Hardcore Punk Draft

Hardcore Punk Draft

This is the first draft for my hardcore punk track after I added bass guitar on top of the previous guitar and drum track. The only change to other parts of the track is that the intro was extended an extra 4 bars in order to incorporate the bass into the intro while keeping it so each instrument has a staggered introduction.



The bass in the track follows the guitars for almost all of the song to give the entire track a thick, driving guitar tone. This is extremely common in hardcore punk; it is a technique used almost exclusively by bass players in hardcore punk.

The only time the bass guitar does not follow the guitars is during the intro, in which it comes in after the 4th bar and emulates the drum pattern, creating a more intense intro, allowing for a smoother transition between the intro and first verse.

In terms of the mix, I gave the track a very light mix as most hardcore punk records used very basic equipment such as 8-track tape recorders and never had the capabilities to fully mix a track so tracks tended to sound like they were recorded live. This is sound I was aiming to achieve, though it proved to be difficult when using the in-built amp sims and programmed drums. I ended up mixing the track slightly to give it more clarity between the instruments, giving each instrument more definition, allowing for guitar riffs and bass lines to be more distinctive.

The first step I took was to balance the track so that the guitars were at the forefront of the track, as is common in hardcore punk music, I then balanced the track so that bass guitar was louder than the drum track as a prominent bass is common in hardcore punk. I then mixed the drums so they were the quietest part of the mix whilst still being clearly audible in order to keep the rhythm of the track.

I then panned the guitars right and left in order to get the guitars to blend together and create a stronger, more abrasive guitar tone. I left the other elements of the track in mono in order to create a strong sense of rhythm in the track between the bass and drums.

The guitars and drums were also compressed slightly to allow for more clarity in the playing, though I did not compress them too much as this would take away from the dirty feel of the track which is common in hardcore punk.

I also used a slight amount of E.Q. on each instrument in order to stop the instrumentation melding into each other, for example the kick drum and bass guitar. Doing this gives the instruments more definition and allows for everything in the track to be audible.