Trip-Hop & Downtempo
Slow, dusty, cinematic beats: lazy swung breaks, vinyl-worn samples, sub-heavy bass, noir chords and dub space — the Live 12 recipes for the Bristol-to-everywhere sound.
Trip-hop is hip-hop slowed to a crawl and shot in black and white: 60–95 BPM, a break that drags behind the grid, bass that is felt before heard, minor-key chords or a looped string/Rhodes phrase from a record that sounds older than it is, and dub effects swallowing the edges. The identity is as much texture as notes — vinyl crackle, tape hiss, band-limited samples, a snare that cracks and then dies into spring reverb. Mood: nocturnal, paranoid, sensual, slightly stoned. Stylistic reference points only: the Bristol axis (Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky), the sampledelic side (DJ Shadow, UNKLE), the French/Vienna downtempo school (Kruder & Dorfmeister, Air), and the modern "dark downtempo" lineage that borders on dub techno and halftime. For a dark dub live set this is home territory: the same sends, slower drums, more sample dirt.
Sonic signature
- BPM
- 60–95. Classic Bristol 65–85; "downtempo" lounge 85–100; dark downtempo / halftime-adjacent 70 felt as 140.
- Swing
- Heavy and lopsided: 58–66% on 1/16, plus the snare dragged 10–25 ms late and the kick slightly early. The MPC-60/SP-1200 feel, exaggerated.
- Key feel
- Minor and modal: Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian; a lot of i – iv – VI and chromatic bass movement. Often one looped sample defines the harmony.
- Dominant elements
- Break (sampled or layered), sub bass, sample loop / Rhodes / strings, vocal (sung or whispered), dub delay & spring, vinyl noise layer.
- Dynamics
- Moderate, drum-led. Drums compressed hard (SP-1200 style), the rest loose. −12 to −9 LUFS for "modern", −14 for the classic feel.
- Stereo image
- Narrow-ish and mono-compatible; sample loops are often mono by nature. Width from reverb/delay returns and a stereo Rhodes.
Core elements & how to make them in Live 12
The lazy break: Simpler slices, re-sequenced, dragged and crushed
Slice a drum break at 90–100 BPM, play it back at 70–80, re-sequence the hits so the snare lands late, then crush it. The slowed break's natural pitch drop is part of the sound; don't "fix" it.
- Drop a break into Simpler, Slice mode, by Transient, sensitivity so each kick/snare/hat is its own slice. Right-click → slice to new Drum Rack (or "Slice to new MIDI track").
- Turn Warp off on the slices and pitch the whole rack −2 to −4 semitones: the slowed-down tape sound.
- Re-sequence on a 1/16 grid at 75 BPM: kick on 1 and the "a" of 2, snare on 3 (dragged +20 ms via clip nudge or Track Delay), ghost snares at low velocity on the 16ths before the beat, hats where the break had them.
- Redux at 12-bit, sample rate ~22 kHz with the filter on: SP-1200 grit. Drum Buss Drive 25–35%, Crunch for the mid distortion, Transients slightly negative (−10%) for the "soft" MPC hit, Boom at the kick fundamental.
- Compressor 8:1, attack 1 ms, release 80 ms, 5–8 dB GR — flattened, pumping drums are the point.
Layered programmed drums: Drum Sampler kick under the break, SP-style snare
Breaks rarely have enough bottom at 75 BPM. Layer a soft sub-kick and a snappy snare under the slice rack, phase-aligned.
- Kick: Drum Sampler with a short 808-ish kick, pitch to the song's key (see note-to-Hz), decay 300–450 ms, Sub on, filter LP 2 kHz so there is no click competing with the break's kick. Velocity 90–110, same hits as the break.
- Snare: a dry, hard snare (SP/MPC-era samples or Drum Sampler with Noise and short Punch), pitch −2 st, decay 140 ms. Layer a rim or a clap 10 ms late at −8 dB for width.
- Use Align Delay in each layer to nudge the sample kick so its first peak coincides with the break's kick transient (check in the waveform; typically 2–8 ms).
- Group the break rack and the layer rack, Glue Compressor on the group, then Saturator Analog Clip.
Felt-not-heard bass: Operator sine with a Wavetable growl layer
Two layers: a pure sub for the chest and a filtered, slightly growly layer for the harmonic outline. The bass plays long, slow, chromatic lines — half notes and whole notes, with slides.
- Operator: A sine only, Voices 1 (mono), Glide/portamento ~60 ms, amp env A 8 ms, D 0, S 1, R 150 ms. Pitch env off.
- Wavetable: Osc 1 Basics saw, Sub oscillator on at −6 dB, filter 1 MS2 LP 24 dB around 300 Hz with Drive 20%. Env 2 → cutoff +15%, attack 60 ms (a soft "wah" on each note). Unison Classic 2 voices, tiny detune.
- Both get the same MIDI (two tracks, or one Instrument Rack with two chains). Keep the growl layer −6 to −10 dB below the sub.
- Write the line as slow movement: root for a bar, chromatic step down, back up to the 5th. Trip-hop bass is a dirge.
Noir Rhodes and the "found string" loop: Electric + Simpler + Vinyl Distortion
Harmony usually comes from one of two places: a Rhodes played with a lot of tremolo and no top end, or a 2–4 bar string/organ phrase "sampled" from a record. Make both from Live and age them.
- Electric: Rhodes-style preset, Mallet force mid, Tine/Tone bell low, damper mid. Play minor 9ths and 7ths in the low-mid register (C3–C4 voicings).
- Auto Pan-Tremolo (12.3) in Tremolo mode synced to 1/8 triplets, 30–50% depth — the suitcase amp vibrato.
- Phaser at 0.15 Hz, Vinyl Distortion with Tracing model for the worn-record midrange, then LP at 4–5 kHz. The Rhodes should sound like it was recorded in 1972 and re-sampled in 1994.
- "Found string" variation: record 4 bars of Wavetable (Collection > Strings-type table, slow attack) or a real string multisample in Simpler playing a two-chord figure. Resample it, then load the resample into Simpler, Classic mode, Warp on in Complex Pro at a slightly wrong tempo (±3%), pitch −1 st. Vinyl Distortion, LP 6 kHz, mono.
- Chop the resampled loop into 1-bar and 2-bar segments and rearrange: the "sample" should feel lifted, not played.
Close whispered vocal with telephone double and spring tail
The vocal sits very close and dry in the centre, intimate to the point of discomfort, with an EQ'd double behind it and a spring/plate tail that only shows between phrases.
- Main vocal: HP 90 Hz, dip 300 Hz for boxiness, slight presence lift at 3 kHz, compress fairly hard with a fast release so breaths come up. Saturator Soft Sine 2 dB for the tape-y top.
- Double: duplicate the track, Auto Filter band-pass 24 dB around 1.2 kHz, resonance 20%, Redux mild, pan 20% off-centre, −10 dB. Delay it 12 ms with Align Delay. This is the "radio" ghost.
- Sends: spring/plate return with a sidechain-ducking Compressor keyed from the dry vocal (3–4 dB GR, release 400 ms), tape delay 1/4-dotted at low level with feedback 40% and the Echo filter LP 2.5 kHz.
- Optional: Auto Shift (12.1) with a very slow LFO (±8 cents) on the double only, for a tape-warble that never matches the main.
The vinyl/tape noise bed and the "needle drop"
A continuous crackle/hiss layer on its own track, sidechained to breathe with the drums, plus one-shot needle-drop and tape-stop gestures at transitions.
- Noise source: Operator with only an osc set to Noise (or an audio clip of real run-out groove). Vinyl Distortion with Crackle high and Drive at zero — you want its crackle generator, not its distortion.
- Band-limit 300 Hz–7 kHz. Set to around −38 dB; audible in the gaps, invisible under the drums. Sidechain it lightly from the drum bus so it ducks on hits — this fakes the "whole mix went through a record" effect.
- Needle drop: a 300 ms burst of this noise at +15 dB with a short HP sweep, placed at the first beat of a section. Tape stop: a Simpler one-shot of the previous 2 bars with the pitch envelope diving −48 st over 600 ms, or the Echo delay time dragged from 1/8 to 1 s with high feedback.
Dub space: Echo + spring returns tuned for slow tempos
The same return structure as dub reggae, slowed down: at 75 BPM a 3/8 delay is 1.2 s, so feedback must be lower or the repeats pile up for a whole phrase.
- Echo at slower tempos: shorter subdivisions (1/4-dotted and 3/16) and 40–50% feedback. Duck on so the tail hides under the dry. Throws on the last snare of a phrase, the end of a vocal line, a Rhodes chord.
- Plate rather than hall for the "space": plate IR at 1.5–2 s, pre-delay 20 ms. Snare at 30%, vocal 25%, Rhodes 10%.
- Both returns' low end cut hard; the sub stays dry and mono.
Cinematic texture: Granulator III on a horn or choir, plus Spectral Resonator
The low string swell, the far-away horn, the choir that might be a sample — the widescreen layer under the break. Granulate a short orchestral or vocal sample and resonate it to the key.
- A one-second horn stab or choir "ah" into Granulator III; grains 120–200 ms, Spray 25–35%, scan slowly, pitch −12 for the low-brass darkness. Amp env A 1.5 s, R 3 s.
- Spectral Resonator after it, in MIDI mode: feed it the chord progression from the Rhodes track (route MIDI to the resonator's track). The granular smear gets pulled into the harmony.
- Sidechain the whole layer from the kick with a slow release (600 ms) so it swells between hits.
Variations: Run the layer through the modular (External Audio Effect) into a wavefolder and a spring tank if you have one — physical spring on a granular cloud is a very trip-hop sound.
Notes & harmony
Trip-hop harmony comes from the records it samples: jazz, soul, film scores and spy themes. Minor keys dominate, mostly Aeolian and Dorian, with minor 7 and minor 9 chords, half-diminished (m7b5) and dominant 7b9 chords for noir tension, and the minor-major 7 for that orchestral, Bond-like drama. The line cliché (one voice descending chromatically under a held minor chord: i, i(maj7), i7, i6) is the most recognisable harmonic gesture of the genre. The bass is round and slow, often a real or sampled electric bass: root, fifth and b7 with chromatic approach notes, swung, and leaving room for the kick. D, E and G minor keep the bass fundamental between 37 and 49 Hz; at 80–95 BPM there is space for long, warm notes.
Minor bass groove, D minor (88 BPM)
D minor at 88 BPM with 60–65% swing on the 16ths. Bar 1 outlines Dm7 (D, F, A, C) and bar 2 moves to the iv (G minor), with the last note, E0, approaching D0 from a step above. Use a sine-plus-triangle bass or a sampled bass guitar through Saturator and a low-pass at 800 Hz. Variation: replace the ghost on step 6 with a muted dead note on a short noise burst for a more played feel.
Line cliché strings: Dm → Dm(maj7) → Dm7 → Dm6
D minor at 84 BPM, on a sampled or Meld string patch with a slow attack (300–500 ms). The held F and A give stability while the falling semitones turn the same chord through four colours, the C# (major 7) being the most dramatic. Keep the bass on D0 (36.7 Hz) throughout, or descend the bass instead of the top voice for an even darker version. Variation: continue the descent to Bb3 and resolve to an A7 chord for a full noir cadence.
Noir Rhodes: Em7b5 → A7b9 → Dm9
D minor at 86 BPM. The minor ii–V–i: the half-diminished ii and the A7b9 (rootless C#–E–G–Bb, a diminished 7th shape) are pure tension, and Dm9 releases it. Play it on an electric piano with tremolo (Auto Pan-Tremolo at a slow rate), then resample, pitch it down 2–3 semitones and add vinyl noise for the sampled-from-a-record feel. Variation: hold the A7b9 for a full bar and drop the resolution entirely on every other cycle.
Groove & programming
- Swing is the genre. Start from the Groove Pool's MPC 16 Swing 62–66, Timing 70–100%, Random 10%, Velocity 50%. Apply to hats and percussion; apply a lighter copy (50% timing) to the bass so it leans with the drums without blurring.
- Lopsided grooves. Extract a groove from a slowed break (the Simpler slice clip itself) and apply it to programmed layers: the sampled drummer's feel becomes the set's clock.
- Track Delay. Snare +15 to +25 ms, hats −5 ms, kick 0, bass −8 ms. This is cheaper and more controllable than editing every clip.
- Live 12 MIDI tools. Rhythm generator with low density for hat variations per 4 bars; Velocity Shaper for ghost-note crescendos into the snare; Time Warp with a "late" curve on the whole drum clip to drag the back half of each bar; Ornament on snare hits for flams; Strum on Rhodes chords at 20–40 ms spread so the chords roll.
- Sampling workflow. Resample everything through a "record" chain (Vinyl Distortion → EQ LP 7 kHz → Saturator) and work from the resamples. Sample yourself playing 8 bars badly on Push, slice it, keep three slices. Bounce in place (12.2) for quick commits.
- Push / performance. Pads for break slices with Repeat off; one encoder on Echo feedback, one on the Drum Buss Drive, one on a Utility gain for the sub. The set's tension is in those three knobs and the mutes.
- Modular. CV Tools CV Clock Out with a swung clock? No — Live's swing lives in the MIDI; instead use CV Triggers from a eurorack random/Bernoulli gate into Live to fire hat variations, and let the modular render the growl bass from CV Instrument.
Arrangement template
Trip-hop arrangements are song-like but slow: an intro that introduces the texture, a verse where the beat drops and the vocal enters, a chorus that is mostly "more of everything", and a long outro where the dub mix takes over. 96 bars at 75 BPM ≈ 5 min.
Mix & master targets
- Drums loud and crushed, everything else soft. Drum bus to −6 dBFS peak with 4–8 dB of compression; sub −8 dBFS; sample/Rhodes −14; vocal −10. The genre's loudness is in the drums alone.
- Loudness. −12 to −10 LUFS integrated; true peak −1 dB. A classic-feel master at −14 LUFS with no limiter at all is legitimate. Avoid brickwalling the snare transient — it is the only bright thing in the mix.
- Width. Mono below 150 Hz. Sample layer mono or very narrow. Rhodes 60–80% wide via the stereo tremolo. Returns full width. Check in mono — the dragged snare must still crack.
- Darkness. Mix-bus low-pass at 14–16 kHz, or a high shelf −2 dB at 8 kHz. Trip-hop is dark by definition; if your mix is bright, it's downtempo pop.
- Colouring. Mix bus: Saturator Analog Clip 2 dB → Glue Compressor 2:1, attack 30 ms, release 0.4 s, 2 dB GR → a tape-ish Roar in Serial (Soft Sine → Diode, both low drive, post LP 15 kHz) at 30% dry/wet. Vinyl Distortion on the master at 5% Tracing is a cheap "whole mix through a record".
- Sub check. The sine sub and the sample kick must not cancel: flip the sub's polarity in Utility and keep whichever sums louder at 50–60 Hz.
Signature rack
Sub-styles
| Sub-style | What changes | Live 12 focus |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol trip-hop | 65–85 BPM, dragged breaks, sung vocals, spring and tape, cinematic strings | Simpler slicing, Track Delay, Echo/Hybrid Reverb returns, Vinyl Distortion |
| Sampledelic / instrumental | Collage of many samples, scratch-like edits, heavier drums, no vocal | Simpler Slice, Beat Repeat, Stem separation, Recombine |
| Lounge / Vienna downtempo | 85–100 BPM, cleaner Rhodes, dubbier bass, jazz chords, lighter drums | Electric, Analog bass, Chorus-Ensemble, less Redux |
| Dark downtempo / halftime-adjacent | 70 felt as 140, sub-heavy, 808-ish kicks, dubstep-influenced bass, minimal samples | Operator sub, Drum Sampler, Roar on bass, see halftime page |
| Lofi-crossover | Cleaner, cuter, more Rhodes, less noir; steady 1/8 hats | See lofi hip-hop page |
| Dub-trip (your set) | Dub reggae send desk + trip-hop drums + modular drones; long versions, mutes as form | Dub delay send rack + this page's drum crusher + CV Tools drones |
Common mistakes
- Straight 1/16 hats. The hats carry the swing; if they are gridded the whole thing stiffens. Groove at 60%+ or none at all with hand-played hats.
- Snare on the grid. Push it late. Every time.
- Too bright. Low-pass the samples, low-pass the hats, low-pass the mix. Air is for other genres.
- Clean, hi-fi drums. A pristine break at 75 BPM sounds like a drum tutorial. Redux, Drum Buss, compression — in that order, and more than seems reasonable.
- Fake-vinyl on everything. One noise bed, sidechained. Vinyl Distortion on every track just adds mud at 300 Hz.
- Synth bass that sounds like a synth. Sub + growl, low-passed, played in slow chromatic lines; no filter wobble, no resonance.
- Busy harmony. Two chords, maybe three. The sample loop is the song; don't write a bridge.
Related
- Sub bass · Snare & clap · Hi-hats & percussion · Keys & mallets · Voice & vocals · Dub FX & delays · Textures, foley & noise
- Deconstruction: trip-hop track · Deconstruction: halftime track
- Drum bus rack · Dub delay send rack · Vocal chop rack · Resampling rack · Granular rack
- Compression & glue · Saturation & distortion · Parallel processing · Resampling workflow · Transient design
- Sampler, Simpler & Drum Rack · Dub reggae · Boom bap · Lofi hip-hop · Halftime & footwork · BPM to ms