How to Create a Speed Garage Remix from Scratch - Complete Tutorial

Speed garage has exploded in popularity over the past few years, with some of the biggest tracks in the genre being creative remixes of older popular songs. In this step-by-step tutorial, Niek from The Producer School walks you through the complete process of transforming an original track into a high-energy speed garage remix - from stem extraction to final arrangement - inside FL Studio using the Overdrive UK Garage Sample Pack.

What BPM Is Speed Garage?

Speed garage typically sits between 135 and 140 BPM - significantly faster than the original UK garage tempo of 130 BPM and much faster than deep house at 120-124 BPM. In this tutorial, Niek starts with an original track at 124 BPM and stretches it all the way up to 140 BPM. When working with vocals from slower tracks, set your samples to stretch mode (both FL Studio and Ableton Live support this natively) so the pitch stays natural while the tempo increases. The slight formant shift from stretching actually adds to the speed garage aesthetic - it's a feature, not a bug.

How Do You Extract Stems for a Remix?

Modern DAWs now have built-in stem extraction that works surprisingly well. In FL Studio, right-click any audio sample and select "Extract Stems from Sample" - the AI separation will split the track into drums, bass, instruments, and vocals. Ableton Live 12 has a similar function built in. For a speed garage remix, you'll primarily use the vocal stem and rebuild everything else from scratch. Keep the other stems around though - you may find usable elements like atmospheric textures or melodic fragments that add authenticity to your remix. In this tutorial, Niek finds a vocal breakdown section that works perfectly as a pre-drop tension builder with a radio filter effect applied.

How to Create a Speed Garage Reese Bass

The reese bass is the signature sound of speed garage - a thick, detuned sawtooth bass that growls and moves through the frequency spectrum. Here's how Niek builds one using Serum presets from the Overdrive pack:

1. Choose your base sound - Start with a saw-based reese preset. The tutorial demonstrates both a classic reese and a "Notion-style" bass (the smoother, more melodic variant popular in modern speed garage).
2. Write the bass pattern - You don't need to follow the original track's bassline. Speed garage bass patterns are typically more repetitive with occasional jumps to higher notes for energy. Let it flow naturally against the vocals.
3. Sidechain to the kick - Use Kickstart 2 in "Bend" mode to sidechain only the sub frequencies. This keeps the mid-range growl present while the low end pumps with the kick.
4. Add saturation - Apply Decapitator (or any saturation plugin) for harmonic richness, then add a touch of OTT multiband compression for that characteristic UK garage punch.
5. Automate the filter - Use filter cutoff automation to create movement. Open the filter during drops, close it during breakdowns. This single automation creates most of the "energy arc" in speed garage.

Pro tip from the tutorial: If you're using a Notion-style bass preset, check for a noise oscillator modulating the filter frequency - it can make the sound too aggressive. Dial it back or disable it for a cleaner reese tone.

How to Process Vocals for Speed Garage

Vocal processing is what separates amateur speed garage remixes from professional ones. The genre relies heavily on pitched, chopped, and filtered vocal elements layered at different octaves. Here's the processing chain from the tutorial:

1. Clean up first - Use a parametric EQ to high-pass the vocal stem, removing all low-end mud below 150-200 Hz.
2. Formant shifting - In FL Studio's Stretch Pro mode, drag up the formant shift amount to create those characteristic high-pitched vocal chops. This is the sound you hear in almost every speed garage track - pitched-up vocal snippets that sit above the bass.
3. Delay effects - Add rhythmic delays synced to 1/8 or 1/16 notes for that bouncy, echoing vocal texture.
4. Creative filtering - Automate a low-pass filter on the vocals during intros and breakdowns, then open it fully for the drop.

How to Arrange a Speed Garage Remix

Speed garage arrangements follow a fairly standard dance music structure but with some genre-specific elements. Based on the tutorial, here's a practical arrangement framework:

• Intro (16-32 bars) - Filtered drums and vocals, bass enters with low-pass filter gradually opening. Use high-frequency automation on both the drum loop and vocals to build anticipation.
• Build/Breakdown (8-16 bars) - Strip back to vocals and atmospheric elements. Add uplifters, percussion fills, and tension-building risers. This is where that original track breakdown Niek found works perfectly with a radio filter.
• Drop (32 bars) - Full energy: kick, drum loop, reese bass wide open, processed vocals, and all layers active. Add Gross Beat for rhythmic variation and Panomatic for stereo width on pads and atmosphere layers.
• Second drop - Add subtle variations: new vocal chops, extra percussion, or a counter-melody using a pad or lead synth with heavy reverb and stereo panning.

Essential Speed Garage Sound Design Elements

Beyond the core bass and vocals, speed garage remixes use several signature sound design elements to create that high-energy club feel:

• Sirens and alarms - Classic rave elements that signal energy shifts, typically placed before drops
• Layered kicks - Combine a punchy electronic kick with processed acoustic drum loops using Decapitator for extra grit
• Atmospheric pads - Long, reverb-heavy synth pads panned wide in stereo to fill the frequency spectrum above the bass
• Gross Beat rhythmic effects - FL Studio's Gross Beat adds stutters and glitch-style movement, especially effective on bass and pad layers during drops
• Stereo width tricks - Panomatic or similar auto-panning on atmospheric elements creates the spatial dimension that separates flat mixes from immersive ones

Start Producing Speed Garage

As the tutorial demonstrates, you can build a complete speed garage remix ID surprisingly quickly once you understand the core elements: a 135-140 BPM foundation, a reese bass with sidechain and filter automation, processed vocals with formant shifting, and an arrangement that builds and releases tension. The key is starting with strong source material - both the original track you're remixing and high-quality drum and bass samples.

The Overdrive UK Garage Sample Pack contains all the drums, reese bass presets, vocal chops, and atmospheric elements used in this tutorial. Whether you're remixing classic tracks or building original speed garage productions, it provides the essential building blocks for professional-quality results.

Tutorial by Niek, co-founder of The Producer School. For more production tutorials, subscribe to The Producer School on YouTube (280K+ subscribers).