How to Write Mákina Songs

Want to make Mákina that slaps so hard your neighbor calls the cops for a sound check? Good. You are in the right place. Mákina is the Spanish rave sound that moves at a roller coaster pace. It is fast, euphoric, cheeky, and built to make bodies collide on a dance floor. This guide breaks the whole thing into practical steps you can use right now to produce a full Mákina track that bangs in clubs and streams well online.

Everything below is written for artists and producers who want real tools and no nonsense. I will explain terms like BPM which stands for Beats Per Minute, LFO which stands for Low Frequency Oscillator, DAW which stands for Digital Audio Workstation, and VST which stands for Virtual Studio Technology. If something sounds like nerd speak I will give a quick real life example so you get it without needing a degree in spaceship engineering.

What Is Mákina

Mákina is a fast Italian style hardcore and happy hardcore influenced electronic dance music genre that grew big in Spain in the 1990s. It lives around fast tempos and bright, stabbing synth lines. Mákina songs usually have a relentless pulse, dramatic lead hooks, pitched vocal shouts, and breakdowns that explode back into the beat. Think of an adrenaline shot with a candy coating. It is euphoric and aggressive at the same time.

Imagine this real life scene. You are at a packed warehouse party in Valencia. The lights cut out for a second and everyone waits. Then a snare roll and a synth stab hit, and the room explodes. The DJ just gave the crowd permission to scream. That moment is what Mákina aims for.

Core Ingredients of a Mákina Song

• Tempo Keep the track fast. Typical BPM, which means Beats Per Minute, sits between one hundred forty five and one hundred sixty five. That is faster than most pop and slower than gabber. The speed creates a sense of urgency.
• Kicks and low end Hard hitting kick drum with a tight transient and a full low body.
• Rolling bassline A driving bass that locks with the kick to create momentum.
• Lead stabs Short, bright synth hits that carry the hook.
• Vocal hooks Pitched shouts and simple phrases repeated to make the crowd sing.
• Breakdowns and builds Give space then return with impact.
• Energy automation Filter sweeps, volume swells, and effects that move the tension.

Tempo and Groove

Set your BPM first. Start at one hundred fifty BPM if you are new to the style. You can push higher as you get comfortable. The tempo determines how the groove feels and how you program drums and bass. Fast tempo means you must be intentional with rhythm so things do not sound chaotic.

Real life scenario. If you play a drum loop at one hundred fifty BPM and then double the tempo to three hundred BPM the pattern will feel frantic. With Mákina we keep a single fast tempo and design patterns that breathe inside that speed. That makes the track thrilling without being a mess.

Kick Drum and Low End

Your kick is the engine of the track. For Mákina you want a punchy click up front and body in the low frequencies. Layering works wonders. Use one sample for the transient click and another sample for the weight. Align the two so the click does not mask the low punch.

Quick steps

1. Pick a tight, short kick with a strong attack for the click.
2. Layer a rounded low kick sample for the sub. Use an equalizer, which is often called EQ, to carve space. Cut a little around three kilohertz on the sub layer so the transient click can breathe.
3. Use sidechain compression so the bass ducks under the kick. Sidechain compression means the compressor reduces volume of one element when another element plays. In practice the bass volume lowers when the kick hits which keeps the low end clean.

Common kick mistakes and fixes

If your kick sounds muddy, check phase between layers. If the click is too loud reduce its level and move it slightly earlier by a few milliseconds to make the punch more immediate. If the sub sits too high on small speakers, add a small boost around sixty to eighty hertz and roll off below fifty hertz to avoid rumble on streaming platforms.

Rolling Basslines

Mákina basslines are not complicated. The goal is a rolling pattern that keeps momentum. Use short envelopes and tracks that move in sync with the kick. A common trick is to play a pattern that accents off beat notes so the groove feels propelled forward.

Design tips

• Use a saw or square wave and apply a low pass filter with a short envelope to create a plucky bass.
• Add a sine sub layer under the pluck to give weight on club systems. A sine wave provides pure low frequency without harmonics which keeps clarity.
• Use subtle glide or portamento when switching notes if you want a sliding acid like effect. Portamento means the synth smoothly slides from one pitch to another.
• Keep the bass rhythm simple on verse sections and add extra notes during builds to increase tension.

Lead Stabs and Hooks

Leads are the identity of a Mákina track. The lead stab is short, bright, and usually has heavy detune for width. Use saw waves layered with a unison setting to create a thick, screaming lead. Unison means multiple copies of the oscillator play at slightly different pitches to create a wide sound. VST synths often have unison controls.

Sound design checklist for a lead

1. Start with two or three saw oscillators.
2. Set unison voices to four or more for width.
3. Add slight detune to taste so the sound is thick but not out of tune.
4. Use a short decay envelope on the amplitude to make each stab punchy.
5. Apply a transient shaper or compressor to shape the attack if needed.
6. Add a bright plate reverb with short decay to place the stab in space. Too much reverb will wash out the rhythm.

Real life example. Record a one bar riff of stabs and sing the rhythm with your mouth. Then translate that pattern to the synth. If you can mouth the hook on a crowded bus you have a good rhythmic idea.

Vocals and Vocal Treatment

Mákina often uses short vocal shards rather than long sung verses. Keep vocal phrases tight and repeat them. Popular choices are pitched vocal hooks, group shouts, or chopped vocal samples. Pitching vocs up or down can add energy and nostalgia.

Processing tips

• Use pitch correction creatively. Instead of fixing pitch entirely, use small pitch shifts for character.
• Double the vocal on chorus with a small harmony on the second take. Doubling means recording or copying a vocal and layering it to create thickness.
• For that classic 90s feel use mild tape saturation or a saturation plugin to add harmonic warmth.
• Sidechain the vocal to the kick subtly so the vocal breathes with the beat.

Scenario. You have a friend who can shout one line convincingly. Record a five second phrase, chop it into pieces, and map those pieces across a MIDI keyboard. Now you can play the vocal like an instrument and create stabs that match your synth stabs.

Arrangement That Keeps the Crowd

Mákina is about momentum and release. The arrangement should build tension then reward the listener with a massive beat drop. Typical sections include Intro, Verse, Build, Drop which is the main chorus energy, Break, and Final Drop. Keep the first drop by one minute if you want immediate impact for radio play and streaming playlists.

Arrangement template you can steal

1. Intro eight to sixteen bars with drums and a signature motif
2. Verse sixteen bars with reduced elements and a bass groove
3. Build eight to sixteen bars adding percussion and risers
4. Drop sixteen to thirty two bars with full lead and vocal hook
5. Break eight to sixteen bars with filtered pads and a vocal moment
6. Final drop thirty two bars with added layers and ad libs

Tip. In a club the first drop hooks the crowd. But the second or third drop should be the emotional peak. Add a new melody, a counterline, or a vocal ad lib to make later drops feel bigger.

Sound Selection and Preset Tweaks

You do not need custom patches to make Mákina. Start with presets from popular synths like Serum, Sylenth, or Massive which are types of VST plugins. A preset is a saved sound setting. Then tweak the attack, filter, and unison voices so the sound fits your mix.

Practical rule. If a preset sounds perfect out of the box it will sound perfect in your studio but not in the club. Tweak the low end and the attack so it cuts through a dense mix. Add a bit of distortion on the lead to give it character. Distortion creates harmonics which help the sound be heard on small speakers and big PA systems.

Drum Programming Tricks

Drums in Mákina must be tight. Use pattern variations to create motion instead of adding too many different samples. Small fills and snare variations go a long way.

Ideas

• Keep the kick on every beat to anchor the groove.
• Use snare hits on the two and four if you want a straightforward groove or on the two if you want a rolling feel. Layer claps or snaps for presence in the mid frequencies.
• Add closed hi hats on sixteenth or thirty second subdivisions depending on the tempo and the feel you want. Sixteenth notes at fast BPM can sound busy. Use subtle swing if the DAW supports it to make the pattern breathe. Swing slightly delays off beat hits to feel more human.
• Use percussion loops lightly. A shaker or tambourine can sit behind the hihats to create motion.

Harmony, Chords, and Melodic Space

Mákina is not a harmony heavy genre. Simple chord stabs do the job. Use minor keys for darker tracks and major keys for euphoric tracks. Keep chord changes sparse and let the lead melody carry the emotional lift.

Try this approach

1. Start with a two chord loop for verse sections
2. Introduce a third chord in the drop to create brightness
3. Use a suspended chord or a fourth chord in the build to create unresolved tension

Example. In A minor you can play Am to F for the verse and add C on the chorus for a sunny lift. Simple works better than complex in high tempo contexts because the ear needs a fast hook to latch onto.

Mixing Mákina

Mixing is where tracks either become weapons or they stay ideas. Keep the low end clear and make room for the lead to cut through without blasting ears off in small speakers.

Mix checklist

• High pass unnecessary low frequencies from synths and hats. High pass means removing frequencies below a set point with an equalizer so only elements that need low end keep it.
• Use a subtractive EQ approach. Cut resonances rather than boost too much. That keeps the mix cleaner.
• Glue the drum bus with a gentle bus compressor. Bus compression means compressing a group of tracks together to make them feel like one instrument. Aim for subtle gain reduction around one to three decibels.
• Sidechain bass and pads to the kick. This is the same sidechain compression concept explained earlier.
• Saturate the master chain lightly for harmonic excitement. Too much saturation equals ear fatigue so be conservative.

Reference and context

Always compare your mix to a reference track. A reference track is a commercial song that sounds close to the vibe you want. Listen on headphones and on a small speaker. If your lead disappears on the phone speaker then the energy does not translate.

Mastering and Loudness

Mastering for streaming platforms means balancing loudness with dynamic punch. Mákina wants loudness but not at the cost of clipping and distortion that sounds bad on mobile devices. Use a limiter with transparent settings. Check LUFS which stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. For streaming targets aim for integrated LUFS around negative eight to negative ten for club tracks. LUFS is a measurement that tells you how loud a track feels to listeners. Lower negative numbers mean louder tracks.

DAW Workflow and Templates

Create a Mákina template in your DAW which is the Digital Audio Workstation you use to make music such as Ableton Live, FL Studio, or Logic Pro. The template should include a drum bus, a bass bus, a lead bus, a vocal bus, and master effects so you start fast.

Template components

• Kick slot with three variations for quick swaps
• Bass synth patch and sine sub channel
• Two lead synth racks with common effects like reverb and delay already sent to aux channels
• Vocal chop sampler ready for quick mapping
• Mixer scenes for verse, build, and drop snapshots so you can switch quickly while arranging

Songwriting and Hook Crafting in Mákina

Even though Mákina is dance music the same songwriting rules apply. You want a memorable hook and a clear emotional idea. The hook can be instrumental but if you use words they should be immediate and easy to shout along to.

Hook writing prompts

• Write one short phrase that a crowd can chant. Keep it under five words.
• Place the phrase on the most energetic bar of the drop and repeat it often.
• Add a little variation on the last repeat to make the final drop feel earned.

Real life example. A good chant is a tiny manifesto. Imagine a crowd holding up their phones and singing one line with the band. That one line is your title. Keep it punchy and make the vowels open for singability.

Common Mákina Production Mistakes and Fixes

• Everything competing at the same frequency Fix by carving space with EQ and using sidechain compression so the kick and bass do not fight.
• Too much reverb on rhythmic elements Fix by using short decay reverb on stabs and longer tails only on effects. Reverb can blur rhythm if overused.
• Leads that lack definition Fix by adding a small transient boost and a bit of saturation. Also carve a small notch around two to four kilohertz on competing elements so the lead sits forward.
• Overproduced builds Fix by simplifying automation so the build tells a story and the drop gives clear payoff.

Three Mákina Song Recipes

Recipe one: Rave Opener

1. BPM one hundred fifty
2. Intro eight bars with percussion and a filtered stab
3. Verse sixteen bars with bass and minimal lead
4. Build eight bars adding white noise riser and vocal shouts
5. Drop sixteen bars with massive lead and doubled vocal chant

Recipe two: Nostalgia Anthem

1. BPM one hundred sixty
2. Intro with a nostalgic piano loop and a gated pad
3. Verse with dry vocal and plucky bass
4. Build with rising chord stabs and filter automation
5. Drop thirty two bars with a layered lead, harmony pad, and group chant

Recipe three: Club Hammer

1. BPM one hundred fifty five
2. Intro with a short vocal hook and clicky hats
3. Verse tight drums and a rolling bass
4. Build with snare roll and increasing hat density
5. Drop final with distorted lead and percussion fill every eight bars

Exercises to Write Mákina Fast

• Two minute stab drill Make a one bar stab pattern and repeat it for an entire drop. Now change one note on the eleventh bar to create interest. Time box two minutes and stop editing after that. Limit equals creativity.
• Vocal chop jam Record a friend shouting a four word phrase. Chop it up and play it chromatically for ten minutes. Find a hook. Map it and lock it into your arrangement.
• Bass and kick lock Spend twenty minutes setting the kick and bass to sit together. If the low end feels wrong, nothing else will save you. This is the foundation drill. Do it more than once per track.

Plugins and Tools Worth Buying or Stealing

You do not need expensive gear to make Mákina. But a few things speed up the process.

• Synths for big leads Serum, Sylenth, or Massive. These are soft synths that create wide saw based sounds.
• Transient shaper to make hits punchy. A transient shaper sculpts the attack of a sound without changing the sustain too much.
• Saturation plugin to add harmonics and presence.
• Limiter with transparent character for mastering.
• A sampler for vocal chopping. Most DAWs include a basic sampler which is enough to start.

Promotion and DJ Considerations

Mákina is meant to be played loud in clubs and on sets. Make sure your intros are DJ friendly with clean beats and a steady tempo. DJs love stems which are separate tracks such as kick and lead. If you plan to hand your track to DJs give them one or two bar loop sections that mix easily into other songs.

Artist tip. Include an extended intro and outro in your release specifically for DJs. That makes your track more likely to be played in sets and increases your reach.

Examples and Before and After Tweaks

Before A lead with a long decay that smears the rhythm.

After Shorten the lead decay and add a small delay ping that follows the groove to keep the hit sharp and musical.

Before A bass that fights with the kick.

After Add sidechain compression and a sine sub under the bass to give solid low end without clashes.

Before A vocal that sits behind the drum bus.

After Automate a small boost on the vocal bus during the drop and add a slap delay to place it in front of the drums.

How to Finish a Track Fast

1. Lock tempo and main hook first. If the hook does not land in one listen you are not ready to finish.
2. Build a rough arrangement using the three recipes above as a guide.
3. Do a mix pass focusing only on kick, bass, and lead. If those three sound good the rest falls into place.
4. Render a rough master and test on multiple systems including phone, car, and laptop. If it bangs on the phone you are winning.
5. Make final tweaks and create stems for DJs if you plan to promote in clubs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mákina Production

What tempo should my Mákina track be?

Mákina typically sits between one hundred forty five and one hundred sixty five BPM. Start at one hundred fifty BPM if you are learning the style. Faster tempos increase urgency but require tighter programming.

Does Mákina need vocals?

Not always. Many Mákina tracks are instrumental with vocal chops used as rhythmic or melodic elements. If you use words keep them short and chantable so the crowd can sing along.

How do I make the lead cut through a busy mix?

Use subtractive EQ on competing elements and add a small boost around two to four kilohertz on the lead to increase presence. Add distortion or saturation for harmonics that translate to small speakers. Keep reverb short to maintain rhythm.

What drums are best for the style?

Use a punchy kick with a short click and a rounded sub layer. High quality samples or well processed recorded kicks work best. Keep snares and claps bright and layer for presence. Hats should be crisp and rhythmically interesting.

How do I get my Mákina track heard by DJs?

Provide DJ friendly versions with extended intros and clean stems. Network with local DJs and send personal messages with a short promo clip. Play live or upload to platforms that DJs use when scouting new music.

What DAW is best for Mákina?

Any DAW that handles fast tempos and offers flexible MIDI and audio routing will work. Ableton Live, FL Studio, and Logic Pro are popular choices. Use what you know so you can focus on music rather than learning new software while trying to finish a track.