Master the art of UK garage production with our comprehensive tutorial series, covering everything from basic drum programming to advanced production techniques used by Big Drum Records artists.
Our UK garage production tutorials are designed to take you from complete beginner to confident producer capable of creating professional-quality tracks. Unlike generic electronic music tutorials, every lesson in our series focuses specifically on the techniques, sounds, and approaches that define authentic UK garage music.
Each tutorial is created by producers who have been making UK garage music for decades. Tova Brown, Chris Bass, Ray Hurley, and Jeff Big Drum share their personal techniques, workflow tips, and the secrets behind their signature sounds. You're not just learning theory—you're learning the real-world production methods used on actual Big Drum Records releases.
Before diving into production techniques, it's essential to understand what makes UK garage unique. The genre emerged in the mid-1990s from the UK underground club scene, combining elements of house music, jungle, and R&B. What set it apart was its distinctive shuffled rhythm, deep sub-bass, and the use of chopped vocal samples.
The signature UK garage shuffle comes from the swing applied to the hi-hats and percussion. This isn't just a simple quantization setting—it's a feel that requires understanding the relationship between the kick drum, snare, and hi-hat patterns. Our tutorials break down this rhythm in detail, showing you exactly how to program drums that groove like classic UK garage tracks.
The bassline in UK garage is equally important. Unlike the straight four-on-the-floor bass of house music, UK garage basslines roll and move, creating a sense of forward momentum. They work in tandem with the kick drum, often ducking out of the way using sidechain compression to create that pumping effect that's essential to the genre.
The drums are the heart of any UK garage track. Getting the drum programming right is crucial—it's what makes people move on the dancefloor and what gives the genre its distinctive energy. Our drum programming tutorials cover everything from basic 2-step patterns to complex polyrhythmic arrangements.
We start with the fundamentals: understanding the difference between 4x4 house beats and 2-step garage rhythms. In UK garage, the kick drum typically hits on beats 1 and 3, but the snare placement is what creates the signature bounce. Rather than landing squarely on beats 2 and 4 like in house music, the snare in UK garage often hits slightly off the beat, creating that shuffled, syncopated feel.
Hi-hats and percussion are where UK garage really comes alive. The hi-hat pattern typically runs at double-time (16th notes), but with swing applied to create the shuffle. We'll show you how to program these patterns, how much swing to apply, and how to layer different hi-hat sounds to create depth and movement.
Beyond the basic patterns, our tutorials cover advanced techniques like ghost notes, drum fills, percussion layering, and how to create variation throughout your track to keep the energy building. We also discuss the importance of drum selection—choosing the right kick, snare, and hi-hat samples can make or break your UK garage production.
The bassline in UK garage is just as important as the drums. A great UK garage bassline is deep, rolling, and perfectly locked in with the kick drum. Our bassline tutorials teach you how to design bass sounds from scratch, how to program basslines that complement your drum patterns, and how to process your bass to sit perfectly in the mix.
We cover different types of bass sounds used in UK garage: deep sub-bass that you feel more than hear, Reese bass with its characteristic wobble, and more melodic basslines that add musical interest. Each type of bass requires different synthesis techniques and processing approaches, which we demonstrate in detail.
One of the most important concepts in UK garage production is the relationship between the kick drum and the bass. These two elements need to work together, not fight for space in the low end. We teach you how to use sidechain compression to create that pumping effect where the bass ducks out of the way when the kick hits, then swells back in between kicks.
Our tutorials also cover bass processing techniques: EQ to carve out space in the mix, saturation to add harmonics and presence, compression to control dynamics, and effects like chorus and phaser to add movement and width. By the end of our bassline series, you'll be able to create bass sounds that rival professional UK garage releases.
Vocal samples are a defining characteristic of UK garage music. From the early days of the genre, producers have been chopping up R&B and soul vocals, creating new melodies and hooks from existing recordings. Our tutorials teach you the art of vocal sampling: how to find the right acapellas, how to chop them effectively, and how to process them to fit your production.
We cover time-stretching techniques to match vocals to your track's tempo without losing quality, pitch shifting to create harmonies or change the key, and creative effects like reverb, delay, and filtering to make vocals sit in the mix. You'll learn how to create those signature UK garage vocal chops that add energy and catchiness to your tracks.
Beyond vocals, we also discuss sampling in general: finding interesting sounds, clearing samples legally, and incorporating samples into your productions in creative ways. Sampling is an art form in itself, and understanding how to do it well is essential for authentic UK garage production.
A great UK garage track isn't just about having good drums and bass—it's about arranging those elements in a way that builds energy, creates tension, and keeps listeners engaged from start to finish. Our arrangement tutorials teach you the typical structure of UK garage tracks and how to create your own arrangements that work on the dancefloor and in DJ sets.
We break down classic UK garage tracks to show you how they're structured: the intro that establishes the groove, the build-up that creates anticipation, the drop that releases energy, and the breakdown that provides contrast before building back up again. Understanding this structure is crucial for creating tracks that DJs want to play and audiences want to hear.
Our tutorials also cover more advanced arrangement techniques: creating variation to keep your track interesting, using automation to add movement and dynamics, building tension through filtering and effects, and crafting intros and outros that make your tracks easy for DJs to mix.
We also discuss the importance of arrangement for different contexts: club tracks need extended intros and outros for mixing, radio edits need to be more concise and hook-focused, and streaming releases benefit from getting to the main drop quickly. Understanding these different approaches allows you to create versions of your tracks that work in any context.
Beyond specific techniques, our tutorials also cover workflow and efficiency. How do professional producers work so quickly? How do they maintain creativity while staying organized? We share the workflow tips and organizational strategies used by Big Drum Records artists to produce tracks efficiently without sacrificing quality.
This includes setting up project templates with your most-used sounds and effects chains, organizing your sample library for quick access, using MIDI controllers effectively, and developing a production routine that keeps you in a creative flow state. These workflow improvements can dramatically speed up your production process and help you finish more tracks.
We also discuss the creative process: how to start a track when you're staring at a blank project, how to overcome creative blocks, how to know when a track is finished, and how to maintain objectivity about your own productions. These soft skills are just as important as technical knowledge for becoming a successful producer.
Our tutorial series is designed as a complete learning path. If you're a complete beginner, start with our "Getting Started" category to understand the basics of UK garage and set up your production environment. From there, move through drum programming, basslines, and melody before tackling arrangement and structure.
For intermediate producers who already understand the basics, you can jump straight into the more advanced tutorials on specific techniques. Each tutorial is self-contained, so you can learn in whatever order makes sense for your current projects and goals.
Advanced producers will find value in our workflow tips, creative techniques, and the insights shared by our artists about their personal production approaches. Even if you've been producing for years, there's always something new to learn, especially when it comes to the specific nuances of UK garage production.
Join thousands of producers learning authentic UK garage production techniques from Big Drum Records. Our tutorials are constantly updated with new content, techniques, and insights from our artists.
