DUBSTEP- breaking news, gossip, slander, lies etc
- Thread starter boomnoise
- Start date
- Status
the undisputed truth
Banned
gek-opel said:
I don't buy that at all...
...i can see and hear a multitude of possiblities for dubstep to explore both within and outside the standard 4/4 time signature ala bhangra and qawwali
If anything it is one of the very few genres that can do this because we aren't so reliant on recycling breaks but tend to build em from ground up one hit at a time...
I don't know about others but I'm pretty sure we can adapt any beat style to suit our purposes and in a protracted argument about future directions on dubstepforum offered a glimpse via a beat called "the dead truth"...
...available at all good download sites near you soon
mms said:
do what ???...ultra minimalise beats and layer up bass sounds ???
that's about all some do, we use at least 5 or 6 bass noises on just about every tune, they do tend to be just one or two notes though...
... that whole running zed bias bass thing has hopefully been consigned to history although antiwardub does hark back to it with its bassline
what was it blackdown said ??? "anomalous distractions and backward thinking revisionists", dude cracks me down eh...
commited ???... yeah, to the asylum, confident ???.... hell yeah, unfuckwithable
diverse and open to experimentation ???...uh not quite on the whole, one might even argue practically formulaic in a half step stylee with the innovators subject to mass imitation...
...meaning. I expect at least whole lot more wobbleclones in the short term but at the very least i expect the techstepper converts to bring nu flavours for your ear and the outernationals as well
watch this space...
bassnation said:
the techstep comparison comes around all the time, which to me seems to relate to the darkness of dubstep. but the b-line wobbler thing seems to have much more in common with that much derided style of jungle, jump-up.
Tunes like Skreams' Ancient Memories remix and Coki's DMZ's stuck have slower halfstep beats so turn to jump up b-lines to provide the energy.
Last edited:
the undisputed truth
Banned
I'd say wobblers are closer to clownstep than jumpup...
...by jump up do you mean urban takeover, mickey finn, aphrodite et al ???
it's been a while but I don't remember much wobbling going on there...
...me loved teh jump up but me loved teh congo natty ragga jungle more
big ups to the one like REBEL MC
word sound power...
...by jump up do you mean urban takeover, mickey finn, aphrodite et al ???
it's been a while but I don't remember much wobbling going on there...
...me loved teh jump up but me loved teh congo natty ragga jungle more
big ups to the one like REBEL MC
word sound power...
borderpolice
Well-known member
Blackdown said:
most speakers cannot or do not reproduce such very low frequencies well. so frequency alone is not so important for the feel of a bass sound. also, a single kick has different psychoacoustic properties than a layer of low frequencies. i think dubstep's bass effect is mostly because it replaces impulsive low-frequency energy stabs (aka bass drum) with a carpet of long deep droning sounds. these long droning carpets have a strong euphoric effect, when perceived at high volume (for me anyway). I dont know why, but it feels all engulfing, not dissimilar to the quality of sounds when diving or surfing. i may be wrong about this but as far as i can see, andy c & the ram records crew were the first to really explore this musical technique.
I would like to mention one other feature of dubstep that makes this genre so interesting: the long gaps between tension and release, especially when it come to the rhythm. as you all know very well, music works with tension/release cycles. and in much popmusic -- D&B, Rock are particularly noteworthy here -- on the drums, the release follows the tension-buildup almost immediatly. in dubstep that tends to be very different, there may be a looooooong gap between a drum pattern that builds up tension, and the subsequent release through another complementary pattern.
i find these long plateaus of tension, waiting for a release, incredibly appealing.
incidentally, the much discussed burial is mostly lacking this.
Last edited:
I co-sign on the tension and release thing. I think, especially for those of us who went through jungle, that this is part of the appeal of the half stepping slow stuff. The slowness and big empty drops, mutes on the one, etc create this ridiculous tension so when you get a bass drop everyone just goes nuts out of relief. A weird analogy is comedians dissing the audience, it'll get so tense in a room that people will start laughing at anything.
And I agree that the wobbler direction could get stale if it become too formulaic but right now I am still enjoying it. But as someone mentioned, it's basically necessary if you're gonna go half stepping, in order to keep those 16th notes in there for people to dance rather than march.
As far as 50hz not reproducing on most systems, very true, this is why you're getting less than half of the dubstep experience if you're listening to this music on these systems. Even though what we produce is probably more accurately described as some kind of grime we never took the deep subs out of our music (been trying to get them right since the jungle days) and I personally like to put a nice fat EQ boost around 40hz on our bass synths (depending on the note). On most systems it will disappear or only be audible by the dynamic space it pushes out of the track (can sound quite cool as well) but on a proper loud system with good subwoofers it's a powerful, physical sound. That's one of my favorite tests lately of my bass drops 'does it turn my monitor into an airconditioner?' Put my face in front of the woofer and feel how much air is being displaced.
Various Productions, from what I can hear have a few decent beats (although a few proper cheesy ones) but I'm not feeling any of the vocals I've heard. It sounds way too much like 'look underground and pop!' and neither side is particularly convincingly delivered. Can't say it's really bad but I'm surprised by the level of excitement around them. It annoys me a bit how everyone is always so hungrily waiting for someone to water down the underground and fuse it with something whiter, or poppier, or more intellectual or that makes people say 'imagine x mixed with y, what a great idea' and then everyone jumps up and down and celebrates it until they release that while it was great to talk about it actually wasn't that great to listen to. Not necessarily saying this is the case with V.P. or that it's their fault, but I see that process happening again and again.
And I agree that the wobbler direction could get stale if it become too formulaic but right now I am still enjoying it. But as someone mentioned, it's basically necessary if you're gonna go half stepping, in order to keep those 16th notes in there for people to dance rather than march.
As far as 50hz not reproducing on most systems, very true, this is why you're getting less than half of the dubstep experience if you're listening to this music on these systems. Even though what we produce is probably more accurately described as some kind of grime we never took the deep subs out of our music (been trying to get them right since the jungle days) and I personally like to put a nice fat EQ boost around 40hz on our bass synths (depending on the note). On most systems it will disappear or only be audible by the dynamic space it pushes out of the track (can sound quite cool as well) but on a proper loud system with good subwoofers it's a powerful, physical sound. That's one of my favorite tests lately of my bass drops 'does it turn my monitor into an airconditioner?' Put my face in front of the woofer and feel how much air is being displaced.
Various Productions, from what I can hear have a few decent beats (although a few proper cheesy ones) but I'm not feeling any of the vocals I've heard. It sounds way too much like 'look underground and pop!' and neither side is particularly convincingly delivered. Can't say it's really bad but I'm surprised by the level of excitement around them. It annoys me a bit how everyone is always so hungrily waiting for someone to water down the underground and fuse it with something whiter, or poppier, or more intellectual or that makes people say 'imagine x mixed with y, what a great idea' and then everyone jumps up and down and celebrates it until they release that while it was great to talk about it actually wasn't that great to listen to. Not necessarily saying this is the case with V.P. or that it's their fault, but I see that process happening again and again.
re: streets, sov, VP, etc. I'd also like to point out that I'm not actually trying to diss these artists. In fact as a young educated white guy I think some could level the same criticisms at my own music, and I don't think the artists are necessarily doing it cynically.
It's more the way so many tastemakers blatantly gush about the things that fit comfortably into their scheme of what they find acceptable ie: politically un-complicated, can be described as 'futuristic' or fit into some marketable, trendy movement, is for whatever complicated reasons usually made by white people or if not 'educated' people of color playing the trendster game (MIA, etc). 9 times out of 10 it's because these people are just talking about whatever is in their backyard or in convenient reach on the internet etc and they're scared to go to the places where musical innovation is going on, too nervous to meet the people who are doing it... I know I'm firing pot shots at a pretty large complicated problem but think it's worth some discussion as it seems to be at the root of a lot of the artist focused hating that goes on here. It's not always the fault of the artists if they make something that's convenient for these people to support.
There's been a long but at moments good thread over at RWD at the moment about this that's also in my head as I write this. If you're interested go have a look, it's in the grime forum with about 100 replies in it.
It's more the way so many tastemakers blatantly gush about the things that fit comfortably into their scheme of what they find acceptable ie: politically un-complicated, can be described as 'futuristic' or fit into some marketable, trendy movement, is for whatever complicated reasons usually made by white people or if not 'educated' people of color playing the trendster game (MIA, etc). 9 times out of 10 it's because these people are just talking about whatever is in their backyard or in convenient reach on the internet etc and they're scared to go to the places where musical innovation is going on, too nervous to meet the people who are doing it... I know I'm firing pot shots at a pretty large complicated problem but think it's worth some discussion as it seems to be at the root of a lot of the artist focused hating that goes on here. It's not always the fault of the artists if they make something that's convenient for these people to support.
There's been a long but at moments good thread over at RWD at the moment about this that's also in my head as I write this. If you're interested go have a look, it's in the grime forum with about 100 replies in it.
SIZZLE said:
Yeah that is a bit shit - but i don't think this is the case here - and you get to a place with this arguement when you miss when things are and aren't - i mean it's true with something like lady sov and the ordinary boys or grindiem or the mash up thing from a few years back but ie when the some of two parts make something that lascks the qualities of both but then i don't think you can say the same here, i think the process is organic and focussed and not at all cynical . i also think more people have heard of dmz or skream now than various productions.
bassnation
the abyss
Blackdown said:
jump up used the reverse bass sound, not the wobbler. that midrangey distorted bass is pure techstep, although dubstep has managed to pull back from the excesses of dnb in that regard.
bassnation
the abyss
borderpolice said:
that subbass drone (the carpet of bass you describe) has been about for a long long time. it even predates jungle. i've got miami bass and electro records which have ludicrous speaker busting subbass lines on them, as heavy as any jungle or dubstep. its fantastic, never get tired of it.
borderpolice said:
yes, interesting that. its dubstep but its totally different to anything else out there - real fringe material.
Last edited:
co-sign on the miami bass stuff. I have to go find the titles but look for car test bass, they're usually just a series of pitched subs with some scratching or something over it. 'pump that bass' etc Kinda like devil mixes, some of them sound like dubstep in that they're filling so much space with pure sub. Some really beautiful ones my girl has on mp3. Would be interesting to find a link between those car bass guys, with their sub power competitions and dubstep. They'd probably love it, they're all just looking for powerful, deep subs to show off their cars bionic stereos. Anyone on this board in Miami?
the undisputed truth
Banned
I reckon...
... tell him to get of his arse and start making beats again, is he hooked up with dinesh and tha Illsta, assuming he's in NY ???
marketability is the key to the streets and lady sov, the powers that be can pitch watered down street culture to the middle classes for a premium but they can't do the same with lower class artists simply cos they don't support their artist with their wallets and they get enough of that culture by stepping outside most every other day
well that's how it is here in NZ with hiphop anyway, most poor kids who are truly into it are ripping soulseek to shreds looking for the upfront stuff and thinking they're gonna be the next big thing just cos they can spit some kiddie rhymes in sync with a lame beat, but it's the boy racers and their slapper girlfriends mostly middle class that's buying the stuff
having said that there is this weird thing about not file sharing kiwi artists so we have a healthy, vibrant and diverse music scene at the moment across all genres but due to our isolation can't penetrate foreign markets
I don't think our tastes in music are quite the same as most OECD countries anyway,, take us for instance and our spin on dubstep or Fat freddies drop with their take on dub/reggae
maybe one day the world will wake up and we might bet a few acts cross over if only on novelty value like ooooh look at what those crazy kiwis are doing ???
... tell him to get of his arse and start making beats again, is he hooked up with dinesh and tha Illsta, assuming he's in NY ???
marketability is the key to the streets and lady sov, the powers that be can pitch watered down street culture to the middle classes for a premium but they can't do the same with lower class artists simply cos they don't support their artist with their wallets and they get enough of that culture by stepping outside most every other day
well that's how it is here in NZ with hiphop anyway, most poor kids who are truly into it are ripping soulseek to shreds looking for the upfront stuff and thinking they're gonna be the next big thing just cos they can spit some kiddie rhymes in sync with a lame beat, but it's the boy racers and their slapper girlfriends mostly middle class that's buying the stuff
having said that there is this weird thing about not file sharing kiwi artists so we have a healthy, vibrant and diverse music scene at the moment across all genres but due to our isolation can't penetrate foreign markets
I don't think our tastes in music are quite the same as most OECD countries anyway,, take us for instance and our spin on dubstep or Fat freddies drop with their take on dub/reggae
maybe one day the world will wake up and we might bet a few acts cross over if only on novelty value like ooooh look at what those crazy kiwis are doing ???
- Status