Bubblegum bass

History and character

“Bubblegum bass” is the name given in the mid-2010s to the original sound of the London label and collective PC Music (founded in 2013 by A. G. Cook) and of close artists such as SOPHIE: the direct root of hyperpop. It is a hyper-synthetic pop that exaggerates the conventions of commercial pop, J-pop and K-pop, trance and eurodance, advertising and ringtones, with an attitude that is ambiguous between homage and satire of consumerism. Artists: A. G. Cook, SOPHIE (Bipp, Lemonade, Hard), Hannah Diamond (Every Night, Fade Away), GFOTY, Danny L Harle (Broken Flowers), easyFun, Felicita, Kane West, QT (a project by Cook and SOPHIE with Hayden Dunham, Hey QT, 2014). Charli XCX brought this sound into mainstream pop with Vroom Vroom (2016), Pop 2 (2017) and her later work.

The sound: high-pitched, pitch-shifted female vocals, “plastic” and rubbery synthetic timbres, metallic percussion, bouncing basses, trance supersaws and J-pop piano, extreme compression, childlike melodies and choruses that sound like jingles. The production is extremely precise: where later hyperpop becomes dirty and distorted (100 gecs, digicore), bubblegum bass is glossy and “too perfect.” SOPHIE created almost all the sounds through synthesis, starting from simple waveforms and shaping them until they sounded like physical objects (bubbles, latex, metal).

Scales and keys

In the modes, Roman numerals refer to the scale of the mode.

Major (Ionian)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (T T S T T T S). In D: D E F# G A B C#.
• Characteristic note: major 3rd and 7th: “commercial” sweetness.
• Chords: I D – ii Em – iii F#m – IV G – V A – vi Bm; with maj7 and add9 (Dmaj7, Gadd9).
• Use: IV–V–iii–vi loops (royal road, a J-pop legacy), I–V–vi–IV, major trance progressions.

Lydian (“airy” suspension)

• Formula: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. In F Lydian: F G A B C D E. Crystalline pads and piano with the #4.

Natural minor (melancholic trance)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. i–VI–III–VII loops from 2000s trance (Danny L Harle).

Major pentatonic

• 1 2 3 5 6: childlike jingle hooks.

How to choose

Jingle and cute: major and pentatonic. Trance euphoria: Aeolian or major with bVI–bVII. Digital dream: Lydian.

Harmony

Function

Clean, simple pop harmony, with J-pop influence (royal road) and trance (epic loops); bright chords with maj7 and add9; modulations are rare but sharp. The value lies in the precision of the timbre and the exaggeration of clichés.

Techniques

• Royal road and J-pop progressions.
• Trance chords with supersaws and sidechain.
• J-pop/K-pop ballad piano in some sections.
• Sudden silences and cuts as a harmonic element.

Voicing

Chords in the high register, bright, thin pads; bass that jumps by octaves.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Dance-pop and eurodance with a four-on-the-floor kick (125–150), half-time future bass with chord swells, light trap sections, breakdowns with no drums. Absolute quantization, swing 0%, ultra-defined transients. Sudden silence (everything stops for half a bar) is a frequent rhythmic gesture.

Drums

Kick

Four on the floor, short and “rubbery” (fast pitch envelope), or a trap kick; heavily compressed.

Snare and clap

Metallic claps and snaps on 2 and 4; high-pitched synthetic snares; trance snare rolls.

Hi-hat and percussion

Synthetic sixteenth-note hats, “object” percussion (drops, bubbles, metal, latex), bells.

Interaction

Bouncing bass that jumps between the kicks; very high vocal in the center.

By section

Intro: vocal or synth; verse: minimal beat; chorus: four-on-the-floor kick and supersaws; breakdown: piano and vocal; final drop.

Fills and sounds

Risers, hard stops, sounds synthesized from scratch. Mistakes: “dirty” or organic samples (bubblegum bass is artificial and clean).

Bass

• Sound: bouncing synthetic basses with pitch envelope, square and sine with light distortion, “rubbery” FM basses.
• Notes: root and octave, octave jumps in sixteenth notes, glissandi.
• Relationship with the kick: sharp sidechain; bass and kick alternate.
• Examples: SOPHIE — Lemonade, A. G. Cook — Beautiful.

Harmonic instruments

Trance supersaws, crystalline pads, J-pop piano, FM bells and mallets, ringtone and jingle sounds, “plastic” synths. Bright voicings in the high register.

Melody and vocals

• Vocals: high-pitched, pitch-shifted female voices, “commercial” or idol timbre, obvious Auto-Tune, almost robotic spoken voices (Hannah Diamond).
• Melody: simple, repeated hooks, jingle phrases, lyrics about consumerism, digital love, products.
• Effects: pitch shift, formant, Auto-Tune, bright reverbs, tempo-synced delay.

Instruments

DAW, synths (FM, wavetable, subtractive), processed voice, synthetic drum machine, piano, ringtone samples.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• DX7 V — FM bells, mallets and bubbles: The “plastic,” crystalline timbre typical of bubblegum bass.
• CZ V — Digital basses and leads: Phase distortion for rubbery sounds.
• Jup-8 V — Supersaw and pads: Bright trance chords.
• Prophet-VS V — Crystalline pads: Evolving digital pads.
• Piano V — J-pop piano: Ballad sections.

Song structure

Length 2:30–3:30.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Glossy, bright, hyper-defined: every sound separated with surgical precision, high vocal up front, bouncing basses, no dirt. References: SOPHIE — Lemonade, Hannah Diamond — Every Night, QT — Hey QT, Danny L Harle — Broken Flowers, Charli XCX — Vroom Vroom.

Kick and bass

HP 25 Hz; short kick with click; bass with clean sub and presence at 1–2 kHz; sidechain 4–6 dB; mono below 150 Hz.

Percussion

HP 300 Hz; transient shaper; wide pan for “object” sounds; short, bright reverbs.

Synths

HP 200 Hz; OTT 20–40%; sidechain; wide stereo; dynamic dip from the vocal.

Vocal

Auto-Tune (fast retune), pitch/formant; EQ with air +4/+6 dB above 10 kHz (very bright vocal), HP 150 Hz; heavy serial compression (12–15 dB); de-esser; short, bright plate.

Buses and groups

Drum bus with light clipper; vocal bus with minimal saturation.

Master

Chain EQ → clipper → limiter. Target −7/−5 LUFS, true peak ≤ −1 dBTP, PLR 6–8 dB.

Common mistakes

Organic or dirty sounds that break the artifice; harsh high vocal at 3–6 kHz without a de-esser; too much distortion (that is the aesthetic of later hyperpop, not of bubblegum bass).

Mix reference tracks

SOPHIE — Lemonade (2014); Hannah Diamond — Every Night (2014); QT — Hey QT (2014); Charli XCX — Vroom Vroom (2016).

Reference listening

• SOPHIE — Bipp (2013)
• SOPHIE — Lemonade (2014)
• QT — Hey QT (2014)
• Hannah Diamond — Every Night (2014)
• GFOTY — Don't Wanna / Let's Do It (2014)
• Danny L Harle — Broken Flowers (2016)
• Charli XCX — Vroom Vroom (2016)