Instrumental grime

History and character

Grime emerged in London, especially East London, in the early 2000s, developing out of UK garage with influences from jungle, dancehall and hip hop. It spread first through pirate radio (Rinse FM, Deja Vu, Major FM, Delight FM, Freeze 92.7, Mission) and thanks to crews such as So Solid Crew (Delight FM), Heartless Crew (Mission) and Pay As U Go (Rinse FM). The "dark garage" of Wookie, Zed Bias, El-B and others, and breakstep tracks such as DJ Zinc's "138 Trek", prepared a rougher garage; Youngstar's "Pulse X" (Musical Mob, 2002), considered the first "8-bar" instrumental, marks the shift to what around 2004 came to be called grime. MCs became central and the sound moved closer to rap than to soul.

This entry treats grime as instrumental music (the "instrumentals" that MCs rap over and that are also played on their own). The early contenders: Wiley's "Eskimo" (produced around 1999–2000, released in 2002), Wiley's "Year 2000" (2000), Pay As U Go's "Know We" and So Solid Crew's "Dilemma" (2000), Dizzee Rascal's "Crime" (2000, which he claims as the first grime track); then Dizzee Rascal's "I Luv U", Ruff Sqwad's XTC "Functions on the Low" (2004, reused by Stormzy for "Shut Up" in 2015), Wiley's "Wearing My Rolex" (produced by Bless Beats, no. 2 in the UK). Key producers: Wiley, Youngstar, XTC and Ruff Sqwad, Bless Beats, Danny Weed, Terror Danjah, Scratcha DVA, DJ Target, Jammer, Skepta (as a producer), Logos, Mumdance, Sticky.

The instrumental sound: 140 BPM, fast, syncopated breakbeats, an aggressive, "jagged" electronic sound, square and sawtooth waves from video games and ringtones (the 1994 game "Wolverine: Adamantium Rage" is cited for a square-wave bass), icy synths ("eskibeat", invented by Wiley), East Asian motifs and samples from kung fu films ("sinogrime"). Almost everything is produced with FruityLoops. There is a "war dub" culture: instrumentals used as dissing between producers (in 2013 Bless Beats's "Wardub" on Twitter set off a chain of responses; the same year over a hundred Japanese producers took part in the War Dub Japan Cup).

Scales and keys

Instrumental grime is minor and "cold": Aeolian, Phrygian, chromaticism; often melodies of 3–5 notes with square waves. Examples in F minor, E and D (Roman numerals relative to the natural minor).

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. T S T T S T T. On F: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb.
• Chords: i Fm, ii° G°, III Ab, iv Bbm, v Cm, VI Db, VII Eb.
• Use: synth riffs and "stabs" on i–VI or i–VII; square-wave basses on the tonic.

Phrygian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. S T T T S T T. On E: E F G A B C D.
• Characteristic note: b2 (F): tension and aggression.
• Chords: i Em, bII F, III G, iv Am, v° B°, VI C, vii Dm.
• Use: "eski" riffs and stabs oscillating by a semitone; E–F bass.

Harmonic minor and pentatonic "sinogrime"

• Harmonic minor on D: D E F G A Bb C# (major V A, leading tone C#).
• Minor pentatonic on D: D F G A C; "Oriental" (major) pentatonic on D: D E F# A B.
• Use: sinogrime melodies with koto, flute and bell timbres; martial arts film riffs.
• Common mistakes: excessive stereotyping; use the pentatonic color ironically or with cold timbres.

Chromaticism and tritone

• Semitones and tritones (e.g. E–Bb) as "sirens" and bass responses; octatonic scale (half step–whole step) for "mechanical" riffs.

How to choose

• Eski and cold: Aeolian with square waves and bells.
• Aggressive and war dub: Phrygian and chromaticism.
• Sinogrime: pentatonic with Oriental timbres.
• Rule: the riff should fit in 1–2 bars and leave room for the MC.

Harmony

• Minimal harmony: 1–2 chords, often just a riff; many instrumentals are "one-note" with a sub.
• 8-bar instrumentals: the beat or riff changes every 8 bars to give the MC reference points.
• Stabs: tight, dissonant chords (clusters, seconds) in the mid-high register, digital timbres.
• Pedals: bass on the tonic, with moving riffs above.
• Cadences: absent; form comes from section changes and "reloads".

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

• 140 BPM; two approaches: "double-time" drums with snare on 2 and 4 (close to garage, felt as fast) or "half-time" with snare on 3 (close to dubstep, felt at 70).
• Fast, syncopated breakbeats, asymmetrical kicks, empty spaces for the MC.
• "8-bar" instrumentals: a change every 8 bars.
• Reload/rewind as a formal element of live culture.

Drums

Convention: 2 bars of 16 sixteenth notes (32 steps, as in r-grime); quarter notes on 1, 5, 9, 13 / 17, 21, 25, 29. At 140 BPM one sixteenth = 107 ms.

Kick

• In the r-grime rhythm: steps 1, 8, 11 (bar 1) and 19, 24, 27 (bar 2): broken, asymmetrical kicks that leave holes. Sound: short, dry kick or long 808, depending on the style.

Snare and clap

• Double time: steps 5, 13, 21, 29 (2 and 4). Half time: steps 9 and 25 (the 3). Dry snares, often "metallic" or digital; layered clap.

Hi-hat and percussion

• Sparse offbeat hats or none; digital percussion (blips, zaps, bells, gunshots); rim on syncopated positions (10, 24).

Dynamics and groove

• Fairly uniform velocities, "machine" sound; no swing or minimal swing; the groove comes from the asymmetry of the kicks.

Interaction with bass and MC

• The square-wave bass or sub plays on or between the kicks; the drums leave room for the rhymes (no fills during the verses).

How it changes by section

• 8-bar instrumental: every 8 bars a change (full drums / riff only / bass only); 8-bar intro for the MC's "launch".

Fills and transitions

• Total half-bar stop ("reload"), triplet kicks, gunshots, sirens, rewind.

Sound choice

• Digital sounds from FL Studio and cheap samplers, ringtones, video games; "raw" kicks and snares.

Typical mistakes

• Drums too full (the MC can't breathe); garage swing (loses the hardness); sounds that are too "polished".

Bass

• Square wave and "video game" sawtooth, often unfiltered, in the low-mid register; sine sub; long 808s in more recent styles.
• Notes: tonic, semitones, octaves; little movement.
• Rhythm: notes answering the asymmetrical kicks, often long.
• Sidechain: minimal; bass and kick alternate through the arrangement.
• Examples: Wiley's "Eskimo" (eskibeat), Youngstar's "Pulse X" (hammering bass and kick).

Harmonic instruments

• Digital stabs, synthetic bells and mallets, film-sampled strings, icy pads (eski), koto and flutes (sinogrime), ringtone timbres.
• Mid-high register; little reverb, dry sound.

Melody and vocals

• Short square-wave synth riffs, pentatonic melodies (sinogrime), film samples.
• The instrumental leaves the "melody" to the MC: the riff is a rhythmic hook of 1–2 bars.
• Effects: short delay, minimal reverb, pitch shift of the samples.

Instruments

• FruityLoops/FL Studio, digital synths (square waves, sawtooth), sub, 808, digital drums, bells, strings, film and video game samples, effects (gunshots, sirens).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• CZ V — Square waves and digital timbres: Phase distortion with square/pulse waves: the "video game" leads and basses of grime.
• DX7 V — FM bells and mallets: 1:3.5 or 1:7 ratios, medium decay: icy bells and digital stabs (eskibeat).
• Mini V — Square bass and sub: Unfiltered square wave for the bass; sine for the sub.
• Korg MS-20 V — Aggressive basses: Pulse wave with drive for war dubs.
• Mellotron V — Sampled strings and flutes: "Lo-fi" flutes and strings for sinogrime and cinematic instrumentals.

Song structure

• "8-bar" instrumentals are designed for MCs trading turns on the radio and in clashes; length 3–4 minutes.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

• Dry, frontal, hard: heavy sub, digital riffs that cut through, raw drums; space in the center for the MC's voice.
• References: Wiley, Ruff Sqwad, Dizzee Rascal ("Boy in da Corner", raw production).

Kick

• EQ: high-pass 30 Hz, +2 dB at 60 Hz, −3 dB at 300 Hz, +2 dB at 3–4 kHz; mono.

Snare and clap

• EQ: high-pass 150 Hz, +2 dB at 200 Hz, +3 dB at 3 kHz; fast compression; minimal reverb (0.3 s room).

Hi-hat and percussion

• High-pass 500 Hz; panning 20–50%.

Bass

• Square wave: high-pass 40 Hz, watch for aggressive odd harmonics at 300 Hz–2 kHz (dynamic EQ); separate mono sub below 100 Hz.

Riffs, bells, strings

• High-pass 200 Hz; presence at 2–4 kHz; little reverb; moderate panning.

Vocal (MC) if present

• EQ: high-pass 80–100 Hz, −3 dB at 250 Hz, +3 dB at 3 kHz; heavy FET compression (6–8 dB); de-esser; short reverb or none; ad-libs and doubles on the sides.

Backing vocals

• Rarely present.

FX

• Gunshots, sirens, rewinds: controlled level.

Buses and groups

• Drum bus with saturation and clipper; Bass bus.

Sidechain

• Minimal; the arrangement avoids clashes.

Master

• Chain: EQ → saturation → limiter.
• Indicative targets: −8/−6 LUFS integrated; true peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Uncontrolled, shrill square wave; too much reverb (loses the immediacy); overlapping sub and kick.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Wiley — Eskimo (2002); Youngstar — Pulse X (2002); XTC — Functions on the Low (2004).

Reference listening

• Dizzee Rascal — Crime (2000)
• Wiley — Eskimo (2002)
• Youngstar (Musical Mob) — Pulse X (2002)
• XTC (Ruff Sqwad) — Functions on the Low (2004)
• Wiley — Wearing My Rolex