Production - How Do They Get That Sound!? (dubstep)
so some of you may know i’ve been getting into production recently, and the love of my life is dubstep. i’ve wanted to produce in this genre since i feel that kind of music flows through me, but i’ve hesitated because of a key issue: i can’t get the right sound. i feel like there’s a big secret about how to get that wobbly bass sound that’s typical of a lot of dubstep music. is there a certain synth sound that is huge in dubstep production? or is all done through ground-up creation and modification of basic basslines? anyone that could point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Best advice, just keep messing with those synths! Don’t try to copy a sound, see everything that you are capable of doing with it and adding effects to it and so on.
Eventual you’ll be able to hear a certain sound and have a rough idea of how to reproduce it, or maybe you’ll come up with the next big thing, be it in dubstep or something else.
excellent advice, first of all! i was thinking this in part, i just didn’t know if there was some good way that most use to get that sound, but i like what you said better
I’ve started educating myself about synths recently. I can only give you a general idea of what to try; I’ll assume you have some sort of soft synth [If not google “Synth 1” or “polylblit” for two good freeware subtractive synth vsts]
For a dubstep sound I would try using one or two Sawtooth waveforms transposed down -24 and -12 respectively, and also a Sine waveform transposed -8 or maybe -12, whatever sounds better. Lower the Cutoff point to take out all the high frequencies and then smack on some LFO to get the signal ‘wobbling’ - another sawtooth for the LFO or even a pulse wave I imagine would get a good effect.
These are only suggestions. You could also Google it to get a pro answer somewhere. But as already said, experiment with the sound you’ll be using to make your ‘own’ sound.
dude, sweet video. really appreciate the link on that. i use live a lot.
your advice along with that video really set me on the right track, thanks for all the advice guys! i’ll be sure to post up some work once i get some stuff laid down
Massive, Albino, Predator, z3ta, and spectrasonics trilogy are all VSTS used by big name producers like Rusko and Benga for basslines.
I use those and I have a personal favourite which is WASP 5, this little synth is capable of some BIG sounds if you know how to use it.
learning how to use synthesizers is half the fun of producing music. Just fiddle around and experiment, I personally don’t find tutorials and videos that helpful. It’s best to just get your hands dirty and learn the hard way.
Wrong! - if you dont know what you are doing that is the best place to start, especially if you can find a tutorial on it.
Trying to copy a sound makes you listen to the more subtle details and then learn to decode that into synth settings.
Copying should only be a starting point, but I still find I learn lots when I hear a sound with something unique and then try to reproduce it. But I am just a begginer.
The basis of a dubstep bass line has been outlined here several times allready so I wont comment any futher.
the heart of that “wobble” sound is the low frequency oscilator (LFO).
there are a million ways to get the same result, and a million possible results…so my advice is spend some time learning the fundamentals of synthesis…and then you’ll have no problem figuring out “how they do that” with any sound.
my other piece of advice is that, like most art, your first attempts are going to be crap. push through it and have fun
DO Try to copy a sound if your doing it solely by yourself, getting to know the synth, playing with all the parameters and using your ear to recreate the sound.
DONT Try to copy the sound by following a set of steps from a tutorial. That doesnt get you anywhere.
True, and watch, read tutorials on any and EVERY sound, not just a cerain sound you’re trying to emulate. This way you’ll learn more about synths and common techniques and be able to adapt them to your needs.
I class myself as a dubstep producer over a DJ, however, I can’t stand the ‘wobble’ typical of ‘jump up’ dubstep that is taking over the dubstep scene. Even though most are, I am not a fan of producers such as Rusko and Bar 9 (if you are going to explore a particular artist to develop your wobble sound I do recommend Bar 9 though).
In my opinion, bass and inparticular sub bass are the area you need to master to create ‘proper’ dubstep.
Here is a pretty good guide about bass:
There has been some good advice posted, I expect the same advice carries over to other styles of music production, so I won’t repeat that.
What I will say though, is be patient and stick with it, don’t expect the sound to suddenly come to you, it won’t, the sound should always be evolving into something you are after.
fair enough. I probably could’ve saved myself alot of time when I was first learning if I looked at tutorials. But at the same time it was through the extensive experimenting I did that I discovered some very unique techniques for programming synth patches that I may not have learned had I relied on tutorials for my education.
I saw these videos the other day which I found a bit helpful. The best stuff I got from it was when they were discussing their workflow and how they go about approaching a track and what some of the key elements a good song needs.
