How to Write Brostep Songs

You want teeth on your bass and chaos that still makes sense. Brostep is loud, aggressive, and theatrically obnoxious in the best way. It eats low end for breakfast and serves tension with a side of vocal chops. If your goal is violent wobble that still grooves in a club, you landed where you need to land. This guide will take you from idea to drop ready for a festival, with practical steps, sound design recipes, mixing tips, and release strategy. We will explain all acronyms and terms so you do not have to pretend you already know them.

Everything here is written for producers who want results and zero fluff. Expect workflows you can copy into your DAW right now. Expect jokes and real life scenarios so the learning sticks. By the end you will have a method to write brostep tracks that punch in the chest and get people to remove fragile items from their pockets.

What Is Brostep

Brostep is a subgenre of dubstep known for aggressive midrange growls, metallic textures, and heavily processed bass sounds. It evolved from darker bass music and became mainstream through artists who made the drop the entire point of the song. Think snarling synths, half time grooves, and drum hits that hit like baseball bats covered in glitter. If dubstep is a monster, brostep is the monster wearing combat boots and sunglasses.

Core traits

• Tempo. Usually around 140 BPM. BPM stands for beats per minute and tells you how many beats occur in one minute.
• Rhythm. Often feels like halftime. That means the kick and snare pattern creates the sensation that the song is moving slower while kicks still hit with heavy impact.
• Bass design. Wavetables, FM synthesis, distortion, filtering, and resampling combine to create growls and wobbles that occupy the mid bass range.
• Drums. Clean, punchy kicks and snares with aggressive transient shaping. Percussion can be trap influenced with syncopated hi hat rolls.
• Arrangement. Focus on build up and drop. Breakdowns are minimal. The drop can last 16 to 32 bars depending on context.

Tools You Need

You can start with free tools, but certain plugins make brostep easier. Here is a pragmatic list with why each item matters.

• DAW. Digital Audio Workstation. Your workspace. Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, and Bitwig are common. Pick one and learn it like a pet.
• Wavetable synth. For complex wave shapes and modulation. Examples are Serum, Vital, and Massive. Wavetables let you morph timbre using an LFO. LFO means low frequency oscillator and it controls slow movement like wobble.
• FM synth. Frequency modulation synthesis creates metallic timbres. FM8, Native Instruments FM, or the FM features inside Serum can give that nasty bite.
• Distortion and saturation. Add harmonic content to bass. Plugins like Decapitator, Soundtoys Radiator, or free ones like Softube Saturation Knob make sounds fatter and more aggressive.
• Filter and EQ. Essential for carving space. Use bandpass and notch filters to sculpt midrange aggression away from the vocal or snare.
• Multiband compressor. Controls dynamics across frequency bands. Use it to glue a bass growl into a consistent energy while keeping the sub clean.
• Resampler or sampler. For recording synths to audio, warping, and reprocessing. Samplers like NN-XT in Logic or Simpler in Ableton let you chop and repitch vocal chops and bass hits.
• Transient shaper. Shape attack and sustain of drums. Useful to make snares smack and kicks punch.

Songwriting Goals for Brostep

Do not confuse brostep with pop songwriting templates. It is production first but songs still need tension, release, and motifs. Treat every element as either energy or contrast. Here are the writing goals to keep on the fridge.

• A clear drop motif. One sound or melodic phrase that is instantly recognizable across sections.
• Tension build. Use risers, rhythmic tightening, and filter automation to make the drop feel inevitable.
• Vocal identity. If you use vocals, they are often short phrases, ad libs, or chops that act as hooks. Keep the lyric spare and aggressive or seductive depending on you.
• Space for impact. Reduce competing mids during the first beat of the drop so the bass can scream without masks.
• Dynamic contrast. Let the breakdowns breathe with fewer elements before the heavy return.

Structure That Works

Brostep structural templates are simple because power needs clear timing.

Template A: Club Single

• Intro 16 to 32 bars
• Build 8 to 16 bars
• Drop 16 to 32 bars
• Breakdown 8 to 16 bars
• Build 8 bars
• Drop 16 to 32 bars
• Outro 16 bars

Template B: Radio Friendly

• Intro 8 bars
• Verse with vocal 16 bars
• Pre build 8 bars
• Drop 16 bars
• Verse reprise 8 bars
• Second build 8 bars
• Final drop 16 to 24 bars
• Short outro 8 bars

Use Template B when you want vocal hooks that can sit on streaming playlists. Use Template A for peak festival energy.

Start With the Drum Groove

In brostep the drums are both foundation and personality. A tight drum groove sells the drop even before the bass starts screaming.

1. Set tempo to 140 BPM. You can experiment around 135 to 150 but 140 is classic. BPM tells your DAW how fast the beat is.
2. Lay a kick on the one and a snare on beat three to create halftime feel. That means the snare hits once every two beats, giving the track weight.
3. Program hi hats with syncopated rolls and triplets. Use simple 16th patterns and automate velocity and timing to avoid robotic feel.
4. Add percussion hits and fills. Use risers, reversed cymbals, and pitched impacts leading into the drop.
5. Process the kick and snare. Use EQ to carve space. Sidechain the bass to the kick so the low end breathes. Sidechain means using a compressor that ducks one sound when another hits.

Real life scenario

You are in a cafe producing and need a groove fast. Twenty minutes for drums. Kick, snare, closed hat loop, one clap, and a shaker. Loop it. Add a little swing. If it makes you nod without caffeine then you are onto something.

Designing the Brostep Bass

Bass design is the meat of brostep. This is where most producers spend most time. The process below is a recipe you can copy into Serum or Vital.

Bass Design Recipe

1. Initialize a patch in your wavetable synth with two oscillators. Oscillator one is your mid growl. Oscillator two is the sub.
2. For oscillator one pick a complex wavetable that yields metallic overtones. Move the wavetable position to find a bite that you like. Lower the octave until it sits in the midrange with body.
3. For oscillator two choose a pure sine or triangle for clean sub. Lower octave to -2 or -3 so it occupies the sub frequencies under 60 Hz.
4. Use a bandpass filter to focus oscillator one on the midrange. Automate cutoff with an envelope or LFO to create vowel like movement.
5. Add an LFO routed to wavetable position or filter cutoff. Sync the LFO to triplet or dotted rhythms for off grid wobble. Use different LFO shapes: saw for ramp up, random stepped for glitchy motion.
6. Route to distortion and saturation plugins. Use subtle saturation on the sub and heavier distortion on the mid growl. Parallel chain can keep the sub clean while the mids get nasty.
7. Use multiband compression with the crossover around 100 Hz. Compress the mid band hard to keep growl consistent. Keep the sub band mostly uncompressed with a touch of glue.
8. Resample. Record 8 bars of the bass, import it to a sampler or audio track, pitch it, stretch it, and layer additional processing like bitcrush and formant shifting. Resampling is the trick that makes motion feel real.

Explain resampling

Resampling means converting MIDI synth output into audio and then reprocessing that audio to create new textures. Think of it like photocopying a drawing and doodling on the copy. Each pass builds character.

Growl Tips

• Use formant filters to make vowel like shapes in the midrange. Formant filters mimic human vocal resonance.
• Layer multiple wavetable positions with slight detune for thickness. But keep the sub monophonic and centered so clubs do not lose power.
• Automate pitch bends and interval jumps for impact. A short downward pitch slide into the hit can feel devastating.
• Create spectral notches to make space for vocals or lead synths. Use narrow EQ cuts at clashing frequencies.

Writing Hooky Vocal Chops

Vocal content in brostep is minimal but very effective. Vocals often act like a throat clearing before the drop or like a call to action. Keep lyrics short and rhythmically strong.

Vocal Chop Workflow

1. Record a short phrase with attitude. It can be one word like hell, now, surrender, or a short line like I see you. Use a raw take, not auto tuned to death in the first pass.
2. Import to a sampler and slice into chops. Rearrange to make rhythmic patterns. Use pitch shifts to create question and answer motifs.
3. Add formant shifting and a touch of reverb for space. Keep wet signal bright with a high pass to avoid muddying the sub.
4. Process with transient shaping and saturation so chops cut through the mix. Duplicate a chop, pitch one down an octave and low pass it to create a sub-hit underneath the main chop.

Real life example

You record a friend shouting one take of the word savage after two beers and a misfired Tinder date. Slice it into three chops. Repeat at different pitches. One chop becomes the drop signature. The crowd screams. Your friend texts you for money. This is called success in our book.

Arrangement Techniques That Maintain Energy

Arrangement keeps the listener on a leash and pulls them toward the drop. Use tension, release, and breath like a director with a megaphone.

• Silence first. A one bar rest before the drop can feel huge. It primes the ear.
• Automation. Automate low pass filters, reverb sends, and delay throws to increase intensity in the build. Tighten automation curves so the drop lands hard.
• Layering. Add elements on the first bar of the drop, then subtract on repetition to avoid fatigue. Add one new element on the second drop for evolution.
• Stutter and glitch. Use short gate effects on vocal chops and bass tails to make transitions exciting. The ear expects motion.

Mixing Brostep That Punches in Clubs

Mixing is survival. You can have the most creative sound design and a messy mix will turn a banger into a headache. The goal is to keep the sub clean while mid aggression shines.

Mix Checklist

1. Gain staging. Keep headroom. Track levels around minus 18 dBFS for clean processing. dBFS stands for decibels relative to full scale.
2. Sub and mid separation. High pass everything that does not need sub below 40 to 60 Hz. Keep the bass and kick centered and mono in the low end so club systems reproduce them reliably.
3. Sidechain. Use sidechain compression from kick to bass to give the kick space to breathe. Sidechaining prevents low frequency masking.
4. EQ. Carve the midrange carefully where the growls live. Use narrow cuts to remove boxiness and wide boosts to enhance presence.
5. Bus processing. Send drums to a drum bus. Add gentle compression and saturation to glue the kit. Send bass to a bass bus and apply multiband compression.
6. Stereo image. Keep low frequencies mono. Widen higher harmonics to give bass presence without energy loss.
7. Clipping and limiting. Avoid brick wall limiting on track level. Leave peaks for the mastering stage. Use soft clip only for controlled grit.

Mixing Real Life Scenario

You are testing on laptop speakers and everything sounds great. Do not trust them. Check on earbuds and a system with a sub, or use reference tracks from artists you admire. If your bass disappears on a cheap phone but roars on a PA then you may be too reliant on upper harmonics. Adjust the sub content until the track translates across systems.

Mastering for Maximum Impact

Mastering brostep needs a light but firm hand. The goal is loudness without crushing dynamics so the drop still has bite.

• Use a reference track to match loudness and tonal balance. LUFS is an integrated loudness unit. Aim for about minus 8 to minus 10 LUFS for streaming formats if you want club energy. Platforms may re loudness normalize so check their specs. For example, Spotify normalizes around minus 14 LUFS at the present time.
• Apply multiband compression for mid band control. Keep sub band untouched or lightly compressed to preserve dynamics.
• Use a gentle limiter. Avoid pumping. If the limiter is working too hard, go back to the mix and tame peaks first.
• Consider analog emulation saturation for glue and subtle warmth. This can add perceived loudness without over limiting.

Performance and Remixing

Brostep lives in live shows. Your track should be easy to perform and remix. DJs will love you if you give them variations and stems.

• Prepare stems: kick and bass, drums, main growl, vocals, FX. DJs can blend your stems for transitions and mashups.
• Create acapellas and instrumentals. An acapella makes remix requests happen without you doing anything except smiling.
• Design an intro-friendly loop. DJs love tracks with 32 bars of build friendly material so they can mix in and out.

Release Strategy and Business Tips

Making a heavy track is half the battle. Releasing and promoting it is the loud other half.

• Release cadence. Drop singles rather than albums if you want playlist traction. Singles create focused moments for promotion.
• Teasers. Post short clip loops and behind the scenes of sound design. Brostep audiences love seeing growl presets and distortion chains.
• Collaborations. Team up with a vocalist or another producer for cross pollination. A catchy vocal chops hook with a known name raises playlist potential.
• Merch and visuals. Brostep fans respond to aesthetic. Make a heavy cover art and a short violent visual loop for social platforms.
• Sync licensing. Brostep works in trailers and ad music for action content. Send stems and license-friendly versions to music supervisors.
• Live proof. Play your track in a DJ set and film the crowd reaction. A crowd going berserk is better than ten thousand words in a press release.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

• Over distorted sub. Fix by using parallel distortion. Keep the sub layer clean and distort the mid growl only.
• Muddy midrange. Fix by surgical EQ not broad boosting. Cut the problematic frequency rather than slap on more gain.
• Too many elements. Fix by reducing layers and committing to one signature motif. Less is louder.
• Flat arrangement. Fix by varying textures between drops. Remove an element in the second drop and add a new one back for contrast.
• Weak highs. Fix by adding subtle transient enhancement and airy saturation. Do not boost too much or you will invite harshness.

Exercises to Speed Your Brostep Workflow

The One Growl Hour

Set an hour timer. Create one killer growl and one sub layer. Do not touch the arrangement. The goal is a playable clip you can use in future tracks. Export multiple variations at different pitches.

Vocal Chop Relay

Record one line, chop it into six pieces, and build a rhythm that fits into 8 bars. Use formant shifting and resampling. Repeat the exercise with different words until you get an earworm phrase.

Drum Speed Drill

Build a new drum loop in 15 minutes. Use five samples maximum. Focus on velocity variation and humanized timing. If you can dance to it and feel the upcoming drop, the loop works.

Before and After: Sound Design Edits

Before: A static saw bass with full distortion and no sub separation.

After: Two layer approach. Sub sine clean and mono, mid growl in wavetable synth with bandpass, LFO to wavetable position, heavy distortion on a parallel buss, and resampled stutter. Result is clarity plus aggression.

Before: Crowded midrange with vocals and bass fighting for space.

After: Carved out a 400 to 800 Hz notch for the vocal, automated narrow sweep during vocal moments, added mid side widening on the bass harmonics only. Vocals cut through and bass maintains presence.

Practical Templates and Presets to Steal

Use this as a checklist when you open a new brostep session.

• Tempo 140 BPM
• Drum bus with parallel compression and saturation
• Bass bus with multiband compressor and distortion send
• FX bus with risers, impacts, and reverse cymbals
• Vocal bus for chops and ad libs with formant shifting
• Automations folder for filter, reverb, and delay throws

How to Collaborate Without Losing Your Identity

Working with other artists is the fastest way to reach new ears. Keep these principles in mind so the collab sounds like both of you and not a train wreck.

• Share stems early and keep session notes. Notes mean less emailing and more making.
• Agree on the drop motif. If the other producer changes the signature sound, it must be agreed. The motif is the track identity.
• Trade rough versions and provide one focused piece of feedback. Too many cooks equals a simmering mess.

FAQ

What tempo should brostep tracks use

Brostep commonly sits at 140 BPM. You can experiment from 135 to 150 BPM. The important thing is creating the half time feel with a strong snare on beat three so the track has weight. Faster tempos change the energy and can push the track into different subgenres.

Do I need expensive plugins to make brostep

No. You can create heavy brostep with free tools. Wavetable synthesis is available in free synths like Vital. Distortion can be achieved with stock plugins. The real investment is time learning resampling, modulation routing, and mixing. Plugins speed up workflow but they do not replace creativity.

How do I make a growl that is original

Resample often and stack different synthesis methods. Combine wavetable movement with FM for metallic components. Resample and process with granular stutter and formant shifting. Avoid relying on a single preset. Original growls are usually the result of many small unpredictable processes layered together.

Should vocals be auto tuned in brostep

Auto tune can be a stylistic choice. Natural raw vocals that are aggressive often sit well. For pitched vocal chops, pitch correction and formant control help create unique textures. Use tuning as an instrument rather than a fix for poor performance.

How long should a drop be

Drops are typically 16 to 32 bars. For peak festival tracks go longer if you have evolving elements. For streaming singles 16 bars can be effective. The key is variation inside the drop so energy is maintained.

How do I promote a brostep track

Tease with short clips, make stems available for DJs, get remixes from other producers, and target playlists and DJ pools. Live performance clips from a club or festival build authenticity. Sync placements in gaming trailers can be lucrative as brostep suits action visuals.

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