So I was trying to recreate Timbaland's beat on Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" and I found an interesting way to create rhythm without using excessive kicks.

If you listen to the sound there's a hi-hat that hits with the kick, but on the offbeat you hear the hi-hat hit with the top of the kick and then later in the loop you hear the kick hit without the hi-hat/top combination.

So when I tried to recreate it I layered a hi-hat over a kick with a lot of click, and then I bounced it to audio. I then duplicated the audio clip and on the first one (we'll call it A) I lowpassed everything till you could only hear the mid/bottom end near 300hz. On the second audio clip (B), I used a hi-pass filter at 300hz to bring back the hi-end. After that I sent some of my low-end kick (A) to a small-room reverb send and eq'd that.

The next step is the fun part because you can play A and B as separate parts or together to create a kick pattern that has room for a bass line or something. For example if you're doing a 4x4 drum pattern the first two hits can be A and B together but then the last two can just be B. The A channel can also be used solo as like a lead in kick to restart a loop, it's subtle but there.

Anyhoo! If you notice anything else about timbaland please add it! He's a freaking genius.

First, I make sure I get the tone of the sound right. For example, if I have a massive lead on one channel, I'll put redux on it or some flanger or whatever.
After I have the desired tone, I would EQ it.
Sidechaining effects the amplitude of the sound so I save that for the very end of my chain. Sometimes if I get a click when I sidechain my sub-bass, I'll EQ after the compressor.

So.. Pitch (notes) -> Tone (effects) -> Amplitude (compressor)

P.S. I have completely separate channels for my reverb and delay, but sidechaining or compression always comes last on the chain.

I tweeted at San Holo once asking him how he got into sound design and he sent me a link to this vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atvtBE6t48M

It's pretty basic stuff, but practicing the core stuff is essential.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Noise-Frequency-Modulation-ebook/dp/B008H7CEQG

I highly recommend buying this book to understand some of the basics about FM synthesis. It's a great way to understand how deep the modulation and parameters you can shape to have a really dynamic sound. It's only like $3.

I also hope I don't get kicked off the forum for really liking this book.

I've been studying composition a lot lately and I felt it appropriate to start with the Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack made by David Wise. It's kind of a revision of Forest Interlude. Lemme know if it needs more sparkle!