Source Direct - The Art Of Break Programming (Pt.4)

I've really been enjoying diving super deep into all of Source Direct's music and techniques for this series. Lots more in this one showing some of the secrets behind Source Directs break programming & arranging.
I know music is all about forging your own path but I think it's still incredibly useful to learn from pioneering artists such as Jim and Phil. I've really tried to break down the methods they're using to achieve such great rolling amens.
Big love to all my Patreon subscribers and anyone who subs and shares my content on here! I really appreciate all the support :)
/ groovining
Samples & Presets - groovingbiz.co.uk
- - - Chapters - - -
Intro: (00:00)
Offsetting Slice Markers: (00:35)
Transcribing Secret Liaison: (02:01)
Rolling Amen Breaks: (03:07)
The Crane Formula: (03:57)
Secret Liaison Formula: (06:35)
Programming In Renoise: (08:50)
Rolling Amens Overview: (13:10)
Send FXs: (13:32)
Camouflaging the Loop: (16:10)

[@DXM99999]

Good to see people who still actually care about programming and chopping their breaks instead of using pre chopped amen samples.

[@groovining]

I love the process of break chopping and have spent years practising & researching trying to find all the nuances and variations to the technique. It's actually a fascinating topic & much more complex than most people realise :) 😊✌️🚀

[@DXM99999]

@@groovining I feel like break chopping on its own is an artform. Being able to hold a groove while turning a drum break into something completely different is extremely impressive. I also agree. I think its very fascinating.

[@drmisterius]

This series rules learning more here than from any other channel talking jungle.

[@groovining]

Glad you've been enjoying these mate. Its definitly my best alongisde the finishing music one I just uploaded. Been trying hard to level up these vids! ✌️🥷

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

This is what I always say to people . Its so easy to smash out the most complicated amen pattern, but maintaining a groove as well requires some skill. Great video loved it.

[@groovining]

Thanks Adam. Yea its so true. Even in their more complicated sounding tracks like Two Masks there is still this core groove that makes the track feel like a song rather than just crazy drums. Amazing talent for a couple of 19 year olds smoking weed all day! I'm actually really intrested to use some of those formulas again in my own tracks and seeing what comes out. ✌️🥷 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoCuY2qVl9aghqs

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

@@groovining Yes indeed. Im sure that was the track Phil was listening to during their studio interview from 1996. Both sides are absolute fire. Hoping this channel grows . Your supplying a good service even to those well versed and educated shall we say like myself . Well done 🤜🏾🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@groovining]

Cheers Adam. I'm definitly into some of the more advanced techniques etc. so I love breaking this stuff down. I think I may have to do some more beginner focued tutorials to really grow this channel quickly but I'm just trying to find a balance that works best! ":)✌️🥷

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

@@groovining Well its one of those isn't dip your foot in the water one at a time and see what happens . Be good to see you share some beat programming tips / techniques. Or some even some more in depth Renoise stuff . Im kinda on the cusp of getting into renoise but occasionally get stuck and so give up lol.

[@ikarugamoo]

@@AdamTheAd-vanc3d Jumping in here just to add my 10p worth, you are bang on Adam. I've always swerved the amen for that reason. It's easy to do straight, it's not that hard to go mad but to make it cohesive it's really a skill. And it's easy to try too hard too. I used to make sure my DJ sets at Technicality or around London were as respectful to the amen as possible but couldn't help indulging sometimes with some Acid Rain or Soundwall VIP madness. Also Adam, saw your synth on Geosynths podcast & followed the story! You were on the show sometime after I guested it on for my one and only time back in August 2021 I think it was. Groovin will bring the Renoise education for sure. Even if you don't go Renoise, you can apply his mastery anywhere else if you know your tool of choice well enough :)

[@Bug3ater2]

glad to see a content creator out here using renoise. Its prolly the best for programming breaks in my opinion

[@groovining]

Yea by far the best for breaks. I love how creative it is. Always stumbling into new tricks and techniques ✌️🥷

[@slipper-uk9878]

Groovin , I admire the way you break down the processing and programming of BREAKS , you are a true break analyst and a great teacher, thank you for taking the time out to make these tutorials. Big up my G

[@groovining]

Hey Slipper. Appreciate that a lot mate! It's certainly helped my own productions to dive into other artists in this way and really breakdown what they are doing. I find it really rewarding that other people can level up and improve their own skills through watching my vids! Big Ups man ❤️

[@javierfanals4353]

I love Source Direct and always found very difficult to understand their drum programming. Big thanks for analysing and breaking down some of their tracks! It’s very satisfying to finally understand how these came together! Keep it up 👏🏼

[@groovining]

All good mate, thanks for the comment :) They were such fun artists to break down and I also found it super intresting seeing how the structured their drums! ✌️

[@ElginChris]

Great break down. Really demystified a few things for me. Thanks

[@groovining]

No worries ElginChris! I also found it super insightful to look at their music in this way. Really wicked artists! ✌️🥷

[@Ezi83]

Yesss! Top notch as always. Enjoyed your point on throwing off the meter but with reference to a repeating theme or motif. Sometimes it feels like a lot of modern Dnb no longer has this degree of drum edits done right because to do it right takes work, so big up🔥

[@groovining]

Yea its definitly an interesting technique. Its all about the contrast between repition and variation. Throwing off the meter in that way can make things sound almost too complex but by using repetion we can still give our ears enough to latch onto. There a lot more in there than just random programming. Modern DnB is often a lot more simple in terms of the drums. Big drops and drum rolls followed by straight banging DnB drums. Works great for some tracks but I love this old style a lot also! ✌️🥷

[@charliesmiler5618]

Thanks for uploading this video. I have already been stockpiling similar types of breaks and sounds. Big up ;)

[@groovining]

Nice Charlie! This was such a fun series for me. I acutally learnt so much myself also breaking down all their techniques. Wicked artists ✌️:)

[@DJWhizzkidd100]

Top quality as always.

[@groovining]

Thanks DjWhizzkidd. Appreicate the comment mate! ":)✌️

[@nilskozstum8256]

Very helpful tutorial! I always felt like some of the switching up of the patterns came from DJing, specifically doing quick cuts between two tracks with a crossfader in a rhythmic way. A lot of jungle lends itself really well to being cut up in the mix, and I think it fed back into production with them building these effects back into the tunes. That's just my theory anyways.

[@groovining]

All good mate! Yea for sure, LTJ Bukem did loads mixer chopping like that in his DJ sets. It would actually be really fun to set this kind of workflow up in Renoise with some midi mapping. I'm gunna test it out!✌️ :)

[@kylewall8521]

You go deep in these videos, I have alot to learn from you.

[@groovining]

Thanks mate! I’ve done quite a few similar to this with my Source Direct, Paradox & Photek series. Lots of good stuff on break choppin’ etc. in them :)🥷

[@kylewall8521]

@Groovin' in G yeah man, been watching em all. Love the paradox vids. Also, dope that you use a digitone, that's my main synth. I also use the polyend tracker for chopping breaks, after I eq them in bitwig

[@groovining]

Thanks mate, the Digitone is incredible. Its such a versitile synth. I go through stages where I make loads of wicked presets and then I can just bang them out when i'm making a track. I really need to do a deep dive video on the Digitone! I had a Polyend tracker for a while but couldn't incorporate it into my workflow enough. I loved it in some ways but always ended up back in Renoise. It's certainly a very satisfying hardware sampler to work with. It's all about which workflow is best for you at the end of the day ✌️ :)

[@borisnihom7985]

Great video’s mate! What the source of the video of doc scott dropping the crane exclusive? Would love to check more of that video

[@groovining]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKDOnmNvr9ljgrM

[@MrDenme0]

Hah, I knew it! Well,.....not realy, but it makes sense now. thanks G!

[@groovining]

Yea a lot of this I think people naturally do and its not secret to make changes at the end of the 4,8 bar sections etc. I think it definitly helped me understand this a bit better having it all laid out visually. ":)✌️

[@MrDenme0]

@@groovining exactly that! Very much true. Part of it is what I did with out thinking about. Very Nice that you are dropping yet more insigne. Big UPS !

[@groovining]

Thanks MrDenme! lots more to come this year. Big Ups!✌️

[@boootros]

Wicked

[@groovining]

Cheers mate. Glad you liked. The next one on Drum Funk is cool also! Coming soon 👀 ":)

[@mranchovydrumbass]

Nice bit of work G :-)

[@bigjerkface78]

Well congrats my man. You've successfully convinced me to buy a tracker and a akai. I've been getting pretty crazy with it ever since a found your channel. Have you ever thought of making a platform to showcase your subscribers music? Shit, maybe a label ... idk just spit ball'n

[@groovining]

Haha thanks, glad you've been enjoying my channel! The tracker and hardware sampler combo is deadly! 🥷 Which Akai did you end up getting? Thats actually a great idea about the label/platform. I'm definitly going to get a discord going in the near future so that could definitly stem out of that! ":)✌️

[@groovining]

Cheers MrAnchovy! Have a good bank holiday weekend mate ":)

[@bigjerkface78]

@@groovining I got the S3000xl and a polyend tracker. My os is too old for new software, but Ido plan on upgrading and diving into renoise.

[@mewtkeys]

I tend to do this a lot where I have my main drum groove and then a variety of different variations every other four bars. My main issue is keeping my ideas strong enough to make a decent tune. So I hardly release any of my jungle/dnb works :/

[@groovining]

That the general idea of it is little variations to keep things intresting around a core groove. A lot of the strength in the ideas is going to come from all the other elements combined with the drums. Little perc hits, FXs, reverse hits, reverbed & delay elemtets coming in & out to keep things intresting. Making music is hard so you just have to accept that sometimes and really push through the tough stages of making a track. ✌️🥷

[@mewtkeys]

@groovining thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll keep at it, man! There is definitely a lot more going in when it comes to jungle. But watching you on renoise out me in a creative mood, so it'd be great to take another crack at it. Thanks again!

[@stephennapolitano]

Where is part 1? Can’t seem to find it.

[@groovining]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXnbc2qXr5apl6c

[@StripperPingvin23]

Are you aware of the artist Nic Tvg?? I'd really be grateful if you could check him out and maybe breakdown his techniques in a future video series? As always Thanks a lot my friend.

[@groovining]

Thanks for the comment friend! I think someone might have recommended him to me before but I just checked him out again. Really dope drumfunk style! I've added him to my breakdown list! :)✌️🥷

[@StripperPingvin23]

@@groovining SUPEREXCITED XD

[@cclark8088]

😃first!

[@groovining]

Wigglez! You super quick on this one. Enjoy mate, I hope I did a good job of visualising all the break arranging stuff :)

[@cclark8088]

@@groovining yes you did!

[@__1t__1__r3]

programming is easy, what you cant do is get the actual sound, the body warm and thickness of the breaks

[@groovining]

Have you got some stuff you've made I can listen to?