10/14/2025

How It Was Made: RaeCola – Said I Don’t Need You But….

RaeCola have never been ones to play it safe. The Chicago-born twin duo have built a reputation on pushing the limits of house music, blending their city’s jacking roots with sharp production and unapologetic energy. Their new Double Trouble EP captures that balance perfectly, packaging the chaos and chemistry of their live sets into three tracks that move between bass-heavy club power and playful vocal moments built for late-night floors.

The project lands after a busy run that’s seen them play Ultra, Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, and even Rockefeller Center, while also breaking into the fashion and culture world through collaborations with brands like Nike, Adidas, and Smirnoff. Each performance, track, and design choice reflects a shared artistic instinct that only identical twins could communicate so naturally.

In this How It Was Made feature, RaeCola open up about the plugins and production decisions behind Said I Don’t Need You But…. From using Serum to rebuild a bassline from scratch to reshaping vocals with Little Alter Boy and tightening the mix with Neutron 4, they walk through how experimentation, collaboration, and instinct shaped one of the boldest moments of their new EP.

Serum 2

Said I Don’t Need You But… is a track we pulled out our archives and gave a dirty makeover. The track at the time was ethereal, but missing that sultry edge, so we used Serum 2 to add a dirty 808. We have dabbled in different synths, but as newer sound designers Serum has always been our go to. It makes experimenting fun and easy especially when manipulating presets to add your own touch.

We used the preset Electric Bass Deep Groover but made it less gritty while still keeping the aggressive edge by changing the wavetables, filters, and removing some of the LFO destinations. To add dynamic as the track flows, we automated 2 auto filters to allow the bass to still be present with aggression in the breakdowns and buildups. We also added Sausage Fattener with automation to add some grit and energy. When making a bass club track, the low end is very important. We both love how much you can automate with Serum to create a really interesting bassline that continues to build and have varying moments with tension.

Using Serum can be intimidating at first for newer producers, but coming from girls who knew nothing of sound design when we were getting started, we highly recommend Serum. Watching videos online, playing with preset knobs, and learning to recreate sounds will help you with that entry level then the possibilities are so endless.

Soundtoys Little Alter Boy

Little Alter Boy is a go to for changing vocal keys or adding depth/edge to a vocal. We used it on multiple of our vocal channels to move the vocal keys lower or to add a robotic sound. This plugin is great because we sometimes get such unexpected results changing the tone of a vocal or even using it on an instrument.

During the second buildup we used Little Alter Boy on our main vocal with the robotic mode manipulating the format a little and the pitch down. The mix on the plugin is automated to increase as the buildup grows. When we get closer to the drop the plugin mix is all the way at 100% so you’re now hearing a fully boxy deep version of the vocal before the track drops back in.

Club music often asks for experimentation and Little Alter Boy lets you have a lot of fun doing that and easily. The plugin also has good presets for adding layers like a 5th or an octave. We also have used Little Alter Boy with automation in combo with delay and when you combine the two you can make some really cool moments.

iZotope Neutron 4

We got Neutron 4 right before finishing the EP…. hallelujah because this plugin works wonders on vocals. And not just vocals, anything really. Processing vocals is a newer area for us so having a plugin to help make that process easier is saving grace.

Neutron is great because it can analyze the audio and will mix accordingly. It has many built in presets that you can choose per instrument. We used the Female Pop vocal preset because it sounded really bright and clean which was a priority for us.

This plug in is great because you get so many tools all in one place. With this preset we have a transient shaper, eq, sculptor, exciter and a compressor. Each of these is really easy for personalization as well as cutting down your vocal processing time. Whether you are new or advanced, Neutron 4 should definitely be on your list.

When making a genre like bass club, it can get really low end heavy and have many elements happening at once, but having a clean mix can really allow for each of those elements to be heard. You want people to feel that bass and really hear all the details you’ve layered in right?

Quick-Fire Tips

Leave scared energy at the door in the studio. You can’t be afraid of sounding bad or messing up. Some of the greatest ideas are happy accidents so experiment!
Play with contrasting energy. Bass club tracks can lean on a lower end and darker side so having bright or high elements can create great synergy.
Don’t over complicate your drop and let the sounds speak for themselves. It can be easy to overfill a heavy track but make sure you leave space to really sit in your beat.
Create conversations within your tracks. Create call and response moments and let your drops feel like answers to your build ups.
Don’t chase perfection (easier said than done). Some things may never feel “done” but that’s the beauty of it all, the art of the unpolished.