Skream

hopper

Well-known member
dubstep today: skream remixes a cover of grace's 1995 pop dance 'classic' it's not over yet by the klaxons.

Yepp, he also did hot chip as well... I personally quite enjoyed the skream klaxons remix even though in theory it sounds horrible...
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
cool

i wanna hear this and the hot chip one. what happened to all the 'genius' stuff being bandied about w/r/t skream? do people still rate him as highly?
 

hopper

Well-known member
The klaxons remix is at the start of the 13th june show which can be found on
http://gotdarker.com/

As for the genius question, my view is not so much anymore... But I'm much newer to dubstep than a bunch of other people on here so not that qualified to answer... When I was first getting into dubstep he was my favourite producer and making loads of quality stuff, but recently he doesn't seem to be as on point for me... There are still a fair few bits by him I like and 2D is definately forward thinking... But I think there seems to be less hype about Skream atm with Benga, Mala, Coki currently making the most popular tunes etc.
 

hopper

Well-known member
Occasionally Skream does come out with a blinder. Most of the rest of the time he makes good fun ravey tunes.

Re: 2D, I'm not saying it isn't a nice tune but someone on dubstepforum pointed out that the lead sound and melody come from a Reaktor preset.

http://www.divshare.com/download/914133-0f0

Yeah, I'm aware of that and I guess you can't say he's melodically brilliant for it, but he's still sculpted a good song out of it which is much easier said then done.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
I had a long conversation about the "preset" issue with Skream at the Big Apple party. I havent read the forum thread but anyone who calls out a producer for using a pre-set is spectacularly myopic.

Does it really make any difference how much effort it took to make a patch/sound/setting? How would 99.9% of the tune's audience even know? This is the classic d&b mistake, confusing production values with musical emotion, making tunes for other producers rather than an audience.

I recall reading this EZ Rollers interview when they proudly described taking three days to sculpt a snare sound... but their tunes are formulaic, soulless shite and their snares are used in predictable, unimaginative ways!

Calling out the use of pre-sets is akin to saying "anyone who samples has no artistic merit, all that belongs to the musician being sampled" [as one gereatric sample lawyer told me once].

Anyway "2D" is insane, it's everything dubstep should be right now. And if that pre-set was so obvious, why hadn't anyone else used it before?
 

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
Hmmm - I realise it's pretty bad form and generally not at all relevant - my only intention in mentioning that here was in the interests of freedom of information and full disclosure. Having said that, it's not like it's just a preset sound - it's a whole tune isn't it? I really like 2D - the progression is nice when it goes all modulated for the second drop etc. but before everyone goes too spaz they should know where that sound came from. Credit where it's due. Like people should know where Stereolab or LCD Soundsystem pinch their ideas from. Not saying it's wrong to steal / borrow.
 

swears

preppy-kei
"2D" is class, the only dubstep I really enjoy listening to is Benga and Skream. I like all his banging stuff like "Acid People".
 
who the f*** cares if he used a preset?

wasted fools

I'm not a dubstep fan but I like some of what this guy does

I like his consistency more than anything else...he seems to always have stuff out
 

elgato

I just dont know
Does it really make any difference how much effort it took to make a patch/sound/setting?

this links to an issue ive been thinking about quite a lot. not so much about implications of this kind of thing for judgement of an artist, but of art. i was going to start a whole thread about it but never got round to it. a few vague thoughts (which need tidying but which might sprout discussion) on a binary...

it seems that there are many who believe, and would argue, that only art developed with clear intention and vision is worthy of merit... they see it as vital that the musician has considered exactly what he wants to create, and executed it accordingly. it is 'theirs'; music is to be composed, and entirely the product of ones imagination. this links to the idea that use of samples (or presets) will generally undermine ones artistry, and therefore the art itself. as you say Blackdown it is very much looking at music from the producer/composer/performer outwards/down, rather than from the music itself.

also, from what i see it is generally (although of course not necessarily) people with this kind of perspective who will value high technical standards and musical complexity most highly

the polar view would i guess be something like... music should not be judged on the intention or process by which it came to be... a rejection of the idea of musician with a masterplan... it can be fluid, dynamic, learn, borrow, steal from elsewhere, so long as the end result is what is desired, it doesnt matter. that someone sits at a computer and hits a few buttons rather than 'composing' is not of importance - the result has something, a feeling, which connects to people, and that makes it as valid as art as anything else.

bringing it back to the initial thread, i guess im no longer asking whether skream is a genius, but rather whether 2D is a masterpiece, and more specifically, whether the latter requires the former.
 
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gumdrops

Well-known member
agreed re: swizz
although hes a hundred times better than he used to be
(and although ruff ryders anthem is not a very good beat up in here is classic lol)
 

swears

preppy-kei
It does get really tiresome when you hear a new tune with a cliched break like a "think" or "amen" or "funky drummer" or a 303 acid line, or whatever...

It does give people a more distinctive style if they find an unusual sample or program their own sounds, but if you can use a preset in an innovate way, then why not?
 

mos dan

fact music
Calling out the use of pre-sets is akin to saying "anyone who samples has no artistic merit, all that belongs to the musician being sampled" [as one gereatric sample lawyer told me once].

Anyway "2D" is insane, it's everything dubstep should be right now. And if that pre-set was so obvious, why hadn't anyone else used it before?

"Here's three presets. Now form a band."
 

mos dan

fact music
the polar view would i guess be something like... music should not be judged on the intention or process by which it came to be... a rejection of the idea of musician with a masterplan... it can be fluid, dynamic, learn, borrow, steal from elsewhere, so long as the end result is what is desired, it doesnt matter. that someone sits at a computer and hits a few buttons rather than 'composing' is not of importance - the result has something, a feeling, which connects to people, and that makes it as valid as art as anything else.

true genius is ineffable, ultimately. that's why writing about music amounts to striving for an unattainable goal ('like dancing about sculpture' or whatever the quote is).
 
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