The Drum & Bass Thread (formally Drum 'n' Bass is dead?)

[Kaon]

dubstep is half time, so unlike breaks, which repeats the drum loop every "bar" (4 quavers?) it repeats the loop(which i think usually consists of a breakbeat, but seems to be moving away from needing one) every 2 "bars" (8 quavers)
this mean that technically its 70bpm but as said by Sc1c its not so important


happy 2000 tekki let me know how that track goes!

[Kaon]

What exactly is dubstep ? If i listen to it am i going to say "this is drum and bass" ... can you give me some examples?

you won't say "this is drum and bass"

[midian]

Erhm...? I would definitely say that dubstep is around 70 BPM.

Na mang, its definately 140 bpm, its just that the drums are often 1/2 time (ie 70bpm). But the bassline (and highhats sometimes) is where the 140bpm main beat is kept.

Sometimes, especially in more club focused dubstep (Caspa & Rusko etc) it even uses 4x4 beats @ 140.

[Kaon]

Na mang, its definately 140 bpm, its just that the drums are often 1/2 time (ie 70bpm). But the bassline (and highhats sometimes) is where the 140bpm main beat is kept.

Sometimes, especially in more club focused dubstep (Caspa & Rusko etc) it even uses 4x4 beats @ 140.

oi mang i don't disagree with you, but i i think we need to be more clear if we're tryin to define dubstep. to begin with dubstep started with the 1/2time drums (70bpm) and generic kick-snare beat taken from dub. that to me is dubstep. now it has evolved beyond those parameters and thus definition is impossible
eg 4x4 beats
the only thing that seems to have remained constant is EFFIN PHAT BASS

the same happened with the evolution from jungle to drum n bass, jungle started with a bunch of conditions and parameters, that changed over time due to outside influences, seemingly creating a new genre, soon i think dubstep will have defined sub-genres (still too young?)

anyhoo must work

[midian]

tru that. Dubstep came from dark 2-step garage, thus the broken & lilting kick-snare patterns from there. Now the only real thing u can say about dubstep is EPIC amounts of sub-bass. I mean I've got dubstep tracks at 120bpm & at 155bpm, so even tempo is somewhat variable.

I dont think dubstep will fragment into sub-genres like dnb did largely because of the attitude of dubstep artists that its all part of the same thing. Ragga, garage, electro, tribal, dnb, dub, downbeat style dubstep is all still dubstep, artists often making a very wide range of all of these stylings, and even dubstep DJs often including this massive range in their sets. Skream for example is a massive proponant of this and I've heard he gets mad pissed off when people try and fragment dubstep into sub-genres. Thats what I fk'n love about the genre, its so free to be anything.

Perhaps you might see new genres spawn partially outa dubstep that are no longer dubstep, for example UK Funky, but tbh that also came largely outa bassline house & UK garage prob more so then dubstep.

[obsidiance]

Can anyone point me in the direction of some real grimy 2-step garage??? Doesn't have to be new.

Also any tracks that are a similar style to Chase & Status - Eastern Jam.

Thanks in advance guys. (sorry about derailing your little dubstep definitionnssss)

[Kaon]

Can anyone point me in the direction of some real grimy 2-step garage??? Doesn't have to be new.

Also any tracks that are a similar style to Chase & Status - Eastern Jam.

Thanks in advance guys. (sorry about derailing your little dubstep definitionnssss)

sorry mang no idea

@midian-ill read/argue wit your response next break yo

[midifidler]

Arguing 70 v 140 is semantics ...though I reckon you would find most producers are going to set their master tempo to 140 when kicking of a tune.

I dont think genres that have lived through infancy are not definable as such, but you can characterise them, thats why I went for such a broad description.

I hope sub genres take a long time to appear in dubstep, they are far easier to define, and then cause pidgeon holeing of producers & DJ's which kills the creativity IMO.

Thats also what I love about the Genre is while it started of with a very prescribed rythm it has attracted so many skilled producers from other often unrelated genres that now you will hear virtually every rythm used.

@midian
In hinesight Dub is def the most important influence on dubstep, what I was trying to express that tracks are increasingly sounding less dubois (nice I made up a word ), but they still always draw greatly from dub production techniques.

[midian]

Can anyone point me in the direction of some real grimy 2-step garage??? Doesn't have to be new.

Also any tracks that are a similar style to Chase & Status - Eastern Jam.

Thanks in advance guys. (sorry about derailing your little dubstep definitionnssss)

In terms of easter Jam style stuff I can give you a huge list of specific tunes... just send me a PM or something if your keen and I'll write one down for you.

For now id say check out these artists:
Rusko
Caspa
Reso
Skream
Benga
Koan Sound
Babysham
Babylon System
SPL
Nero
The Others
Joker
Stenchman

In terms of grimey 2-step try checking out 'Oxide & Neutrino' and 'So Solid Crew'. Its got a lot of vocals (thus is nearly Grime, but stil considered garage).

Other then them try checking old Dee Kline Espc. the track 'I Don't Smoke', huuuge back in 1999/2000. (before he started making of breaks), hes one of the classic new wave of more grimey 2-step producers (as opposed to classic UK Garage) which eventually became breaks.

If you want darker 2-step garage (not as dirty tho), the stuff which was pretty much a precursor to dubstep I highly highly recommend El-B and Groove Chronicles. The Groove Chronicles track 'Stone Cold' is probably my favorite track of all time. Heaviest. Bass. EVER.

[midian]

Arguing 70 v 140 is semantics ...though I reckon you would find most producers are going to set their master tempo to 140 when kicking of a tune.

//

@midian
In hinesight Dub is def the most important influence on dubstep, what I was trying to express that tracks are increasingly sounding less dubois (nice I made up a word ), but they still always draw greatly from dub production techniques.

Totally. Its is both 70 & 140 just depends on what part ur talking about, like u say semantics. The thing is what do u set the tune to when ur making a track or warping it for use... and thats 140 imo.

Yeah dub is just a musical style (outa Jamaica of course, Lee Scratch Perry FTW!) of taking instrumental parts of existing records and extending them out, boosting the bass & drums and then adding heaps of reverb & phase. Which is very characteristic of dubstep... which is pretty much all wet as fuck. Tho I've heard some El-B dubstep tracks recently which are really dry, which is interesting, I think something could be done down that path.