Dubstep BPM Question
I notice that dubstep tracks are sold and labeled as 140 BPM (for example).
When I listen to them they sound like 70 BPM to me. The snare lands on the 2 and 4 beat right ???
Why are they labeled 140 BPM ? What does Traktor/Serato etc. usually analyze them at?
That high 140 BPM sounds strange to me as the beat groove is slow like 70 BPM.
Thanks.
Imho All Dubstep is 140bpm, it might Sound like 70 but you can happily mix it with anything Breaks around 135+ (as long as you beat match it) Have a go at mixing some breaks & dubstep around 137bpm (generally dubstep seems to all be at 140 for some reason!).
I don’t feel that its at 70 but then its like saying dnb is supposed to be at 172bpm but your program picks it up as 86bpm.
You can dance to it at 86bpm half step time or you can go full out crazy 172 style skankin…
I’ve never tried to mix anything at 70bpm into dubstep but i’m sure it’d work somehow, halves and all that!
Could be interesting…
Peace
You can change the BPM range between which traktor sets the BPM. By default, I believe this is 78-155. You can change this in settings → file management, if you like, but you can easily just divide the BPM by 2.
If it reads at 70bpm click times 2 in the beat grid, or divide 2 in the beat grid panel, or whatever you think it calls for. I ussually set all my 70 bpm dubstep at 140 just to keep things moving smoothly.
The snares would be on the 2 and 4, but someone stole half of the snares from all the Dubstep producers in the world, so they can only afford to use one in a measure.
So they put them on the 3.
Brilliant, funniest post I’ve read for ages, made me chuckle that. Bravo! 
Its’ 140 bpm. That’s where the step comes from. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s 70 bpm.
Its 140 (because of its connection to grime) but what people call half step or half time so the snares land on the 2 and 4 over 2 bars instead of in one.
How come when I mix it with a 70 BPM hip hop track the snares are synced up? Sounds like 70 BPM to me.
Because the drums are in half-time?
Anyhow, does it really matter which exact BPM it is? 70/140 is all the same really, as long as you beatmatch it you’re good.
it matters because it is correct. when I see people dancing to dubstep they are not going 140BPM like a shuffler they are grooving at 70 BPM like a rastafarian.
But when people are dancing to drum and bass are they dancing to everybeat… The rhythm that people dance is not an accurate measurement if a measurement at all of bpm?
Now THAT is the funniest post I’ve read in a loooong time.
Jah.
This is, once again, because the drums are in half time, you dance to the beat, no? If you listen to the bass, the leads and the hi-hats you’ll notice they’re in 140.
Geez, what is this, dubstepforum.com?
you have finer pitch resolution at 140bpm and it’s probably better for the master tempo algorithm 
I can mix Hip Hop into Drum & Bass does that mean DnB is 86 bpm?
I knew i’d been going wrong somewhere 
Did anyone else notice that pretty much all Dubstep is exactly 140 and not a variation of?
It seems the dubstep producers haven’t worked out how to move the BPM function in (insert used daw here)…
I dunno, a lot of the tunes I pick up on vinyl are around 138-146, a lot of the old school guys especially are starting to experiment with alternative tempos (I’ve seen quite a bit of 96bpm stuff out there lately).
Not a big dubstep fan but sneaking in a dubstep tune (or parts of) in the middle of one of my 136-142 sets sounds badass, great way to spice things up
In most songs the drums are half time but the lead lines sound more like 140(or around there). And anyway, who raves at 70 BPM…?
A lot of dubstep is actually played at 3 main BPM’s, being 140, 110 and 100. The kick lands on the first beat of every bar, and the snare lands on the third beat of every bar in most cases.