music First Dubstep problems.

[CapnKrunk 307]

This is probably the most epic question that everyone needs to,and has to know:How do you tell which songs are dubstep or not?

 

I am telling this question because there has been a big discussion over if skrillex is dubstep or not.Not just that,but for good reference in the future.

 

Please try to not start flame wars.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2012 by NewCalamity

[Lord Pretty Pie 64]

Wait... So are you asking us, or telling us? I don't know what classifies music as "Dubstep", and I would very much like to know.

[Nah 3,181]

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

[Lord Pretty Pie 64]

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

 

Now what exactly is "Bass dropping"? I hear about it all the time, but never understood... Also, how does that make it a whole other style of music? If it doesn't drop, then what is is? I don't understand.

[Matus 130]

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

 

Well, you did say "bass drop", but house can have a drop in it, and it can be the bass. Dubstep, as far as i know, has a Bass inspired way of producing sound. It depends mainly on the bass, and is accompanied by electronic noises. I doubt I'm 100% right though.

[Satsuki Kiryuin 1,154]

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

 

I do believe in Electronica, anything that has a rising build up to the climax is a drop. You can have a drop in Electro House for example, take this Marry The Night (Zedd Remix) Dirty Bass drop.

 

 

Makes it difficult for me to define dubstep at times as well. But I think I kind of got it.

Also, scary noises and nice wubs.

Edited August 4, 2012 by PwnedThisWay

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

Skrillex does do dubstep, yes

He also does other Electronic genres if I am not mistaken.

Do I care for his Dubstep, not really.

 

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

 

No. A drop does not make it dubstep at all. The modulated synth is what does.

A drop can be used in anything and Dubstep does not have to have a drop in it at all.

[ProjectRKA 2,840]

If the bass drops its Dubstep, if you're tone deaf, then you can't tell the difference.

 

It also sounds different from most mainstream music nowadays.

 

Hahahahah, you have got to be kidding me ! xD

The so-called "bass drop" doesn't necessarily mean that it's dubstep. Dubstep isn't only about the "bass drop."

It's about so much more than that. Dubstep is about the beat itself, the atmosphere of the track and so much more.

'Nor is it all about the wobble bass.

Here, have this as an example:

 

http-~~-//youtu.be/J2OCSWF7sAw

[Evilshy 5,089]

In my opinion, Dubstep isn't really a genre, it's an element of music that gets used in various things. Dubstep seems to be defined by having modulated bass, but just because something has modulated bass doesn't make it Dubstep, just as having a electric guitar doesn't make something Metal.

Because Dubstep only really has one defining feature, can it really be called a genre? You can't really have a song that's completely made of modulated bass (well, you can, but it would suck). Most Dubstep songs still have drums, so wouldn't that make them Drums & Bass as well? Of course, that's become its own genre, Drumstep, which is actually pretty good, IMO.

 

tl;dr - There aren't enough defining features to Dubstep for it to be its own genre.

[ProjectRKA 2,840]

In my opinion, Dubstep isn't really a genre, it's an element of music that gets used in various things. Dubstep seems to be defined by having modulated bass, but just because something has modulated bass doesn't make it Dubstep, just as having a electric guitar doesn't make something Metal.

 

That's both true, and not true.

Dubstep is a genre of it's own, which was developed from DnB (Drum 'n Bass) back in the days. But it's more of an experimental genre, really. Because you can do so much with it. You can use it in house,

, DnB, etc, etc.

 

Because Dubstep only really has one defining feature, can it really be called a genre? You can't really have a song that's completely made of modulated bass (well, you can, but it would suck). Most Dubstep songs still have drums, so wouldn't that make them Drums & Bass as well? Of course, that's become its own genre, Drumstep, which is actually pretty good, IMO.

 

tl;dr - There aren't enough defining features to Dubstep for it to be its own genre.

 

That's not true. Dubstep doesn't only have one defining feature, because as I said, it's an experimental genre, so it can be changed a lot. If you took a listen to the example I posted above your post, you'd see what I mean.

Sure, if you listen to the typical, what I'd like to call crapstep, such as Skrillex, Flux Pavilion, and so on, there wouldn't be that many features in the track. But, it's still a genre, though.

[ThatGuyWhoAteTheCookies 51]

This is how you know: say that some random electronic sounding song is dubstep. If someone replies throwing swear words at you within four minutes, it isn't dubstep. Believe me, it works best on YouTube.

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

OMG WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FIRST DUBSTEP PROBLEMS.

 

lol first thing that came to mind. seriously, though, it's definitely defined by the syncopated beat pattern of the drums. if you've heard dubstep, you know what kind of pattern i am talking about.

 

nowadays, dubstep is mostly around 130-140 BPM, has a build-up with the specific beat pattern, and then has the specific "bass drop" everyone either loves or hates or am indifferent about or whatever. it's what most people would classify as dubstep, however, just because it has aggressively sounding bass-drops (modulated bass, as Evilshy said) doesn't automatically make it dubstep. Skrillex, for example, isn't pure dubstep. he's only really made 1 or 2 actual dubstep tracks, most of it is a fusion of electro-house with aggressive sounding musical themes that's probably derived from when Skrillex was the vocalist for a post-hardcore band. all Skrillex really did was bring dubstep to the mainstream, iirc, despite ironically enough not being a dubstep producer at first-hand.

 

then there's also post-dubstep, which is when dubstep was into its experimental phase before growing into the more recognizable sounding musical theme that is so well-known today. like this:

 

 

it's dubstep, but it has more in common with how dubstep was back then than it is now.

(i dunno if i were any helpful here or not)

[Princes Cadance 345]

All dubstep have no lyrics (words maybe but not lyrics)

All classical music have no lyrics

therefore

All classical music is and forever will be dubstep

 

Mind = Blown?

 

IK that didnt help but I just wanted to put that out there XD

[ProjectRKA 2,840]

All dubstep have no lyrics (words maybe but not lyrics)

All classical music have no lyrics

therefore

All classical music is and forever will be dubstep

 

Mind = Blown?

 

IK that didnt help but I just wanted to put that out there XD

 

Stop being so fucking ignorant and check the example I posted above Evilshy's post. Dubstep do have lyrics...

[Princes Cadance 345]

It

Stop being so fucking ignorant and check the example I posted above Evilshy's post. Dubstep do have lyrics...

 

Its called sarcasm

You should learn it

And while your at it you should also know that I was joking

[sirseansy 87]

Dubstep uses certain elements that most other forms of EDM don't.

 

Wobble bass (wubs) are used throughout most of the piece. There is often a very defined rising action within the melodic parts where the treble rises substantially. even if there isn't a rising action, somewhere in the piece there will be a point where the melody breaks off and the bass comes in. The melody and "drop", as it is called, are usually separated by some kind of expletive "lyric" or a short pause. The bass tones take over the piece during the drop and are usually defined by loud, grinding, metallic sounds.

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

On 2012-08-04 at 2:23 AM, Evilshy said:

Dubstep seems to be defined by having modulated bass, but just because something has modulated bass doesn't make it Dubstep, just as having a electric guitar doesn't make something Metal.

Because Dubstep only really has one defining feature, can it really be called a genre? You can't really have a song that's completely made of modulated bass (well, you can, but it would suck). Most Dubstep songs still have drums, so wouldn't that make them Drums & Bass as well? Of course, that's become its own genre, Drumstep, which is actually pretty good, IMO.

 

tl;dr - There aren't enough defining features to Dubstep for it to be its own genre.

On 2012-08-04 at 10:15 AM, ProjectRKA said:

Dubstep is a genre of it's own, which was developed from DnB (Drum 'n Bass) back in the days.

Dubstep directly comes from 2-step garage/UK garage, not directly from DnB though it was one of a few indirect influences due to it being part of the same rave culture.

The most noticeable difference is the drums being played in halftime, and not immediately obvious (sometimes) is the large influences from dub and other dancehall subgenres. This is due to a collision of UK rave culture and Jamaican soundsystem culture colliding in the UK just as the 2000's rolled around (generally speaking though it was already kinda fused anyways with hardcore and jungle). There were also other influences too, like techno and Chicago footwork/juke.

It's literally just fusing "dub" and "2-step," hence the name "dubstep" because of elements of both styles coming together.

Plus, at the popular clubs back then (again, this was the 90s/00s), apparently people were getting sick of how commercial UKG had become. So, darker songs were welcomed to contrast the "posh" atmosphere that had formed over UKG.

My guess on why artists like Skrillex and Flux Pavilion got so big is because of poor quality home speakers and the rise and ease of access that Youtube has as a music promotion platform. Other than great marketing and being there at the right place, right time, of course.

With the latter in particular, the higher frequencies from screeching basslines come through a lot better on those home speakers (and cheap headsets too!) than the really low sub frequencies that dubstep was known for in clubs. So, as a result anything and everything that had some screeching synth in it had been called dubstep as the 2010s came around, regardless if it were actually electro house, DnB, or whatever else. 

Dubstep artists by then were already adding more "wub" over "sub" by that point anyways. Coki is a great example with his songs "Spongebob" and "Goblin"

On 2012-08-05 at 1:38 PM, sirseansy said:

Dubstep uses certain elements that most other forms of EDM don't.

Wobble bass (wubs) are used throughout most of the piece.

"Wobble" and "wubs" and whatever else don't necessarily need to be part of it at all. They're just added for an added "Wow!" factor to make it more and more gnarly, just to make the crowd go wild. It's generally been a thing 20+ years ago and still a thing for producers to do today.

You can have a sine wave playing underneath acting as the bass and it's enough to qualify as dubstep, as long as the "otherworldly" or "space-like" nature of dub and some variant of the UKG drum pattern are present at minimum.

Plus, other electronic genres had used wubs and such when dubstep was still in it's infancy (the turn of the 90s/00s), DnB being the best example I can think of right now.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,377]

Good explanation @Trot Shuffle