How to recreate Groove Armada's 'Superstylin' bassline with DRC
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In 2001, the release of ‘Superstylin’’ turned out to be a defining moment in the evolution of dance act Groove Armada. A fusion of traditional house music with elements of reggae, dub and dancehall, surrounding a funky, thunderous, speed garage bassline.
Heavily influenced and inspired by the Trinidadian style vocals of long-term collaborator Mike Daniels, AKA MC Mike/M.A.D, the initial idea came from a live set during the group’s residency at London club Fabric at the time. It then took a whole year before the track was finally finished, as part of the band’s third studio album ‘Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)’.
As well as chart success in the UK, the track proved to be a hit at festivals too, with a performance at Glastonbury marking the transition from DJ duo into a fully-fledged live band. (Incidentally, all of the instrumental parts featured on the tune were recorded by the band themselves - no sample libraries in sight!)
The design of the bassline sound was a triple threat approach; something to rock the top end, a little bit of middle and of course that tasty, distorted sub bass.
Hopefully hearing this bassline once again, will bring back as many fond memories for you as it does for us - enough to inspire you to open up DRC and try it for yourself!
For more great sound design tutorials like this, be sure to check out our other YouTube videos and let us know what you think in the comments.
See you next week!
Team Imaginando