Jason Ross Shares His Favorite Melodic Bass Tracks That Smash In Every Festival DJ Set

Melodic bass is a semi-new genre of music that has been dominating the festival circuit for the last year or two. With it’s beautiful harmonies and thundering drops, it’s no secret why many DJs and artist have started introducing its sounds into their sets.

No single artist does this better and more seamlessly than Jason Ross (Ophelia Records, Anjunabeats).

And with the release of his new album, Atlas, we figured there is no better time than now for the mainstage staple to breakdown the highs and sub-sonic lows of the genre by recommending his best melodic bass tracks of all time.

So let’s dive in…

Stream Jason Ross’ New Album Atlas

Jason explains what the genre ‘melodic bass‘ is later in this article, but at the end of the day, music is all about hearing it in action.

So before we dive too far into Jason’s favorite genre tracks, it would be far easier for you to listen for yourself. And no single body of work is a better representation of where the genre is at.

Sure, Jason Ross’ new Atlas album features a wide swath of genres, which puts the genre itself into context as you soak in all the influences converging to form a genre that is taking the festival circuit by storm.

Jason Ross’ Favorite Melodic Bass Songs

Take You Home has become the song that stands out the most in my sets at the moment. It’s one of the singles off my Atlas album, and has quickly become a fan favorite.
Mitis and I love making music with lots of energy and emotion, and this track really lights up any dance floor.

Always looking for more energetic tunes to throw into my sets, I’ve naturally become more excited about hardstyle.
While doing some deep crate digging and exploration, I came across this guy, Horyzon. The music he’s putting out right now makes me very excited for the future of dance music and hardstyle.
His melodies are infectious and his infusion of trance elements and emotion really make his songs stand out to me. They go OFF.

As much as I love staying ahead of the curve and finding new music to play live, there’s always going to be those few songs that keep creeping their way back into my sets; this song is definitely one of them.
These 3 artists are some of my personal favorites so it’s no wonder I keep coming back. The detail in the entire song along with the melodies are what make this a staple for me in my sets.

Kaimo K is another up-and-coming artist that I’ve really been into as of late. Just like Horyzon, he’s figured out the trance formula and has infused new life into it with his high energy trance productions.
‘Take Me Away’ is a classic trance song from the early 2000’s and he’s given it new life in this modern trance take that always goes off.

This one is for the Anjunabeats/Above & Beyond fans. I’m a huge fan of Andrew Bayer and this is one of my personal favorites from him. Throw A&B’s Sun & Moon acapella over this and you have yourself an emotional sing-along moment that everyone’s going to love.

Definitely a secret weapon of mine. This trance club banger has all the elements I look for – groovy basslines, emotional breakdowns and high energy, melodic chord drops.
Myon is a master when it comes to effectively combining all of these elements together.

Another one from my Atlas album. This one goes back to my trance roots and one that I’ve loved playing out in my sets. Haliene’s vocals really make this song something special that I’ll be playing out for a long time to come.

This is a song I have on deck when it’s time to take things up a notch. It’s a high energy peak-time kind of track that can also help to transition into other genres in the 140-150 bpm range.
Definitely a highlight in my sets.

Alpha 9 (Arty) has always made music that makes my hair stand up. Since his early days till now, his melodies have always stood the test of time. This song in particular really hits me to my core and a song that I love playing live as it just adds life and love to a room.

This is a song I always come back to when I’m looking for some powerful, yet feel good vibes in a set. Trivecta and Last Heroes are my close friends and also some of my favorite producers of melodic bass music. This was definitely a highlight of my 2021 EDC set last year.

This is a song I made with artists from Seven Lion’s Ophelia Records label during the pandemic. It was a way for us to stay connected and it’s a track we all still play out to this day.
From psy-trance, melodic bass to dubstep and riddim, this song has it all. Be sure to cue the pyro for this one! 😉

What I love above both melodic bass and trance are the emotional qualities that come with it. What grabs me most in a song are the melodies and that uplifting feeling that it can have on me. That’s what really got me into dance music; listening to acts like Above & Beyond, Tiesto and even Seven Lions with his more dubstep-flavored melodic bass music. Pair those melodies with high energy production and you have a perfect blend of what I love about these genres. – JR

By Will Vance
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.