xkcd

by **Midnight** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:29 pm UTC

A genre I don't really like, until I found this song: Skrillex - Hey Sexy Lady which is just the best dubstep song ever.

HOW DO YOU GUYS FEEL ABOUT DUBSTEP?

by **Cynwulf** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:12 am UTC

I love dubstep. I don't love that I can't find any on this side of the pond. Bastards.

I see yours and raise you: M'Black - Heartbreak (Bare Noize remix) (my favorite dubstep choon)

by **Paranoid__Android** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 2:00 pm UTC

I like dubstep when the wobble bass isn't used, sadly thats lots of the time.

by **Midnight** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:44 pm UTC

Cynwulf wrote:I love dubstep. I don't love that I can't find any on this side of the pond. Bastards.

I see yours and raise you: M'Black - Heartbreak (Bare Noize remix) (my favorite dubstep choon)

Hah that bass is TOOO much, dude. You almost broke my subwoofer.

by **psykx** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:38 pm UTC

I saw DMZ a couple of weeks ago, it was.. wow. Glad I had ear plugs in. Check out "numb" by h320 and anything by marlow.

by **Mumpy** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:49 pm UTC

Imma just step in to say thank you Midnight. I was considering starting a thread for dubstep but felt to new too. Still now it's here I'm going to love it and care for it. Dubstep is most of what I listen to now. In fact This is what I was listening to just now. I am sorta interested by how few female producers exist for dubstep. Beyond Emika, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

by **psykx** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:42 am UTC

I thought producing in general was pretty male dominated, I can't think of any off the top of my head, vocalists of course but no producers. As a fledging producer my self I'm pretty excited about the possibilities of dub step as a genre, anybody else think there is loads of scope?

Also has anybody been to any dub step gigs that where pretty spectacular?

by **dubsola** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:47 am UTC

Midnight wrote:Skrillex

Skrillex is awful. I'm sorry, but it's true.

Mumpy wrote:I am sorta interested by how few female producers exist for dubstep.

There are a few female dubstep producers: Vaccine and Ikonika are the two that come to mind. DJ wise there's a few female DJs, like Mary Anne Hobbes, whose Radio 1 show (now defunct) did a *lot* to bring dubstep to listeners. Behind the scenes, Sarah Soulja runs the Tempah label (Skream, etc) and the FWD night. Melissa Bradshaw is a notable blogger. Ms Dynamite and the Warrior Queen are two MCs that come to mind. Warrior Queen in particular is someone well worth checking out, her and the Bug's tune Poison Dart is probably the largest tune in existence. She is a fantastic MC.

psykx wrote:Also has anybody been to any dub step gigs that where pretty spectacular?

I've been to many, many dubstep gigs. The best ones were either DMZ or FWD. The dubstep bits at Sonar were pretty good too.

Cynwulf wrote:I love dubstep. I don't love that I can't find any on this side of the pond. Bastards.

Where do you live? California? I guarantee you there are dubstep gigs in your state. Granted your state is huge, but if you're in San Diego, LA or San Fran you can find them. This will help.

I've got a few dubstep mixes y'all might be interested in. And for the sake of making this thread somewhat more complete: Kode9, Plastician, The Bug, Skream, Benga, Mala, Coki, Loefah, DMZ, Scuba, Clouds, LV, Distance, Peverlist, Joker, Dusk & Blackdown, Kromestar, Pinch, Shackleton, Joy Orbison, Ramadanman, Rusko (bleh), Oneman, Burial, RSD, Youngsta, Zomby, Horsepower, Hench, Vex'd, James Blake, Quarta330... erm... yeah. :lol:

by **Midnight** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:23 pm UTC

dubsola wrote:
Midnight wrote:Skrillex

Skrillex is awful. I'm sorry, but it's true.

You know nothing. I've yet to see that "Hey Sexy Lady" track topped!

by **Роберт** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 7:08 pm UTC

Skrillex wants to kill everybody in the world. But that is a good track. Some of his stuff is over the top, though. It almost sounds like someone rapidly flipping through various electronic radio stations to a beat. I'm not sure thats the best way to describe it.

by **Midnight** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:39 pm UTC

I suppose there's a key difference between dubstep (as in the combination of dub and 2-step, ie jamacian style) and dubstep (filthy synths, wobbly bass, etc, ie bored British people with Cubase)

by **dubsola** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:10 am UTC

I agree. For that second style I prefer someone like Starkey, I just feel like the musical ideas in his music are more clearly expressed than artists like Skrillex, who I just find a jumbled mess. Obviously it's subjective, sometimes a jumbled mess can be great.

by **podbaydoor** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 8:34 pm UTC

Mt Eden - Sierra Leone

by **Mumpy** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:42 pm UTC

podbaydoor wrote:Mt Eden - Sierra Leone

I still like him, to be honest. I also still like Rusko. Just because Rusko and Caspa diverged doesn't mean either of them 'sold out' as seems to be the consensus of that well known arbiter of balanced debate, YouTube comments.

by **psykx** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:24 pm UTC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgP3jutq494

by **Роберт** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:19 pm UTC

Cyberoptix is pretty good. Here's "Sabotage": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4J_619f624

Anyone care to interpret what the plot is?

by **PhatPhungus** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:33 pm UTC

Dubstep is alright, it would make good video game music or something, but speaking as a musician, when you actually listen to it, there's really not much there. It's tasteful, but not complex enough for it to hold my interest by itself.

by **ottifant** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:22 pm UTC

I've had an Idea for quite a while that i could like Dubstep, but i didn't look really into it until i bought a really good pair of earphones. I'm still discovering, and so far its turning out to be great =)

@PhatPhungus:
I have that feeling a lot with Music a la Green Day (just an Example, of course), there is really no complexity that challenges you in terms of music. But somehow it's not that much of a Problem with electronic Music, because in electronic Genres it's much more about a specific Sound, eg. the Wobble, whereas Guitars or whatever have been around for some time and are therefore better "known". (I hope that was understandable, i had some difficulties writing the last Sentence, with all that not being an English native Speaker Stuff )

by **Midnight** » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:50 pm UTC

PhatPhungus wrote:Dubstep is alright, it would make good video game music or something, but speaking as a musician, when you actually listen to it, there's really not much there. It's tasteful, but not complex enough for it to hold my interest by itself.

and Let It Be is 4 chords, but it's an awesome song. I'm also guessing you don't like punk much.

by **Роберт** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:07 pm UTC

PhatPhungus wrote:Dubstep is alright, it would make good video game music or something, but speaking as a musician, when you actually listen to it, there's really not much there. It's tasteful, but not complex enough for it to hold my interest by itself.

Speaking as a musician, dubstep can be complex enough to hold my interest by itself. It has all sorts of interesting timings, and is littered with triplets, quintuplets, etc, and really breaks out of the norm.

I'm using reaper (free for 30 days, buy it for $40, a pretty full-featured DAW) making dub sounds and it's FUN! (For the wobbly base, get a free synth, make sure there's plenty of distortion so there are a bunch of harmonics, and use envelopes to to automate a lo pass-filter.) I'm thinking of putting together a Christmas ambient dub.

by **PhatPhungus** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:22 pm UTC

@Роберт: perhaps I have not been listening to the right dubstep

@Midnight: Let it Be is a really good song because of the lyrics and how they work with the music. I like punk for the same reason. Dubstep, as instrumental music, must have something else to go with it to be good.

@ottifant: That's a good point that I hadn't really thought about, on the other hand, I dislike music that's repetitive and uninteresting that has guitars in it too.

I guess most of it hinges around the idea that I require a lot more of music that doesn't have lyrics because it needs something else to fill that gap, and the dubstep I've heard really doesn't do that for me.

by **dubsola** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:29 pm UTC

Dubstep isn't the most complicated of electronic musics (I think something like Telefon Tel Aviv would fit that bill), but there are some potential candidates:

James Blake
LV
Darkstar
Burial

I guess it's no coincidence that all of these artists make comparatively melodic music, nothing too hard. I think ottifant's right about the fact that electronic music often focuses on a particular sound, I also think that in terms of the dance, music on huge soundsystems often sound better when they're stripped back. As much as I love Burial, I know that if you played that in a nightclub, most people would have a bit of trouble dancing to it. It wouldn't be as instinctual, because the rhythm is obscured.

by **dubsola** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:23 pm UTC

Someone said that dubstep sounds nothing like dub, so I spent half an hour gathering youtube links to disprove that theory. Figured I might share it here.

* Mala - Anti War Dub, Blue Notez, Forgive, his remix of Cay's Crazy by Fat Freddy's Drop. Mala is one of the first dubstep producers, and is very much of the dub persuasion.
* LV is another very, very dubby producer. One of my favourites, actually. Everything he does is good. But for dubbiness - Don't Judge, CCTV, Globetrotting (when the bass hits, these tunes become immense).
* Boxcutter - November, Glyphic
* Pinch - One Blood
* King Midas Sound - I
* Clouds - Under Dancing Feet
* Plastician - Japan
* Pangea - Router
* Shackleton - Blood on my hands (proper goosebumps every time I hear this)

by **RAGUS** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:54 am UTC

I've been into trip-hop a bit as of late, and have made a bit of a transition into dubstep. With most of the music I listen to though, I tend to be attracted to slower BPMs (hence the trip-hop) and seem to have heard some pretty killer heavy sounding but slow tempo stuff. Any hints on how or where I might find more of that sort of thing?

Course, I come from a background of heavy metal, so I may have all my terminology completely wrong here...

by **dubsola** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:06 pm UTC

I reckon Distance could be something like what you're after.

by **McCaber** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:20 pm UTC

ctrl-f Bassnectar - 0 results

Seriously? Bassnectar's the fucking man.

by **dubsola** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:23 pm UTC

Sounds like brostep to me.

I'm keen to know what RAGUS thinks of Distance, hope he or she comes back. I cheated a little bit - Distance used to make heavy metal and so should appeal to someone that way inclined.

by **MHD** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:56 pm UTC

Face melting audio, click this.

Be careful...

Scientists have found this track to severely injure small animals, children, and those unaccustomed to trips to auditory hell.

by **SecondTalon** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:11 am UTC

The above link is to a remix of the Zelda Underworld music. It includes a sample of Navi's "Hey! Listen!" that's.... well, there's no other way to say it : it's just damn perfectly used.

by **theGoldenCalf;** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:27 am UTC

I have a problem with dubstep.. I love fat bass, dub rhythms and dark atmosphere, but too much of this particular genre is just tracks locking into a simple groove and staying exactly the same for 5-6 minutes. Seriously, it's dark pad + wobble bass + boom - boom - click, boom - boom - click with a rare break now and then. That's why I can enjoy dubstep for 2-3 minutes tops, with Shackleton and some Burial being the only exceptions so far. It tends to work better on a dancefloor, though.

Speaking of which, for the last few years, saying "Burial" and saying "Dubstep" became pretty much the same thing. Don't know if it's a good or a bad position to be for an artist.

by **dubsola** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:55 am UTC

Well, most of this music is designed to be mixed. You might end up only hearing a minute or two of it before the DJ mixes into the next one. But, I pretty much agree that there is a lot of filler out there and that it is tiresome. There are some amazing tunes that are repetitive, but they're rare compared to all the DJ tools.

I'm surprised you say that, I think Burial is in the minority, and the brostep squelchy bass is synonymous with dubstep.

by **Rodion Raskolnikov** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:11 pm UTC

Without wanting to sound to much like one of those "music is only cool if no one else has heard of it” kind of people, I think dubstep might have had its day. A few years ago there was some amazing stuff going about (Glasgow had a particularly good dubstep scene). Burial’s album “Untrue” came out in 2007 and its just beautiful. I agree, its not the best for dancing to at a club, but it’s a fantastic album. Martyn is another favourite who made some great stuff around then. I saw him live in Glasgow a few years ago; it was actually my first dubstep night, and it was pretty mind-blowing.
Some of the stuff that’s making the charts now isn’t bad (Katy B, some of Magnetic Man’s stuff) but as a genre, it’s moving too much towards the ridiculously heavy bass, wah wah wah kind of stereotype.
Having said all that, Burial is releasing a remix of Massive Attack’s last album Heligoland later this year which could be awesome, and James Blake so far looks pretty promising.

by **dubsola** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:27 pm UTC

It's just expanded, and the original sound is sounding boring because the innovative producers are off on their own. James Blake (who is pretty great, I'm seeing him live tomorrow), Joy Orbison, Girl Unit, Egyptrixx (in fact the whole Night Slugs roster, with whom which the last two are affiliated), Ramadanman, Shackleton... loads more. The original dubstep is a bit tired sounding to those who've been hearing it for five or more years, but stuff like I've mentioned is blowing minds all over.

by **Rodion Raskolnikov** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:52 pm UTC

That's pretty much what I was trying to say. Maybe I wasn't clear, but the thing is dubstep is all over the radio and the charts just now, but its mainly just pop versions of what dubstep sounded like 4 or 5 years ago.
But because that’s what most people will be hearing, that sound will be what is mainly associated with the word “dubstep”. The interesting people making music will mutate their sound into something new and fresh.

by **dubsola** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:21 pm UTC

Yeah, it's a shame that that's the association.

by **tin** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:31 pm UTC

dubsola wrote:Girl Unit, Egyptrixx (in fact the whole Night Slugs roster, with whom which the last two are affiliated)

I'm currently digging Night Slugs and most involved with them. I blame Girl Unit's 'Wut' for that. God damn, that song makes me dance.

Rodion Raskolnikov wrote:(Glasgow had a particularly good dubstep scene).

It still does. If the club nights are anything to go by.

by **Rodion Raskolnikov** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:50 pm UTC

Rodion Raskolnikov wrote:(Glasgow had a particularly good dubstep scene).

It still does. If the club nights are anything to go by.[/quote]

Yeah, I probably should have said "has good a scene", but I don't live there anymore. But more and more the club nights seem to be attracting trendy student-type who are there because radio 1 told them dubstep is now cool. They're still good fun though.

by **podbaydoor** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:39 pm UTC

Weeeellll, it was inevitable, I suppose.

Inspector Gadget Dubstep remix

by **Gelsamel** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:36 am UTC

Oh man... okay I have to link

Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, amazing drop.

I'm surprised no one has linked the dubstep tutorial or the VIP tutorial (I love how at certain bits in the VIP tutorial it sounds like the atmosphere just got heavier 0:55, 1:09, etc). Make sure to put it on 720p. Again, amazing drops are amazing.

Please Mr. Postman

Swing + Dubstep? Yes please. To be honest I'd love to hear some more Swing + Dubstep with better drops, but this song is good. Imagine some pure swing bit, which after a while suddenly stutters, cuts out, epic drop intro pure dubstep, then after a while back into swing, stutter, break, epic drop into hybrid dubstep/swing.

If anyone thinks they've found the heaviest drop that ever exists then they need to link it here right now!

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6doLyDy_v0 Everything I've found with (Bare Noize Remix) in it's title has been awesome.

by **Mumpy** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:02 am UTC

For heavy, pretty much any Datsik, 16bit* or Excision. You could even try The Most Sexist Man In Dubstep, otherwise known as Borgore. Oh hey you guys, Does anyone know the original that Foes comes from? I can't find the song that 16bit remixed.

And while I'm at it, Chasing Shadows, Flux Pavilion, Bar9, Black sun empire, Doctor P all have pretty good drops on them.

*yes I know that's not 16bits heaviest. It's just my favourite s'all.

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