How to make PS1-era jungle and drum and bass

What PS1-era drum and bass sounded like

Jungle and drum and bass peaked in the UK in the mid to late 90s, the same years as the PlayStation, and game music picked it up quickly. The best-known example is Ape Escape (1999), whose composer Soichi Terada wrote much of the soundtrack as jungle at 160 to 170 BPM because it suited a character who was always running. The Wipeout series licensed tracks from UK electronic artists, and breakbeats turn up across the racing and action games of the time.

Games played this music in one of two ways, and each left its own mark:

• Streamed from the disc. Finished recordings played as CD audio, or compressed into the PlayStation's XA format at 37.8 or 18.9 kHz. XA gave a slightly dull, grainy top end, especially at the lower rate.
• Played live by the sound chip. The music was stored as notes plus short samples that had to fit in 512 KB of sound memory. Breaks were cut into single hits or short slices, sampled at low rates, and run through the console's one reverb. See how PS1-style music works for the details.

Either way, the result is a break that's punchy but soft on top, bass that's clean and heavy, and chords that sit in a dark, shared space.

Eight steps to a PS1-era jungle track

1. Set the tempo and key. Start at 170 BPM in a minor key; F minor and A minor are common because they put the sub in a comfortable range.
2. Build the break. Take a breakbeat and slice it into single hits: kicks, snares, ghost snares and hats. Rearrange them into a two-bar pattern, then change the last bar of every four or eight with a fill, a stutter or a reversed snare. Drum hits in a sampler work just as well if you don't have a break.
3. Layer the low end of the drums. A short, clean kick under the break's kicks gives weight without making the break itself boomy. Keep it tight so it doesn't fight the sub.
4. Make it sound like a disc. Run the break through a bit crusher or downsampler at about 22 kHz, or 11 kHz for something rougher, then a low-pass around 10 to 12 kHz. If the result is too dark, a gentle high shelf brings the snare back.
5. Add the sub. A sine or near-sine bass, mono, mostly below 100 Hz, playing long notes on the root of each chord. This carries the calm sections.
6. Add a reese for the drops. Two saw waves detuned 10 to 20 cents apart, a low-pass you slowly open and close, and a little drive. Keep the sub underneath and cut the reese below about 100 Hz so they don't clash.
7. Write the chords. Minor ninth and major seventh chords on a soft pad and an electric piano, one chord per one or two bars. A loop such as Fm9, Dbmaj9, Bbm9, Eb6/9 sounds right straight away. Add a choir or airy pad for the intro and breakdown.
8. Give it one room. Send pads, keys, choir and the snare to a single dark reverb, and keep the kick, sub and reese dry. The PS1 reverb guide has settings for a Hall or Space style tail.

A simple arrangement

For a game, cut this down to a one to three minute loop and fold the reverb tail back to the start so it loops without a jump. Our free seamless loop maker does that in the browser.

Doing it with simpleSPU

simpleSPU is a synth and effect plugin modelled on the PS1's sound chip, so its presets already have the low-rate sample sound. A starting point for jungle:

• Drums: Standard Kit for the break, with Digital Machine Kit for hats and Analog Machine Kit for a short kick underneath. The kits are recorded at console rates, so a high shelf on the break helps the snare cut through.
• Bass: Sub Bass under everything, Ember Bass for the calmer grooves, and Dark Saw Bass on two tracks, detuned against each other, for a reese.
• Chords and colour: Tine Keys for electric piano, Blue Hour Pad or Airy Glide Pad for pads, and the Into the Light choir for breakdowns.
• simpleSPU FX: Drum Bus Crunch on the break for crunch and a small room, or Disc Audio 37.8k or 18.9k on the whole mix to imitate music streamed from the disc.

The Crush knob on every preset lowers the bit depth and sample rate further. Automate it on the break for an intro that starts crushed and opens up. Every sample in simpleSPU was made by us or comes from openly licensed recordings, so you can release the track or put it in a commercial game.

Common questions

What BPM is jungle?

Usually 160 to 175 BPM, with 170 the most common. Half-time sections run at the same tempo but put the snare on the third beat, so they feel like 85 BPM.

What's the difference between jungle and drum and bass?

They share a tempo and a lot of history. Jungle leans on busy, chopped breakbeats, rolling sub bass and reggae and sound-system influences. Drum and bass grew out of it with cleaner two-step drum patterns and more heavily produced basslines.

Which PS1 games had jungle or drum and bass music?

Ape Escape (1999) is the best-known example: Soichi Terada wrote much of its soundtrack as jungle at 160 to 170 BPM. The Wipeout series licensed electronic tracks from UK artists, and breakbeats turn up across many racing and action soundtracks of the era.

Can I use the Amen break?

It has been sampled for decades, but the original recording is still under copyright. For music you release or put in a game, use a break from a sample pack that licenses it for that, or program your own from single drum hits.

Is simpleSPU an official PlayStation product?

No. simpleSPU is an original instrument and effect inspired by PlayStation-era music. It isn't affiliated with Sony or PlayStation.

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