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**THE ULtimate* list of Colour Bass Artists**

Last updated: 4/12/24

The other day I posted a video to socials providing an explanation of what Colour Bass is and why I felt we needed it as a new term to separate this style from what the term “Melodic Dubstep” now describes.

I suggested a handful of artists in the vid and a few people in the comments seemed eager to delve into their work.

It honestly seems MAD to me that there are people that follow me and don’t know about Ace Aura, Skybreak, Au5 or Sharks for example but here we are.

This inspired me to put together a master list of Colour Bass (+ adjacent styled) artists that I could point folks towards. With some help from Kaval I also discovered a ton of new artists contributing to this sound in the process that I have now added.

You can click on a name for a recommended track from me showcasing their colourful style OR listen to them all in one big Spotify playlist. Enjoy!

* This is by no means an exhaustive list but rather one I’ve curated based on my own personal tastes! I am entirely sure I’m missing some ace artists. I’ll try to update the list occasionally.

Operation: GROW COLOUR BASS

Posted 13/10/24

I recently posted a poll on Twitter and Instagram Stories about what is holding Colour Bass back from being a more mainstream success in the wider bass music scene. Here I’d like to discuss the results and what we can do as artists to guide this style of music towards gaining more success.

Thanks to everyone for the huge response on this!

The consensus seems to be that all the factors I mentioned are at play to some degree with the strongest emphasis on tracks not standing the test of time. Interestingly the point about people wanting darker bass music gained more votes on Instagram but that could be because the phrasing between the two polls was altered due to character limits and so might have been interpreted differently.

Here are the points I mentioned with ways they can be improved upon based on the feedback:

“Overly complex / syncopated” + “Too much emphasis on sound design”

Complex sound design and rhythms give the listener plenty to chew on when listening outside of a live context and help to make tracks much more replay-able as they provide more detail to pick out on repeat listens. The problem is that this hinders the experience on a first listen which is extremely important for the overall popularity and live playout potential of a track. An over-abundance of new sounds can also feel overwhelming and can come at you too fast to be fully appreciated.

Solution: Simpler rhythms and fewer bass sounds really help a crowd lock into the groove of a track and can help boost the earworm factor when paired with a strong riff.

“People want heavier / darker bass music”

It’s true that generally most people associate bass music with a darker vibe overall as it fits well with the “weight” the genre brings to the table. Although a brighter vibe can be popular too, it’s often paired with much more of a song-writing focus (like in most modern melodic dubstep). Colour Bass sits at an interesting point between these two worlds but depending on how it’s put together in can either compliment both sides or become a confusing mix. I wouldn’t rule out brighter sounding tunes entirely but I do think a darker tone for instrumental tracks could help the genre slot into the wider scene more seamlessly. I imagine those looking for heavy bass would be put off by seemingly contrasting twinkly sounds.

Solution: Vocal features can help draw in fans from the melodic dubstep side to complement brighter tracks. Leaning a little darker on more sound design-focused tracks can help make the sub-genre more appealing to bass heads.

“Not enough songwriting / memorable melodies” (forgettable tracks)

This is the biggest point by far with 41% of the vote on Twitter. Colour Bass is in a unique position to benefit from both ace sound design and strong musicality in one package but unfortunately a lot of tracks don’t work to the benefit of both of these aspects. Most Colour Bass tunes play with harmony a ton but fail to provide a solid melody alongside it. This can result in a track that “feels” melodic without containing any actual melodies to latch onto - therefore ending up quite hollow overall.

Solution: Harness the unique position of the sub-genre by showcasing strong melodies, riffs and vocal ideas at the forefront of drops while supporting them with cool sound design. Specific rhythms can also take the place of a riff (see: SVDDEN DEATH - Behemoth). Expand on the precedent set by tracks like: Skybreak - Waterfall, Ace Aura - Rise, Ximm - False, Paper Skies - Spirit Tell Me. We need more tracks that can be easily recognised through humming the main melody / riff to another in person.

Here are some other points made in the comments of the poll that I think are important:

“Marketing / branding from the artist”

More can be done to promote releases overall AND develop personal brands for each artist in our corner of the scene.

Solution: A more visible presence on socials that doesn’t feel fake or targeted exclusively to headbangers is needed. Unique story-telling and theming is something that can work really well with our style - this should be emphasised to create unique campaigns for each release. Paper Skies’ album launch and the “Terminal” music video from Skybreak & SpaceYeti are great examples of this.

“More vocal features”

Many Colour Bass tunes are instrumentals and so fail to tap into the wider audience looking for strong vocal performances. Many people even within the EDM scene won’t listen to music without vocals or rather are much more focused on vocals & lyrics than sound design.

Solution: Umm yeah fairly obvious - include more vocal features. Turning our tracks into “songs” can hugely help with memorability and boosting our appeal in both the live environment and streaming. Even more sound design-focused tracks could benefit from including short and simple vocal integrations from Splice or self-recorded etc. For example, think how differently a track like Oliverse - Get High would have performed without the vocal inclusion.

“Colour Bass as a term can be constricting”

Several artists in our crew have felt constrained by being grouped in and labelled as a “Colour Bass artist” and therefore feel pressured to make music that conforms to this style. This is certainly not conducive to creativity and so should definitely be addressed.

Solution: Take a looser approach to creativity in music production. The best tunes in this style aren’t going to come from sitting down to specifically write a Colour Bass track. Rather those constraints should be expanded to involve a whole host of musical styles within bass music that combines by heavy and more musical elements. This includes: removing any internal restraints of tempo, combinations of other sub-genres and styles, incorporation of anything “outside of what might be considered Colour Bass”. Ultimately the movement is all about keeping fun and creative bass music alive whether it be future-facing or bringing important elements back from Dubstep’s past eras.

Further to the points mentioned in the poll, here are some negative ideas floating around the sub-genre that we could work to change:

“Colour Bass is a gimmick / all sounds the same”

Some people see Colour Bass sound design as a gimmick and that it’s actually “(insert other sub-genre) with Pitchmap” or similar comments. This is largely true in the case of many producers embarking on the genre and even some more established artists. There’s always going to be this aspect of the sub-genre in the same way we saw a ton of “Terror Squad-like” tracks following Zomboy’s success post-2013.

I think though that us more established artists in the scene need to lead by example to help reduce this negative aspect of our work. Colour Bass can be so much more than “colourising” bass sounds - the original intention of the term was developed to incorporate everything that sits in the large spectrum between the islands of melodic and heavy bass music even before many of the new sound design techniques were developed.

Solution: De-emphasise the prominence of overused colour sound design techniques to focus on the wider picture of what can be offered by the sub-genre. Use these techniques tastefully and more naturally so the blending feels seamless rather than slapping Pitchmap, Chroma etc. on and calling it a day. To combat the “samey” claims, we should work on developing our own signature styles in different directions from each other to expand the scope of the style and become easily distinguishable from each other. We’re already making good moves on this - Ace Aura with heavier, Briddim-flavoured tunes, Skybreak incorporating some UK vibes, Kaval developing a Tearout-inspired sound, Convexity with their Jazz-influence and darker tones, KERO with a fresh, almost more Pop-ish take etc.

“Colour Bass is ONLY for: gamers, furries, other producers, rhythm game enthusiasts etc.”

As of right now there is a perception that Colour Bass is specifically targeted towards the “chronically online” - one that could be off-putting to the more extraverted, neurotypical show-goers of the scene along with the promoters and agents working to cater towards them.

It’s true for sure that a lot of us producers fall into these categories ourselves of online gamer, neurodivergent and queer communities and so naturally connect most readily with fans of the same groups. This is by no means something I wish to change entirely since it has resulted in such a welcoming and unique community around our music. However I do think there are some tweaks we can make to open up this circle to a wider audience.

Solution: Work to integrate more show-goers into our audience with all the above-mentioned changes to the music. Spread awareness and acceptance in our online presence to ensure we foster a safe and welcoming community in the live environment. This will have the added benefit of making our more “online” audience more comfortable attending shows. Recognise the parts of the Venn diagram we might be missing - there are ravers / wooks / headbangers that we may not initially connect to that might still enjoy Colour Bass. We should work to welcome them too.

“Colour Bass doesn’t go hard live”

This is a tough one to change since it depends on the opportunities that are given to us as artists based on our sub-genre’s overall success.

Solution: Take every live show as an opportunity to prove this wrong. Capture and share footage to socials that show how mad and fun a Colour Bass set can be. Work on everything else mentioned here to increase these future opportunities.

That basically wraps up my thoughts at the moment! I’ve been thinking a lot about this because ultimately I’d love to foster support for all the younger producers looking to get into making this style with a view to creating a sustainable career in music production. I really think that should be our overall goal - get us many of us into a position to call ourselves full-time music producers and support those making incredible new music for the love of the craft.

I’m currently working to shift my own work into this direction as much as possible and I’m excited to have more of these kinds of Chime tracks release through into 2025! 💙

Frequently asked questions

Last updated: 4/12/24

WHAT IS “COLOUR BASS / COLOR BASS”?

Update: I made a video explaining the basics of this!

A categorisation of bass music that focuses on melody, emotion and vibrancy alongside the weight and aggression often associated with dubstep. The sub-genre aims to fill the void equidistant between dark and light that has largely been left vacant in the scene, drawing on the best elements of both sides and exploring the fascinating possibilities of fusing tonality with midrange bass sound design.

It was a term I coined around 2016 to describe my own music that started to be picked up by other Rushdown artists before making a slightly more mainstream appearance from 2020 onwards with uses from artists like Virtual Riot, Flux Pavilion & Au5.

I originally envisioned it being a catch-all term to refer to any bass music that has both melodic and heavy elements. In that case early colour bass artists would include 501, Gemini, Xilent, Au5 & Flux Pavilion to name a few. I’d even say that “Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites” alongside other tracks Skrillex from that era were an important catalyst for the style. More recently though it’s become a shorthand for sound design techniques that merge tonality into traditional, midrange dubstep basses. Common techniques for this include vocoding, convolution with chord impulses, use of Zynaptiq Pitchmap, Morph plugins among many others. This takes the melodic + heavy ethos much more literally and I think, is an amazing and exciting advancement of the style. I’m very proud to have my term associated with this!

The best way to get a feel for the sub-genre is by checking out my Colour Bass Essentials Spotify playlist.

WHAT DAW, PLUGINS AND EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE?

DAW:

Logic X
previously Logic 9 and Garageband in the early days

Synth Plugins:

Native Instruments - Massive
Xfer - Serum

FX Plugins:

Cableguys - ShaperBox (for side-chaining)
Xfer - OTT, SerumFX, Dimension Expander
Kilohearts (various) - most notably: Frequency Shifter, Resonator
MeldaProduction (various) - most notably: MFreeformPhase, MFreqShifter, MMorph
iZotope - Ozone 5 (yes I like this old one for some reason), Trash 2
Valhalla - VintageVerb, Shimmer
oeksound - soothe2
DBlu - Glitch2
Goodhertz - Lossy
Sonic Charge - Echobode
Bertom - Denoiser
Xenakios - PaulXStretch
zplane - Retune
Zynaptiq - Pitchmap
Onboard Logic plugins - most notably: Space Designer (convolution reverb) + Bitcrusher

Equipment: (this really doesn’t matter too much but people want to know this all the time) 🤷‍♂️

Laptop: MacBook Pro 2023
Production / DJ headphones: KRK KNS8400s
Monitors: Don’t use em! I mix solely on headphones
Microphone: SE X1 Condenser Microphone / HyperX Quadcast (the rainbow one 🌈)

HOW AND WHY DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME “CHIME”?

When I decided to change my alias from “Dec3mber” back in 2015 I began collecting ideas for new names that could fit my brighter sound of dubstep. There were a few contenders but “Chime” ultimately won out once I came up with the idea to integrate a wind chime into the logo. Wind chimes and bells make some of my favourite sounds along with anything twinkly or sparkly so I thought this name would fit well with what already felt like a part of my signature sound. I’ve also been a fan of elemental themes from video games and other media all my life too and so choosing something to represent the wind / air element seemed fitting for a musical project (since sound is in essence the movement of air).

The name came to me from a previous track I’d made called “Chimes”.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PRODUCING?

Since around 2010.

DID YOU GO BY ANY PREVIOUS ALIASES?

Yes! I started off making music around 2010 with my cousin as “Caution & Crisis” before working solo as “Dec3mber” and the rebranding to “Chime” in 2015.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

I was born in 1994 - yes really. Still waiting to age.

HOW MUCH TIME ON AVERAGE DO YOU SPEND WRITING A TRACK?

This is a tough question to answer since it varies so much. Some tracks like “Double Jump” were completed within 24 hours but others - often collabs - can be chipped away at over the course of years. I also work on multiple projects at once and jump between them.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR ASPIRING PRODUCERS?

Don’t expect to learn how to produce overnight! I’ve been producing for 10+ years now and I’m still constantly learning and improving. At the beginning production and mixdown skills should be your number-one priority before anything else.

ARE YOU GONNA COME TO MY CITY TO PLAY A SHOW?

It totally depends on if there’s enough of a dubstep scene and enough of my fans there to make the show viable. I’ve played shows across Europe, North America and parts of Asia so far. Other than Australia - where I’m yet to play - if your city is outside of these continents it’s unfortunately unlikely I’ll be playing there.

QUESTION NOT ANSWERED?

Tweet at me!: https://twitter.com/ChimeTunes