How to Write Future Garage Songs

You want to make something that feels like walking through a rainy city at 3 a.m. You want beats that sway like somebody blinking slowly. You want atmospheres that hug the listener and vocals that sound like stories told into a pillow. Future garage lives in the space where UK garage grooves meet ambient emotion and modern production tricks. This guide teaches you how to write songs in that space with actual steps you can use today.

This is written for busy producers and songwriters who want to make tracks that feel cinematic and intimate without sounding like every other bedroom producer. Expect raw practical techniques for drums, bass, chords, vocals, sound design, arrangement, mixing, and lyrical ideas. We will explain any term that sounds like a tool from a spaceship. You will leave with a clear palette for future garage and a list of small experiments that yield big results.

What Is Future Garage

Future garage is a mood first genre. It grew out of garage and two step rhythms but traded bright club energy for nocturnal melancholy. Think skittering, swung percussion, lo fi textures, distant vocals, and bass that lives under a fog. Burial is the common reference point. Other early touch points are James Blake and Mount Kimbie. The ideas are atmospheric beats, purposeful space, and emotional detail.

Key elements to remember

• Shuffled grooves with a human feel rather than strict mechanical timing.
• Sparse, warm low end that supports instead of dominates.
• Long reverb and convolution textures for a sense of space.
• Chopped or pitched vocals used as instruments and as narrative fragments.
• Found sounds and field recordings for realism and personality.

Tempo and Groove

Future garage typically sits between 120 and 140 beats per minute. The exact tempo changes the energy of the track. Lower tempos like 120 to 125 feel more meditative and spaced. Higher tempos like 135 to 140 bring more pulse while keeping mood intact.

Swing and Quantize

Do not lock everything to the grid. Use swing or groove templates to make the rhythm wobble in a pleasing way. Many DAWs let you apply a groove from a live drum take or a sample. If you do not want to use presets, nudge your hi hats and ghost drums off the grid by a few milliseconds. The goal is human imperfect timing that creates warmth and interest.

Real life example

• You program a simple kick on beat one. Then you place a snare on the two and four or use a clap that sits slightly behind the beat. The hi hats are placed with a little early hit followed by a delayed hat. The result is a lurching pulse that feels like someone swaying in a doorway.

Drum Programming That Breathes

Future garage drums are about space and suggestion. You want a few elements that do most of the storytelling. Do not pack every frequency with percussion. Let silence be an instrument.

Kick and low end

Use a warm, rounded kick with a short click in the top end. Tune the kick to the key of the track so it does not fight the sub bass. Use an EQ to cut around 2500 hertz if the click fights the vocal. Keep the transient tight. If your kick has too much sustain it will push the mood to club rather than late night.

Snare and clap

Snare sounds can be snappy, lo fi, or sampled from older records. Layer a subtle clap with a snare that has body. Push the snare slightly behind the grid if you want that sleepy feel. Add a little reverb send with high pass so the snare sits in space without smearing the low end.

Hi hats and rides

Use shuffled patterns and ghost hits. Keep the top percussion delicate. Consider using soft open hats on the off beats and shorter closed hats on the main subdivision. Automate volume and filter to make hats breathe throughout the arrangement.

Percussion and texture

Add single clicks, rim shots, or percussive hits sparsely. Use low volume to create near unheard shapes that the listener feels rather than consciously hears. Layer tiny impacts with long reverb tails for an impressionistic effect.

Groove Recipes

Basic future garage groove

1. Kick on bar one and bar three if using four bar loops then remove one for space.
2. Snare or clap on beat two with a light ghost on the off beat before it.
3. Hi hat pattern with a swung 16th feel and soft accents on the second half of the bar.
4. Add a two step style shuffled percussion layer with reduced volume for movement.

Tip: Record live hand claps or finger snaps even if imperfect. Human variation adds the right grit.

Bass That Supports The Mood

Bass in future garage is rarely loud and in your face. It is supportive and sometimes more implied than present. There are two useful bass approaches.

Sub bass approach

Use a sine or rounded synth for a clean sub. Play simple root notes and hold them. Use portamento to add smooth slides between notes. Low pass the bass to remove unnecessary top end. This creates a feeling of weight without fighting the kick.

Textured mid bass approach

Use filtered saws or sampled bass with a soft low pass. Add drive or saturation to give harmonics that make the bass audible on smaller speakers. Sidechain the bass lightly to the kick so the two do not clash. Automate filter cutoff to add motion through sections.

Chords, Harmony, and Sound Design

Future garage uses lush chords but often keeps them simple so the vocals and textures can breathe. Minor keys and modal shifts work well. Chord choices tend to favor lush seventh and ninth voicings because they create space without being bright.

Chord voicing tips

• Use open voicings with spacing across the range to avoid masking the mid range.
• Drop the third down an octave for a darker color.
• Add a suspended or add nine to create unresolved longing.
• Breathe with sparse rhythmic placement rather than constant pads.

Sound design palette

Pick three or four textural elements that will define your track. For example a warm pad, a bell like pluck, a recorded field atmosphere, and a vocal fragment. Keep the palette small. Too many textures will turn mood into noise.

How to make an evocative pad

1. Start with two oscillators, one saw and one sine, detune the saw slightly for width.
2. Low pass the saw with a gentle resonance and add movement with a slow LFO on the cutoff.
3. Add reverb and a small amount of chorus for vintage width.
4. Sidechain a slow compressor to the kick with a long attack for breathing movement.

Vocals as Instrument and Story

Vocals in future garage often serve two roles. One role is narrative lines that feel intimate. The other is chopped or pitched vocal fragments used as texture. You can use both in the same track.

Writing lyrics and themes

The themes tend to be introspective. Think loneliness in city life, late night phone messages, memory, regret, and small domestic details. Use specific images rather than broad statements. A line like The kettle clicks at 2 a.m. hits harder than I am lonely.

Real life writing prompt

• Write three lines that include a time of night, an object in a small apartment, and an emotional reaction. Keep language conversational like a text message you will not send.

Vocal processing techniques

Recording tips

• Record a close clean take for clarity.
• Record a distant take in a different room or with an open window to capture room tone.
• Record a whisper pass for intimate textures.

Processing tips

• Use pitch shifting to create harmonies or to make the vocal a new instrument. Lower the pitch and low pass to create dark textures. Raise the pitch and add formant shift for strange childlike textures.
• Chop phrases and place them rhythmically as percussive elements. Stretch small segments with granular tools for shimmer.
• Use long reverb with early reflections cut to keep intelligibility. Put the reverb on a send and high pass the send to remove mud. Automate reverb size through sections to push or pull the vocal forward.
• Add subtle distortion or tape saturation to raw takes for character.

Creating a vocal fragment instrument

1. Take a short sung phrase or a spoken sentence.
2. Slice it into syllables or breaths.
3. Assign the slices across a keyboard using a sampler.
4. Play the slices as a melody under the chorus or as fills between phrases.

Arrangement and Dynamics

Future garage thrives on contrast. Layers come in and out slowly. Silence matters. Build tension with automation and remove elements to create intimacy.

Typical arrangement map

• Intro: pad, field recording, a flipped vocal fragment, small percussion.
• Verse: vocals forward, minimal drums, bass implied or sidechained low keys.
• Build: add a rhythmic element, automate filter opens on pads, bring in mid bass.
• Drop or chorus: fuller percussion, wider pads, vocal hook or repeated line, slight melodic change.
• Bridge: strip to one element, perhaps a field recording and a processed vocal, then rebuild.
• Final section: bring in a new harmonic twist or modulation and a vocal ad lib.

Tip: Avoid a conventional pop chorus with repeated lines every four bars. Use repetition with variation. Change the texture rather than always repeating the exact vocal take.

Lyrics and Storytelling

Future garage lyrics work best when they are small and cinematic. Use one concrete detail per line and let the listener build the rest. Think of writing scenes for a short film that lasts three minutes.

Lyric devices to use

• Time crumbs like 2 14 a.m., Tuesday morning, the second bus stop.
• Object anchors like a chipped mug, a lost glove, a playlist with one song stuck on repeat.
• Audio memory such as a voicemail or a city siren that recurs as a motif.
• Fragmented lines that feel like half remembered phrases.

Example lyric sketch

The kettle clicks at 2 14. My shoes still smell of last night. I do not call because the number knows louder than I do.

Sound Design and Field Recording

Field recordings are one of the quickest ways to make your track feel real. Record a subway hum, laundry machines, rain on glass, distant conversations, or the clack of an old radiator. Use these elements low in the mix. The listener will feel the scene even if they do not consciously identify the sound.

How to record useful field sounds

1. Use a phone if you must. Modern phones capture surprising detail.
2. Record multiple takes from different positions. Move the mic closer and farther from the source.
3. Name your files with a simple tag and the recording location to avoid confusion later.
4. Use subtle EQ to remove extremes and a little compression to glue the sound. Do not overprocess. The raw nature is the point.

Mixing for Intimacy and Depth

Mixing future garage has two goals. The first is clarity. The second is space. Here are practical steps you can apply every session.

Low end management

• High pass everything that does not need sub information. Voices and pads often benefit from a 100 to 200 hertz roll off.
• Keep sub bass and kick in separate frequency zones. Use sidechain compression or dynamic EQ to duck bass under kick transients.
• Consider using a narrow band of sub on the bass and a mid range body that carries on phones.

Reverb and delay

Use reverb as an instrument not as a setting. Longer reverbs create atmosphere. Short delays can create space without washing the mix. Use tempo synced delays for rhythmic interest or longer slap style delays for dream states. High pass reverb sends to keep mud out of the low end.

Stereo and width

Use panning to give each texture a home. Pads can be wide. Vocals should often remain center but you can place doubled or processed takes slightly off center. Use mid side processing to expand the sides while keeping the center tight for clarity.

Parallel processing

Compress a duplicate of your drums or vocals heavily and then blend back to taste. This creates body and presence while keeping transients alive. Use saturation on a parallel bus to add harmonic richness without making the direct signal too harsh.

Mastering Notes

For streaming platforms aim for a loudness that keeps dynamic life. A common target is around negative 14 LUFS integrated for streaming services that normalize loudness. LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It measures perceived loudness rather than peak numbers. Keep enough headroom to preserve transients and the breathing of the track.

Real life scenario

• You upload a version that peaks hard and is squashed. On streaming it will be turned down and may sound lifeless. Keep dynamics so the track can live and breathe on playback devices from phones to club systems.

Songwriting Exercises For Future Garage

Night Walk lyric drill

1. Step outside or imagine a street at night for five minutes.
2. Write five sensory lines that include sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Keep each line as one short image.
3. Pick one line as the chorus idea and build two verses that explain how you got there without concluding the story.

Vocal fragment instrument drill

1. Record yourself saying a sentence normally. Then record the same sentence spoken slowly and whispered.
2. Load both into a sampler and map across a keyboard.
3. Play a minimal melody of fragments under the chorus and automate pitch for movement.

Groove swap

1. Program a four bar pattern with kick, snare, and hats.
2. Duplicate the pattern and shift the hats slightly earlier in the second bar and later in the third bar.
3. Listen for tension points and remove a kick or snare to give space. Use that silence as a dramatic device.

Common Future Garage Mistakes and How to Fix Them

• Too many elements. Fix by committing to three main textures and ducking or removing everything else.
• Vocals too dry or buried. Fix by blending a clean dry lead with a processed ambient send. One clear take keeps lyrics intact while the other creates atmosphere.
• Over quantized drums. Fix by adding swing or nudging hits off grid to restore human timing.
• Fatiguing top end. Fix by cutting harsh frequencies around five to eight kilohertz and using gentle saturation on the mid range.
• No arrangement movement. Fix by automating filter cutoffs, reverb size, and pad volume across sections to suggest motion.

Real Production Recipes You Can Steal

Burial inspired texture recipe

1. Tempo eighty five to one thirty five depending on energy. Use a soft kick and a thin snare sample.
2. Layer a vinyl crackle at very low volume across the track and automate level to breath at vocal moments.
3. Use chopped and pitched vocals with long reverb tails low pass filtered.
4. Add a sub bass sine with slow portamento for slides between notes. Keep melodies minimal.

James Blake intimate soul recipe

1. Minimal piano or guitar chord hits with wide reverb and a high pass to remove mud.
2. Use sparse kick and clap patterns with tempo around 130.
3. Vocal lead up close with subtle doubling and heavy use of space for emotion.
4. Add soft bowed strings or a pad to lift the chorus sections.

Practical Workflow from Idea to Finished Demo

1. Start with a mood. Pick one emotional word like regret, wonder, or tired joy.
2. Record a field sound related to that mood in your phone in a quiet moment. This becomes a bed element.
3. Sketch a drum groove with swung hats and a sparse snare pattern.
4. Create a simple chord loop. Keep voicings open and spare.
5. Write a short chorus line that uses a time crumb and an object. Keep it short and repeatable.
6. Record clean vocals along with a whisper or distant pass for texture.
7. Design a vocal fragment instrument and place it in strategic fills.
8. Mix with attention to low end and space. Use sends for reverb and delay. Keep automation for movement.
9. Export a demo and listen in different environments like your phone, car, and laptop. Make one small change and call it done.

FAQ

What tempo should a future garage song be

Most future garage tracks sit between 120 and 140 beats per minute. Lower tempos create more space and reflection. Higher tempos keep energy while retaining mood. Use tempo to set the emotional pace of the track.

Do I need to sing like James Blake to make future garage

No. Your voice is your instrument. The genre rewards emotional truth not a particular vocal timbre. You can use processed fragments or spoken lines. Focus on honest delivery and texture rather than imitation.

What is two step and how does it relate

Two step is a UK garage rhythm with syncopated kick and shuffled feel that avoids a simple four on the floor beat. Future garage borrows that shuffled, off beat approach but often slows it and layers ambient textures and experimental processing.

How do I make field recordings sound good in a mix

High pass to remove rumble, low pass to remove hiss if needed, compress lightly to even dynamics, and place in stereo to create space. Keep the level low and automate it to appear in moments where you want emotional grounding.

What plugins or tools do I need

There are no required plugins. A recorder, a DAW, a sampler, a reverb, a delay, basic EQ, and a compressor are the essentials. Optional tools that help are granular samplers, pitch shifters, convolution reverbs, and saturation units. Use tools that let you experiment quickly.

Action Plan You Can Use Tonight

1. Pick a mood and a time of night. Write one sentence that captures that feeling in plain language.
2. Record a field sound for one minute with your phone. Save it as a loop bed.
3. Make a swung drum loop with a soft kick and a snare behind the beat. Add subtle ghost hits.
4. Create a two chord pad with slow filter movement and a long reverb send.
5. Write a chorus line that includes a time and an object. Repeat it three times in the part and change one word on the last pass for emotion.
6. Chop a vocal phrase and map it to a sampler. Play a small melody under the chorus.
7. Mix with reverb sends, sidechain the bass lightly to the kick, and high pass the pads for clarity.
8. Export a demo and listen on your phone. Make one small fix and call it a version.

Get Contact Details of Music Industry Gatekeepers

Looking for an A&R, Manager or Record Label to skyrocket your music career?

Don’t wait to be discovered, take full control of your music career. Get access to the contact details of the gatekeepers of the music industry. We're talking email addresses, contact numbers, social media...

Packed with contact details for over 3,000 of the top Music Managers, A&Rs, Booking Agents & Record Label Executives.

Get exclusive access today, take control of your music journey and skyrocket your music career.

Unlock Instant Access