Asked to play dubstep gig, anything special I should know?
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  1. #1
    Tech Mentor 0Notice's Avatar
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    Default Asked to play dubstep gig, anything special I should know?

    I was recently asked to play a dubstep gig, something I am really unfamiliar with. Im going to sit down and listen to some mixes but while I am doing that does anyone know of some great dubstep tracks I could check out? Any tips on mixing? Im used to long mixes but seems like that wont go to well with this genre... Of corse I said yes its a chance to see new things and push myself but I'm just stumped on how to approach this stuff.

    Help?
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  2. #2
    Tech Guru squidot's Avatar
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    good music in any genre is a subjective thing. you're just going to have to get on beatport, soundcloud, bandcamp, or whatever site you get music from and listen to a bunch of tracks until you find what you like. you can also search for dubstep blogs to open yourself to new sounds.

    as far as mixing it, i used to do a lot of quick cuts because it's a very busy style of music that doesn't have much in the way of long intros and outros. you can interchange drops and breakdowns pretty easily. you can also blend some breakdowns ok if you find good tracks that fit well.

    yup, just listen to a bunch of dubstep mixes and see what works and what sounds horribly wrong. i tend to hear people try to mix it like house with long blends, and two tracks both blasting on 10...just don't do that.

    when is this gig?
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  3. #3
    Tech Mentor 0Notice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by squidot View Post
    good music in any genre is a subjective thing. you're just going to have to get on beatport, soundcloud, bandcamp, or whatever site you get music from and listen to a bunch of tracks until you find what you like. you can also search for dubstep blogs to open yourself to new sounds.

    as far as mixing it, i used to do a lot of quick cuts because it's a very busy style of music that doesn't have much in the way of long intros and outros. you can interchange drops and breakdowns pretty easily. you can also blend some breakdowns ok if you find good tracks that fit well.

    yup, just listen to a bunch of dubstep mixes and see what works and what sounds horribly wrong. i tend to hear people try to mix it like house with long blends, and two tracks both blasting on 10...just don't do that.

    when is this gig?
    Thank you thats the kind of stuff I'm looking for!

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  4. #4
    Tech Guru squidot's Avatar
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    alright, if you've got a few weeks that's not too bad but you will probably be kind of busy trying to find the tunes and practicing.

    do you know if they want strictly dubstep at 70/140 bpms? a lot of people playing that genre tend to also mix in drumstep, drum & bass and the bouncy 100-110bpm dubstep sounds. if so, you'll also have to find good ways to transitions between tempos and usually the trick is to not linger in one tempo range for too long or it becomes kind of a shock when you switch.

    you can check out my 2 mixes of that style...not sure if you'll like them but it shows how i went about putting a set of those sounds together. i did a lot of short mixes because i don't want to listen to a full dubstep song since it's going so crazy and tends to sound like the same song pasted together twice to me.



    here's more of a dnb flavored short set:


    i was told by one person (who runs the we love dub blog - check them out for tracks too btw) that my imaginary friends mix had too many quick cuts into other songs and not enough blends. i tend to disagree, especially with the tracks in the beginning, but i guess it's just a matter of personal preference. i did some pretty long blends in areas, especially in the end, sometimes with a few tracks going on at once. i went through a huge dubstep phase, but i burned myself out and don't really want to listen to it any longer.

    well, maybe you will like it and can pick up at least an idea or two from them.
    Last edited by squidot; 01-06-2013 at 02:38 AM.
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  5. #5
    Tech Mentor 0Notice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by squidot View Post
    alright, if you've got a few weeks that's not too bad but you will probably be kind of busy trying to find the tunes and practicing.

    do you know if they want strictly dubstep at 70/140 bpms? a lot of people playing that genre tend to also mix in drumstep, drum & bass and the bouncy 100-110bpm dubstep sounds. if so, you'll also have to find good ways to transitions between tempos and usually the trick is to not linger in one tempo range for too long or it becomes kind of a shock when you switch.

    you can check out my 2 mixes of that style...not sure if you'll like them but it shows how i went about putting a set of those sounds together. i did a lot of short mixes because i don't want to listen to a full dubstep song since it's going so crazy and tends to sound like the same song pasted together twice to me.



    here's more of a dnb flavored short set:


    i was told by one person (who runs the we love dub blog - check them out for tracks too btw) that my imaginary friends mix had too many quick cuts into other songs and not enough blends. i tend to disagree, especially with the tracks in the beginning, but i guess it's just a matter of personal preference. i did some pretty long blends in areas, especially in the end, sometimes with a few tracks going on at once. i went through a huge dubstep phase, but i burned myself out and don't really want to listen to it any longer.

    well, maybe you will like it and can pick up at least an idea or two from them.
    I assume they don't care I was just told "Dubstep" I think I will be fine if I add in some other stuff for fun, seems like it will make it interesting, THANK YOU for the mixes kind sir! I like they idea.
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  6. #6
    Tech Guru squidot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 0Notice View Post
    I assume they don't care I was just told "Dubstep" I think I will be fine if I add in some other stuff for fun, seems like it will make it interesting, THANK YOU for the mixes kind sir! I like they idea.
    no problem, i hope i could help even a little bit. good luck on your gig and keep us posted on your progress.
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  7. #7
    Tech Guru AllDay's Avatar
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    quick transitions and using the build of one song into the drop of another is a regular way of mixing dubstep. Dubstep normally has long intro and outros aswell if you are wanting to build up the croud or break it down.

  8. #8
    Tech Mentor Ham's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AllDay View Post
    using the build of one song into the drop of another is a regular way of mixing dubstep.
    This, also use samples to end a song (as in loud swoosh, bomb sounds, etc..) and then start the build up of the next song...

    If they weren't to specific about what type of dubstep then I am going to assume they want the 'this' kind...so...

    (obviously) Skrillex
    Datsik
    Excision
    Kill The Noise
    Vaski
    Borgore
    Tomba
    Downlink
    12th Planet
    Bare
    Flux Pavillion

    ALSO just look at the UKF Dubstep channel on youtube, if you've never played dubstep and they hired you for the gig then I assume the crowd will be a bunch of yuppies, so throw down any UKF track and they'll enjoy it. If not, then I'm sorry.

    Once you've looked into that enough you'll see them doing collabs with other artists, just check them out.

    Kill The Noise will probably go down with a crowd the best as a good chunk of his tracks just have a 4 of the floor rhythm and don't have wild/technical drum patterns.. easier for people to bop their heads along too.
    Last edited by Ham; 01-06-2013 at 06:12 AM.

  9. #9
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    well as for music, here are some famous mainstream people u should check out:
    skrillex
    skream
    doctor p
    flux pavillion
    feed me
    nero
    datsik
    dream

    here are less famous mixes that i think u should check out
    https://soundcloud.com/eos/atumnal-equinox
    https://soundcloud.com/madzler/fuck-...ets/live-mixes
    and watch the ones i said above on tomorrowland
    also some deadmau5 will fit and maybe try and put some dutch tracks in
    as for mixing try this technique:
    play one songs intro and build and drop, then find a drastic stop moment (they're common in dubstep) and cut to another track drop
    and play it until the break then on the build up try and mix it with another build up and play the other track drop, i found that very easy and useful
    hope you'll have a nice gig

  10. #10
    Tech Guru dripstep's Avatar
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    does anyone mix dirty robot sounding electro house into dubstep? I found that both at 135 can sound pretty good if they are the right tracks. Ive also found that there are a lot of people that "love" dubstep and have no idea that Im throwing house in as well.

    one track for you: Krewella - Killin it (killagraham remix)
    I do believe Krewella has their Play Harder EP for free download on their facebook page.
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