Can someone explain dubstep to me?

[Whyte]

And to whoever said Dubstep isn't made for dancing:

It's the best kind of EDM to dance on when dancing with a girl, for sure.

[belchman]

(I'll admit now, I havn't read through the last 5 pages, so sorry if I repeat anything people have already said...)

but salient points of dubstep seem to have evolved thusly:

1) it's pretty much all at 140bpm (naughty one-forty). Heavier more hardcore tracks can be slightly lower, and more shuffley hip-hop style tracks sometimes venture up to around 143, but not often.

2) it's very bass oriented . that is to say, that it's pretty much all focussed around the bassline, and moreover the sub-bass. just as important as the bass is now the groove - as Rusko says, get your groove right before you even start with the bassline and synth parts, and you're half way there.

3) it's all dancefloor music - so difficult to really understand unless you go to the nights. given that the sub bass is so important, an appreciation of dubstep requires you to go to the nights - best ones for this being the DMZ nights in Brixton and SubDub in Leeds - as they are where the sound originated.

4) loosely, it originated out of the UK garage scene - with darker garage, speeding up, and the half step becoming more prominent. essentially, if you put the kick on beat 1 and snare on beat 3, then you have the basis of a dubstep groove. The other side which is developing to be really prominent is the shuffle - that is layering hats and other clicks and zaps on the off-beats to get a really tripletty feel to the groove. Dubstep allows this kind of shuffle (as opposed to breaks and drum and bass) purely because the bpm allows for far more space, and off-kilter hits to come through the mix.

5) there are maaaany different 'sub-genres' (if you have to call it that) within the dubstep sound. I hate pidgeon-holing music, as i think it really limits possibilities when you come to try and make it - but basically, the 140, bass heavy sound has emerged from very druggy, sub-heavy dubby sounds (early stuff, DMZ - mala, loefah, digital mystikz) to the ravey sound which is become really popular on daytime radio in the UK (lead by Rusko) - with the big phat LFO basslines, or wobble.



dubstep's kinda like saying electro - pretty much everyone recognises it to be at around 128-130 bpm, and it has a 4-to-the-floor kickdrum - but what comes under the term electro is vastly more varied than that - wobbley basslines, vocal house, deadmau5, techno, wonk, fidget etc etc etc. it's more just a term to describe shuffly, bass heavy music at 140bpm

hope that's a help

[R2D2]

(I'll admit now, I havn't read through the last 5 pages, so sorry if I repeat anything people have already said...)

but salient points of dubstep seem to have evolved thusly:

1) it's pretty much all at 140bpm (naughty one-forty). Heavier more hardcore tracks can be slightly lower, and more shuffley hip-hop style tracks sometimes venture up to around 143, but not often.

2) it's very bass oriented . that is to say, that it's pretty much all focussed around the bassline, and moreover the sub-bass. just as important as the bass is now the groove - as Rusko says, get your groove right before you even start with the bassline and synth parts, and you're half way there.

3) it's all dancefloor music - so difficult to really understand unless you go to the nights. given that the sub bass is so important, an appreciation of dubstep requires you to go to the nights - best ones for this being the DMZ nights in Brixton and SubDub in Leeds - as they are where the sound originated.

4) loosely, it originated out of the UK garage scene - with darker garage, speeding up, and the half step becoming more prominent. essentially, if you put the kick on beat 1 and snare on beat 3, then you have the basis of a dubstep groove. The other side which is developing to be really prominent is the shuffle - that is layering hats and other clicks and zaps on the off-beats to get a really tripletty feel to the groove. Dubstep allows this kind of shuffle (as opposed to breaks and drum and bass) purely because the bpm allows for far more space, and off-kilter hits to come through the mix.

5) there are maaaany different 'sub-genres' (if you have to call it that) within the dubstep sound. I hate pidgeon-holing music, as i think it really limits possibilities when you come to try and make it - but basically, the 140, bass heavy sound has emerged from very druggy, sub-heavy dubby sounds (early stuff, DMZ - mala, loefah, digital mystikz) to the ravey sound which is become really popular on daytime radio in the UK (lead by Rusko) - with the big phat LFO basslines, or wobble.



dubstep's kinda like saying electro - pretty much everyone recognises it to be at around 128-130 bpm, and it has a 4-to-the-floor kickdrum - but what comes under the term electro is vastly more varied than that - wobbley basslines, vocal house, deadmau5, techno, wonk, fidget etc etc etc. it's more just a term to describe shuffly, bass heavy music at 140bpm

hope that's a help

nice post

140 bpm or on a tech plus 4ish

Funny in reflection to me Dubstep is UKG

This tune omg used to rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJX72gEEo68

UKG

[jasonj]

the devil must have told you my secret "0, -12, -24 - method"! and of course transormer sample are the way to go!

no actually downlink told me that one.
I like working with the Osc detuned to either thirds or fifths more

[Jack Creamation]

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[nicolas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J55c-9wmLsQ

[Kupujte_Pytle]

no actually downlink told me that one.
I like working with the Osc detuned to either thirds or fifths more

Man i am huge fan of Transformer sounds... and all thanks to downlinkm, he da man!

and btw:
Still i do not have enough residencies with great sub sound to play Dubstep regularly... i am all over even trying to make it work on subpar soundsystem in small clubs.

[saidancer]

"Stoned drum and bass" is my favorite way to describe it.