DUBSTEP- breaking news, gossip, slander, lies etc

[ramadanman]

as much as some may dislike chest boxing

i think it's wicked!

the bassline is just so relentless, grating away at your ears. intro is very cool too.

regarding dubstep nights - i think there's a lack of chilled out ones. i think there should be less pressure on the DJ to draw for the bangers. half the time when i go out anyway i'm perfectly happy just sitting down and chilling to the music - don't often have that much energy to go nuts.

 

[Grievous Angel]

I still love a bit of 142 bpm wobble!

 

[UFO over easy]

As for wobble-step, which I am not a fan of at all...there's a world of difference between what's created in the basslines in - for example - 28g and Chest Boxing.

You like benga right?

Not sure what you're saying with the comparison either. 28g and chest boxing both have lfos, and you like one but not the other. Fair enough, what's the problem?

Can you pinpoint the world of difference you mention, and its significance, other than just the fact that they're different lfos and different tunes which you personally react differently to?

Kromestar's 007 remix was really fun at flux yesterday too

 

[mos dan]

can someone explain to this ignoramus (me) what an lfo is, specifically? sometimes feel like i should take a technical-side-of-dubstep 101.

 

[woops]

low frequency oscillator

It's an oscillator that produces a very low frequency, usually too low for humans to hear, which can then be assigned to control another parameter on the synth, let's say pitch. So as the lfo wave goes up and down, so does the pitch of the note being produced.

That's my understanding anyway.

 

[dHarry]

can someone explain to this ignoramus (me) what an lfo is, specifically? sometimes feel like i should take a technical-side-of-dubstep 101.

LFO is low frequency oscillation - basically a slow wave something like this (sine, triangle, saw etc -shaped):

_____/ \_____/ \____

The dubstep lfo-wobble, and a standard synthesiser feature for producing vibrato (wobbles in pitch) since the moog, is when this is used to modulate (affect/control) another sound like a continuous bass tone. The up-and-down of the lfo wave controls the volume, tone or other parameter of the bass to make it throb:
[whuuugh-whuuugh-whuuugh] or whatever instead of just
[bmmmmmmmmmmmmmm]

If the low frequency is sped up enough, above 20 waves/cycles per second (hertz) it passes over from a dynamic throb effect to produce another audible musical tone, 'cos our ears hear it that way. (All music is combinations of air waves vibrating at 20-20,000 Hertz)

 

[gek-opel]

Edit: what he just said!

 

[Pangaea]

You like benga right?

Not sure what you're saying with the comparison either. 28g and chest boxing both have lfos, and you like one but not the other. Fair enough, what's the problem?

Can you pinpoint the world of difference you mention, and its significance, other than just the fact that they're different lfos and different tunes which you personally react differently to?

Kromestar's 007 remix was really fun at flux yesterday too

Meh, I was trying to write a fairly lengthy post on what I’m not liking about dubstep at the moment then decided to scrap it. The 28g/Chest Boxing comparison was a snippet that now doesn’t read well as it’s not particularly in context. Just seems that a lot of the subtlety of dubstep seems to have been lost in a lot of tracks lately - to be replaced by lots of wobble, such as in Chest Boxing, but not a lot else.

 

[lazybones]

though to get that wobble sound the lfo is usually assigned to the cutoff on the filter

 

[SIZZLE]

I still like wobble, although obviously people shouldn't stop there. Then again, I still like tek step's extremely passe mid range bass sound too, just not the drums that it's paired with.

I agree that there is a risk of dubstep of everyone just going off down the wobble corridor and getting stuck there though.

 

[bassnation]

I still like wobble, although obviously people shouldn't stop there. Then again, I still like tek step's extremely passe mid range bass sound too, just not the drums that it's paired with.

I agree that there is a risk of dubstep of everyone just going off down the wobble corridor and getting stuck there though.

i won't buy or listen to any tracks with it in. despite ufo over easy's doomed-to-failure attempt to make people like what they patently dislike, it was a weak sonic signature in the first place - a hand-me-down from its older brother - which has been subsequently caned until it makes peoples ears bleed. if theres a sound that single-handedly drags dubstep from the slinky feminine pressure of 2-step towards the clumsily ugly vibe of nu skool breakz, its that. enough already.

 

[the undisputed truth]

More people should make dubstep that isn't wobbly or halfstepped or boringly depressive ambient bassfluff...y'heard ???

 

[dHarry]

though to get that wobble sound the lfo is usually assigned to the cutoff on the filter

True, though I did say "The up-and-down of the lfo wave controls the volume, tone or other parameter", not wanting to get way technical on peep's asses who didn't know what a filter cut-off was

Imagine rock fans in the 60's discussing the precise merits of harmonic distortion produced by valve Vs solid-state guitar amps like this

 

[Parson]

then getting on the bus back home and no one knows who you are...

but they're wondering!

 

[elgato]

i won't buy or listen to any tracks with it in. despite ufo over easy's doomed-to-failure attempt to make people like what they patently dislike, it was a weak sonic signature in the first place - a hand-me-down from its older brother - which has been subsequently caned until it makes peoples ears bleed. if theres a sound that single-handedly drags dubstep from the slinky feminine pressure of 2-step towards the clumsily ugly vibe of nu skool breakz, its that. enough already.

to be fair, ben was just trying to point out that its not the technique which is the issue but the use of it, which in my opinion is a good point. it may not apply to you, i dont know, but it would apply to most i think. because almost every bassline you'll hear in dubstep, as well as many outside of it, use a frequency oscillator on a bass synth, its just a question of with what discretion and subtlety. i think perhaps the issue here is that we're not all using the same vocabulary to describe the same thing, i think ben is taking the term wobble in an expansive sense wheras you perhaps use it to refer specifically to tracks where it is very much the key element...?

either way i dont think ben is trying to make people like what they dislike, but rather point out potential inconsistencies which can result from making broad brush dismissals

 

[DJ PIMP]

i have an almost boundless love for wobble. you are hearing the wave of the wave. its a spiritual thing.

 

[UFO over easy]

to be fair, ben was just trying to point out that its not the technique which is the issue but the use of it, which in my opinion is a good point. it may not apply to you, i dont know, but it would apply to most i think. because almost every bassline you'll hear in dubstep, as well as many outside of it, use a frequency oscillator on a bass synth, its just a question of with what discretion and subtlety. i think perhaps the issue here is that we're not all using the same vocabulary to describe the same thing, i think ben is taking the term wobble in an expansive sense wheras you perhaps use it to refer specifically to tracks where it is very much the key element...?

either way i dont think ben is trying to make people like what they dislike, but rather point out potential inconsistencies which can result from making broad brush dismissals

yep thanks ben..

 

[Grievous Angel]

Marc, I'm not sure I understand the strength of your reaction to wobble.

Yes, it could be signifier of dubstep's ability to reverse into blind alleys, but I'm not sure that all dubstep tunes with wobble on them are always terrible.

I mean, surely this doesn't mean you now dislike 28G, Misty Winter, Tortured, or Qawalli, all of which feature LFOs to a significant degree?

Or for that matter tunes by Prisoners of Technology or Congo Natty?

Bring on dubstep tunes with lots of wobble, at 142+ bpm, AND amens, AND ragga vocal samples, AND diva vocal samples. It'd be ace!

 

[Parson]

wobble is the new hoover/reece

back in the day dnb heads would argue endlessly over whether or not the sound was caned enough yet

at the end of the day a big reece/amen combo would smash any venue to bits

thats how wobble has become. there's a billion wobble tunes now and everybody wants to do their own wobble and fact of the matter is it is really sucky a lot of the time but the effective ones are very effective and thats the bottom line.

heard a HUGE wobble tune on the wedge show the other day and which turned out to be tes la roc

also somebody said wobble is pitch but usuallly its filter freq

 

[lazybones]

dharry, point taken , not trying to be argumentative !

i agree with what what others have said there are varying degress of lfo usage, if the tune is riding on some boring, blatant wobble syncd to 1/16th with nothing to frame it, its probably weak.

the LFO is not as static as a reece or amen, there is alot more room to sculpt and shape it in different ways than a sample. as others have pointed out it is an integral part of a decent synth patch, its just a question of not drawing for the clownstep type sounds.

think its just about moderation , has its place in the sound, but unfortnately it has become the staple thing which most people latch onto .

but even some great horsepower tunes had some wobbley sounds...