Bassline
Bass · 2001 · 135 to 142 BPM · also known as Niche, Bassline House, 4x4 Garage
Bassline is the sound of northern England keeping speed garage alive and pushing it harder: warping basslines pushed to the front, pitched-up R&B vocals and club euphoria around 140 beats per minute. Niche in Sheffield is the genre's matrix club, giving it its other name, niche. T2's Heartbroken carried it into the charts in 2007. Repeatedly targeted by police licensing crackdowns but never extinguished, it has enjoyed a strong revival since 2015. It keeps speed garage's tempo and swagger but strips away its subtlety, putting a single distorted, modulating bassline at the centre of every track rather than a full arrangement.
10 reference tracks
- Wideboys: Sambuca (2001)
- T2: Heartbroken (2007)
- DJ Q: You Wot (2008)
- H Two O: What's It Gonna Be (2008)
- Nightmare: Tell Me (2008)
- Skepsis: Goes Like (2019)
- Rebzyyx: I’m so crazy for youuu </3 (2021)
- Rebzyyx, hoshie star: all I want is you (2021)
- David Guetta & Afrojack: Raving (2024)
- Champion*, Four Tet, Skrillex, Naisha: Talk To Me (2024)
At a glance
- Tempo: 135 to 142 BPM
- First appeared: around 2001
- Machines: FL Studio, Native Instruments Massive, Roland TR-909
- The sound: Basse warp 4x4, Voix RnB pitchées, Kicks 4/4 secs, Production club directe
- Labels: Heat Recordings, Niche, Off Me Nut, Sim Simma, amuse.io
- Key artists: T2, DJ Q, Jamie Duggan, TS7, Skepsis (héritier)
Producing Bassline
Bassline runs 135 to 142 BPM, faster than the speed garage it descends from, with a mandatory four-on-the-floor kick, giving it its other name, 4x4, and only a weak swing on the hats since the bounce comes from the bassline landing on the offbeats, kick on the beats, vocal on the sixteenths. Keep the drums simple, a dry short kick with no sub, a clap on 2 and 4 doubled with a 909 snare, an open hat on every offbeat and a snare roll closing each phrase. That bass is the whole point: a square-and-saw blend, medium attack, long decay, pitch and filter modulated by an envelope for the classic wah, playing offbeat eighths with octave jumps, and a separate sine sub sidechained under it. Pitched-up R&B vocal chops, M1 organ stabs and orchestra hits complete a fast, direct sound.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Bassline?
Bassline is the sound of northern England keeping speed garage alive and pushing it harder: warping basslines pushed to the front, pitched-up R&B vocals and club euphoria around 140 beats per minute. Niche in Sheffield is the genre's matrix club, giving it its other name, niche. T2's Heartbroken…
What tempo is Bassline played at?
Between 135 and 142 BPM.
Who are the key Bassline artists?
T2, DJ Q, Jamie Duggan, TS7, Skepsis (héritier).
