover a LOT of territory here, so buckle up!
- Level 0: stay open-minded!
- Level 1: Jacking house pattern, hihat choking
- Level 2: Splitting drums into channels, better samples, 16th note groove
- Level 3: Subtle organic sounds, mid percussion, ASMR turnaround
- Level 4: FM subbass with skip, tremolator mindblowing vocal surprise technique, Four Tet-style xylophone solo
Find Oscar's video courses here: courses.underdog.brussels 🖤🖤🖤
Join the Underdog Discord channel: / discord 👾👾👾
Sign up to the mailing list here: tinyurl.com/yy92sx5u 💌💌💌
Pledge to the Patreon: ​ / underdogmusicschool 🌱🌱🌱
Contents:
0:00 Storytime about Skrillex
2:19 What we'll make today
3:56 Level 1: Beginner
6:20 Level 2: Intermediate
10:21 Level 3: Advanced
14:57 Level 4: Weirdness
17:07 The Mindblowing Vocal Secret
21:02 The Four Tet xylophone solo
25:29 Two key takeaways

[@OscarUnderdog]

Find Oscar's video courses here: courses.underdog.brussels 🖤🖤🖤 Join the Underdog Discord channel: discord.gg/z5N9CTA 👾👾👾 Sign up to the mailing list here: tinyurl.com/yy92sx5u 💌💌💌 Pledge to the Patreon: ​ www.patreon.com/underdogmusicschool 🌱🌱🌱

[@MajorPineapple12]

will never understand skrillex slander. he's an immensely talented dude that was incredibly influential in both electronic and pop music, and hasnt made brostep type stuff for damn near a decade now

[@LimabeanStudios]

Skrillex's production is fucking incredible and its a shame he is viewed as no more than a meme for many people.

[@User56538]

they just mad because he stopped making emo music

[@mutilux9302]

People overlook his natural knack for melody and mood and it's a shame

[@Ravix0fFourHorn]

probably when he looks at his bank account he aint that bothered by this

[@90sStarterJacket]

@@Ravix0fFourHorn He probably hires a guy to look at his bank account for him.

[@maxmaxington5873]

@@90sStarterJacketactually he hires a guy to speak to a guy hired by the first guy to look at his bank account.

[@larcomj]

"dont get stuck in your old music taste" so true. I grew up listening to death metal and hardcore(not the edm type). now its mostly edm. its ok to change your taste.

[@cryptout]

I would say expand your taste. I still like the music I grew up with but it’s now extended with a huge library of music I collected over the years.

[@gunnardenton5972]

Me too. It's amazing what you can create that somehow exists between, but separate from, two disparate kinds of music like that

[@prinsTobi]

It's ok, but EDM........;)

[@oscarherrerar.3496]

in fact skrillex started in a metal band. I grew up with rock-metal, then moved to punk-ska, then techno, now hiphop is blowing my mind... music is infinite, never limit yourself

[@Re-bl5sr]

Much the same really - grew up listening to a lot of Melodic Black Metal but now I listen to and produce mainly Witchouse (Sidewalks and Skeletons, Black Ceiling, White Ring, CHVRN etc) and Wave music. Making the transition to Witchouse was easy coming from that kind of musical influence as it still maintains a lot of dark melodies. An interesting journey.

[@Tony-qv7sx]

17:01 its crazy how shifting that one note made the entire bassline/beat feel stale and square. having that note syncopated created the right amount of tension to keep the bassline feeling lively.

[@laurencelstewart]

Oscar, I would be very interested to see you do a dub techno lesson. Synth and drums sounds.

[@OscarUnderdog]

I urge you to stay openminded for this one, don't just hit dislike out of reflex 😇 I promise the tutorial is worth it.

[@user-iv9be7cp5j]

Why would you dislike out of reflex? The only reason I'd dislike is that I have to wait for 3 days 😂

[@marcosrotllan]

It's a hard test but you deserve more than a chance.

[@itisfalcone]

Yes, sensei.

[@benz8505]

Fine I'll take my dislike back and wait for the end:)

[@OscarUnderdog]

@@benz8505 Legend 😂🧡

[@simondanielssonmusic]

god i love four tet

[@lukemiles1711]

Before 10 I listenend to my dads music (Eric Clapton, G'n'Roses,), after 10 I listened to Slipknot and Metal, at 14 I went to Thunderdome and around 16 to HipHop rap. At 18/19 I found out about Plastikman and good old Detroit techno. Nowadays at 34 I make House and Techno but listen to Movie scores like Hanns Zimmer and others :D

[@GinnLDN]

Same Hans & silvestri

[@thisisaniki]

I for one am looking forward to this, your material is quite inspiring, and make advance stuff easy to grasp. Thank you and keep up the great work

[@djjimbo7432]

What a fantastic lesson I’ve stumbled upon here. I’ve been feeling bored in my drum sound design lately and this is a gold mine of new tricks to try. Subscribed right away!

[@bricelory9534]

I just want to say that I discovered your channel a while ago, and your clear tutorials are really really helpful - both for being clear in the things your tutorials are for, but also for learning good ideas and workflows that can be used in a lot of different musical styles. I really appreciate your clear, succinct and still step-by-step teaching of both the basics and nuts-and-bolts.

[@OscarUnderdog]

Cheers Brice!

[@Ps3keks15]

great work on the vocal chops, so creative

[@jasongravely7217]

That vocal trick is Nasty! Can’t stop watching your videos!

[@joshua5887]

Great video! I love the vocal sample part! Thank you!

[@aquamentum]

Your tutorials are so amazing! I always learn some cool new trick that makes me excited to open up my DAW and play around with it. Keep up the great work!

[@CounternoiseMusic]

Very nicely done! Thanks for sharing!

[@_d_m]

I've just discovered your videos - while a lot of these techniques aren't new to me having spent a lot of time producing stuff of my own, after being away from it for a few years these are super refreshing and inspiring. So glad to find some calm, hype free and useful videos by someone who knows their stuff and can present in such a nice way.

[@_malfunction]

Your thoughts about staying open minded made me really think about my established listening routines... so thanks alot for it!

[@GabrielCalarco]

You are a great teacher, I'm really grateful for what you are doing in this channel. Best!!

[@jamespingel8730]

So worth keeping an open mind genre-wise and listening to what other people are doing in the neighboring areas of EDM. I support my local jazz and classical radio stations, and both have taught me a ton about dynamics and extended chords. I co-run an IDM label even though I don't make IDM, but listening to and helping artists work on that stuff gives me great ideas to bring back to my house/ambient songs.

[@slunkzilla]

you're the only channel I like before watching and hit the bell for, thanks for another fantastic tutorial

[@RababaInc]

love your educational approach ❤️🌱

[@benena21]

Awesome decomposition 👍 thank you you're doing awesome videos !

[@matthewswain5881]

I normally dont like any videos at all on youtube, but hot damn this stuff needs to be bumped up in the algorithm

[@scarixix]

Find your instructional videos the best found so far here in clearly demonstrating and explaining styles and techniques. Very much appreciate because spans range from beginner to advanced. Always seem to take something away and sparks my creativity. Cheers !

[@OscarUnderdog]

Love hearing that :)

[@harrietHHH]

That was a great demo! The explanation of the vocal part was very interesting. Thanks!

[@bellchops2487]

Best production channel on KZbin by far. Keep it up man.

[@SebastianBlix]

This is literral gold. The way things are broken down into very understandable bits is priceless.

[@isaacanthonydj4124]

dude, this is study material for me. Trying to program complex beats into my TR8S now. I'm more of an oldschool deep house head, but the lessons here are valuable to any genre i think... Appreciate!

[@mikesyogapodcast]

Brilliant. I always get inspiration from your vids! Thank you! :)

[@CoreyLaGray]

Great video, as usual, sir. Thanks for doing what you do.

[@jamalyannicguzmansierra7996]

Maan.. Heavy stuff! Learnd a bunch of stuff! Thx for this!

[@bailey5924]

Thank you for covering this! I've been listening to this a lot, his song "My Existence" with Noisia is also really good. The thing that's always stood out about Skrillex is the way the production leaps out, like its not just the composition but the way the sound is manipulated in production to sort of tell its own story alongside the songwriting. Plus he basically changed music production, nothing was as loud as his stuff when it came out, nothing POPPED out imo. I think he mostly suffered a case of being new and different to the old guard, plus he became the face of a genre being commoditized in real time, so all of the negative disdain from advertising got put on him as well with all the brand deals ands commercials. I swear marketing almost turned Dubstep into a spectacle where it was basically like a party trick or just easy way to show high-energy ridiculousness, and as such there wasn't much incentive by people to try to grow beyond the sound Skrillex had done, leading to a lot of stagnation imo. I love that Skrillex has just continued to grow and just keep doing new kinds of sound design and production in different genres. Long rant but I remember feeling like he got a lot of undue hate over the years for just being loud, popular, and new.

[@entropie]

Yep the one with Noisia Supersonic is freakin fire - most excellent bass! Skrillex is definitely about solid bass design regardless the genre.

[@HK-fj1si]

Oscar you’re the man, helped me so much!

[@cedarhill3816]

I've spent the weekend evenings watching a few of your videos, and I personally think you are probably the most legitimate teacher for music production online. I love how you point out in fine details the finite details that we should take away " can u see this", "notice this" "can you hear the difference" etc etc. I will 100% be coming back this evening to study some more with you. Thank you for every video I have seen and for the ones yet to see.

[@OscarUnderdog]

So nice to read 🥰

[@cedarhill3816]

@@OscarUnderdog please keep pointing things out in such detail, for me I learn better when I'm shown what to really pay attention to, and the differences really pointed out in an obvious way. The way you talk and explain things is truly brilliant, your a natural teacher, I bet you could teach open heart surgery your that good at teaching lol. Thanks

[@deanfuel4847]

Some killer production tips, as well as a solid (and great) reminder to stay open-minded!

[@simonvegas793]

This is a really cool video am glad your channel popped up on my feed.

[@pixeloza7500]

You are fantastic educator, i love electronic music and i love this channel.

[@christianmouton2805]

great track. thanks for striking my curiosity. i just got it to play this weekend.

[@buckminsterowski]

awesome stuff!! 💪💪

[@justanotherguy2590]

i found this video very informative and exciting thank you for making wanting to get more motivated in producing again!

[@thomasrafaelfluxus3287]

great tuturial! definitly gonna use that vocal choir technique !

[@MiesFM]

Thank you once again for an amazing video

[@romanponomarenko3099]

great chopped vocal trick! thanks for this one ;)

[@harry2house536]

It is interesting how thin is the line to describe sub-genres nowadays, I am also amused by how electronic dance music is evolving. But, and a huge BUT, in terms of Jacking House there are some fundamentals that characterized this style. I am not... NOT pretending to lecture anybody about this, just wanted to help the best I can. While it is true that back in the day “Jackin” referred to a style of dance, today it is more commonly associated with a Nu-school style of “primarily” sample-based house music that is largely characterized by its urban/street attitude, shuffly/skippy percussion, big funky basslines and chopped up samples from styles such as hip-hop, RnB, jazz, swing, funk, & disco. It typically is a more “energetic” and “faster” form of house music normally falling in the 126 to 130 bmp range but it can contain deeper & moodier elements as well. It stays very true to the old house formula but unlike the more traditional styles that are restricted to much tighter well-defined limitations, pretty much anything goes in Jackin House as long as it’s not considered douche or cheese and stays in those bpm ranges. Often jokingly referred to as “dude house” or “gangsta house”. My biggest influencers in this style would be Mark Farina, Jason Hodges, Fries & Bridges (Hector Moralez & Phil Weeks), DJ Mes, Sonny Fodera, Tommy Largo, Wattie Green, d-t3ch, Scrubfish, Nate Laurence. I've been listening over and over this track and find no elements to be defined as Jacking House, but... again, how music is perceived is what matters the most, despite how well educated the listener is... I personally, find Skrillex interesting to follow, not musically speaking but creatively, he really developed a complex level to approach - from an engineering standpoint - sound design, mixing, and mastering. My thoughts regarding this track: solely "commercial". Wel mixed, interesting elements, nice sound design. I liked the video and I turned into a follower of this channel. Really good made and very appealing content. 👏👏👏

[@OscarUnderdog]

This is a great, thoughtful comment. Much appreciated! 🧡 I admit I wasnt aware that there was such a specific genre definition out there, i was only trying to describe the house-influenced drum programming 😌✌

[@harrycordero]

No worries man, this happens when a boring Dj walking nearby a production challenge. I admire Skrillex - on the production side 🤪. Glad you are so professional and share a respectful comment. Deep, Soulful, and Jacking had been my companions for about 22 years of underground djing. I'm not famous, just a guy with eccentric musical taste. From progressive Rock to IDM..., yes IDM😂. Keep on rocking men, nice work.

[@DaGhostChild]

I had all those jacking house producers on the radar, (Mark Farina is one of my all time favourite djs) specially around 2006 - 2010 and those were really good times for that style. Jackin house was big in the underground scene and thanks to internet too, but some producers abandoned the genre and at the same time the music began to be less creative. I think there's still producers around the world that are still making jackin house but nowadays I prefer a more eclectic approach, so I listen or mix from deep, soulful, lof-fi, disco/funky house to some garage or just straight house but it has to be groovy, creative or quality records/tracks. So it's a well known genre and this Skrillex (which I thought came from dubstep) is defenitely not Jackin House. I would say this is more in the comercial EDM dance environment aimed to a younger audience.

[@rosst5923]

Mind blown. Subscribed!

[@danielwp86x]

you are the next level bro! thank you

[@maximbyorn5820]

you have the most useful video tutorials all over youtube! you give the opportunity to learn what I wanted I am from Russia. along the way I am learning English by watching your videos. THANK YOU!

[@kausambirajbarua5293]

I was really looking for this type of Tutorial. Finally got 😄.

[@kausambirajbarua5293]

😄 Hi

[@shaunbowden5993]

That vocal thing you do is brilliant!

[@nicklausmusic]

I was honestly buzzing when you showed the Vocal technique, so sick! Need to work out how to do it in FL studio now haha

[@LennonRoberto]

i found out that throwing an acapella in slisex chops it up into sections.

[@honeywellparts7541]

I think it's easier un FL Studio, you can do it in Slicex or Slicer like Lennon said, but I think Harmor it's great for this kind of beat, you can modulate the Start of the sample linking the time of the sample to the X Mod, then you can edit independently each note and select different values for de X Mod in the Piano Roll.

[@darrend7386]

Bro ,hello from ireland i love the videos especially the funny edits like the rest of the darn owl and you turning blue its brilliant keep it up !!!!!

[@fabriciomosoni]

Awesome video thanks!

[@BeniRoseMusic]

Wow, hard to believe we're far enough removed that some younger people just totally missed out on dubstep and don't know it was a thing.

[@OscarUnderdog]

I know right :D but it's only gonna get worse, gotta stay up to date!

[@funkbungus137]

@@Ss-zg3yj if skrillex fucked up dubstep, wait til you see what I've done.

[@lightningkitebeats]

Forget missing out dubstep, sounds like people missed out on the Backstreet Boys!

[@buzzandjim4265]

I see there's a dislike before its even started .. looking forward to video thanks

[@benjaminattardi3140]

beautiful tut. bro. doing gods work.

[@georgematsuo]

super helpful. thank u so mucha

[@michaelyoung768]

I love the level format. Its important to learn the basics before trying to start at a intermediate level

[@AUTOSAD777]

"This way, the percussion moves across the stereo field. That's cute." - Oscar 2021 🤣

[@OscarUnderdog]

🤣 felt cute

[@bigbyallsmay8992]

no lies detected

[@connormanning7091]

Yes. So keen. Been very much up for a up to date jackin video.

[@holmesickmusic]

Amazing content man

[@inspir.edmusic]

You're my new favorite production KZbin channel!

[@SokeSokeSoke]

this is bonkers, amazing tutorial!

[@jimjamjom1]

Best online tutor out there. Will be signing up to one of your online courses shortly.

[@davidandjo103]

Merci oscar pour le travail très précis, le xylophone merveilleux

[@marcin-talarczyk]

Oscar, this is the best contribution to music production teaching since KZbin was invented!!! Hats off!

[@timjulien79]

Dude this is so fantastic

[@RMercer91]

Cant wait!!!!

[@arivirtanen2568]

Thanks again man. I just joined your Patreon, and everyone else here who enjoys the content should consider doing it too. Always learning new stuff from you

[@OscarUnderdog]

Cheers man!

[@C0ZMICWIZARD]

That vocal trick was so dope. +1 to see your take on dub techno 🔮

[@mvmnt.]

Four-Tet and Jacking house? I blame that Skrillex collaboration xD Super good tutorial beyond that title though! That Vocal treatment is awesome!

[@dublinimal]

class videos mate

[@so2fast4u2]

i never liked teachers and always had real bad grades in school, just the art teacher, she was smoking hot. This is the first teacher that i listen to with all the attention i have! The way he explains is right down my alley and i could listen to him talk forever. All these tricks and tips apply to any DAW and any lvl of knowledge, it's fantastic.

[@MusicMybe]

great vid well done mate

[@SickFlipFingrboardin]

KILLER tutorial man

[@urmum7896]

A new dubstep album called 'Acceptance' by Truth was released recently and I thought you would appreciate some of the songs and it would be great to see you recreate some of the sound design used in the album

[@vittya4373]

My new favorite channel. 🙏

[@OscarUnderdog]

Awwww 💙

[@soundcore183]

5th way of making it jacking: tape stop effect on the offset vocals, overdrive on the open hihat, vocoder or halftime on the asmr part for making it more organic, gating white noise on the snare, using ghost notes and fills and removing the poking sibilance on the closed hihat with a dynamic eq on the mids, keeping the sides unprocessed ofc mixed to flavours. It is a long process letting elements talk to each other.

[@Howwi]

I try to listen to at least 1 or 2 new tracks every day. Keeps me open minded. I have my stuff I always return to, but it's so interesting to me to see what kind of new stuff that's out there. When I die, I don't want to feel I didn't explore and listen to enough music ^_^

[@lucagreen7436]

I like your vocal chop almost more than the original

[@rodstench]

love your philosophy about being open minded about new tunes. that mindset has lead to to appreciate so many different kinds of music well into my 30s - including recently my love of pop music and... Taylor Swift

[@lesthedog]

I know I've watched a lot of Underdog when I hear level 4 and I'm like, "oh yeah, that sounds like an Oscar production"! 🤩

[@krmaworld]

absolutely incredible

[@jolieuke]

My new favorite channel too ! ;)

[@dj.j-are]

My Friend thank you for sharing your knowledge. I wish i could take some of your advance class .I live in the states, but your vidz come in handy .I'am always leaning something new. Bless and TY AGING .

[@tazsidney6910]

So good, thank you

[@BIFTYTIME]

Oscar have you any tracks released ? Yet again another great video thank you !!

[@stech_x8329]

Huge huge tutorials!!!🔥🔥

[@braugustus]

Skrillex da GAWD. He has such an individual way of hearing things. I'm gonna stay at 128bpm until I make some bangers.

[@kevinfitzpatrick95]

Awesome great thanks!

[@NLTony]

Opened YT with great timing :D

[@OscarUnderdog]

:D

[@lauraclaeys868]

“Don’t get crystalized 🖤” nice track title inspiration ✨👯

[@jasharin]

this is sick as hell

[@v.scente]

I am just starting out and 19:20 really blew my mind. Gotta save that video for later!

[@mate4480]

gettingFour Tet - Parallel Jalebi vibes from the vocal chops

[@rulindachatt]

My enjoyment of these videos and my loathing of skrillex are at a crossroads here.

[@somfmusic1723]

Totally agree with being open minded with music. Growing up, my dad was a drum teacher and I played guitar. We both kinda had this notion that electronic music was objectively bad because there was a lack of theoretical knowledge use and reliance on loops. later on in my late teens, I got really into electronic music production and realized not only was I using my music theory knowledge in every piece I made, but I was also expanding my knowledge of sound design, exploring new timbres and gaining an understanding of the actual science of sound. A couple years ago I sat down with my dad and showed him a project I was working on. going through the various synth plug ins and showing how sounds were created from scratch. showing him how I laid out rhythmic patterns, I could see it click in his head that there was this whole other world of musicians really pushing the envelope without even touching an instrument. Nowadays he's ecstatic when I send a project im working on to him and wants to talk for hours about it.

[@maroonblood151]

It’s a fantastic song! I remember hearing it the first time and not really liking it at first because of the rap vocals. But on second listen I was blown away.

[@OscarUnderdog]

Same!

[@pierresomville7323]

vraiment super intéressent .....j'admire 🙏😎