How to Make Hardstyle Screeches Fit in the Drop

First, I add pitch modulation to make the screech come to life.

Second, instead of using one distortion, I add Diode 2 on top of my final Diode, which adds a squeeze to the sound. I could even add a sine fold in front and take down the mix a bit. Then go back into the voices and you can dial in a lot of different screeches.

Third, shape the EQ in front of the distortion. If certain frequencies are overshadowed by the kick, for example, I take them down a bit in the screech. Because it's pre-distortion, this completely shapes the sound.

Fourth, use compression to make the screech fit in the mix. First a normal compressor. A threshold closer to 0 dB generally means less compression, so start from there and dial it in.

Then combine it with an upward multiband compressor. Take down the threshold to remove the downward compression and open the effect. Using these four steps instead of just adding more volume and distorting without direction makes it a lot easier to make your screech fit.