3 Rising Music Production Trends in 2022

Brake drums are classic drum break sounds that were originally not fancy enough for modern electronic dance music. They are now making a comeback and appearing across multiple genres including deep melodic and progressive house labels like Anjuna Deep.

• Start with a beefy analog kick sound as the base • Layer with off-beat snares to provide rhythmic reference points • Use minimal kick patterns rather than oversaturating the track • Create simple, straightforward drum foundations that allow creative freedom

• Add velocity changes and shuffle effects to hi-hats for randomness • Use hi-hat shuffles extensively throughout the break • Layer multiple snares with different tones and filtering • Apply reverb and plate effects to create spatial dimension • Incorporate open and closed hats with humanized timing variations

Add drum room effects and delays to give the drums a natural spatial feel. Apply distortion using PSP saturated and ABDQ compression to achieve a fuller, more organic sound that blends with the modern production style.

Hybrid rumbles are an increasingly popular trend in house and techno tracks that combine rumbling low-end frequencies with driving elements. Unlike classic rumbles, they blend distortion, reverb, delay, and compression to create a more complex and modern sound.

• Start with a peak-time kick as the foundation • Route the kick to a new channel and apply reverb or delay • Add heavy distortion and low-pass filtering to create sub-bass frequencies • Use compression with side-chain from the kick to create pumping action • Reduce stereo width to keep the rumble focused in the center

Resample the rumble to gain better control over its dynamics. Duplicate and flatten the kick to simplify mixing. Add EQ to shape the frequency content while maintaining the driving quality of the low end.

• Layer synthesized bass sounds on top of the hybrid rumble • Apply side-chain compression to the bass to work with the kick • Use filters to prevent bass from cluttering the rumble frequencies • Increase the BPM to enhance the driving energy • Create drum hits from kick sounds by shortening and EQing them

Fat cookie lead sounds are dense, harmonically rich synthesizer tones that became extremely popular in 2022, particularly in techno and afterlife music. They feature heavy distortion and frequency modulation that creates unique waveforms different from standard synthesizer sounds.

• Use two oscillators: sawtooth and square wave on the first, sine wave on the second • Enable cross-modulation to allow oscillators to modulate each other's waveforms • Apply LFO modulation to the pitch for dynamic variation • Distort the sine wave heavily to create harmonically rich frequencies

Frequency modulation is the key technique that sets these sounds apart from common waveforms. LFO 2 modulates the pitch of the oscillators creating dynamic pitch changes. The cross-modulation between oscillators creates bending effects that generate unique, complex tones not achievable with standard synthesis.

• Use plucky envelope shapes for articulation and expression • Apply delay effects to add spatial depth and movement • Layer plate reverb to enhance the richness and sustain • Combine all elements to achieve the final fat, distinctive cookie lead sound