Bootstrap Paradox | Track Walkthrough

In this course, False Relation walks us through a liquid Drum & Bass track forthcoming on Education & Bass Recordings entitled ‘Bootstrap Paradox’.

Inspiration for musical composition comes from many places and for this particular track, it was a concept from the TV show ‘Dark’ that sparked the ideas. A bootstrap paradox is the idea that if something has been created in the future and brought back in time to be utilised there, it loses its point of creation and origin which has a huge influence on the structural elements. Through exploration of the track, False Relation discusses her processes, compositional techniques as well as structure and variation. There are a number of ideas explored that can be utilised within your own music.

Part 1 explores ideas such as sound paletting through sampling and her use of instrumentation and vocals within the track.

Part 2 shows how to write a melodic bass idea within the key of the track and around the instrumentation and the use of colour coding in Ableton to create small variations to add interest. Additionally, there is exploration of using multiple versions from the same sound source to create progression within the track.

Part 3 takes a look at the way in which the drums are varied at points within the track and how reverberant percussion can become an integral part and be used musically, as well as percussively.

Part 4 summarises the course by exploring the use of location markers within Ableton to make sure that each 16 bars is its own entity within the track and allows a clear progression throughout.

If you would like to see more music production, music business and music theory video tutorials then please head over to the Education & Bass Youtube channel. Alternatively, go and view all of our lessons on our site here.