[Closed] What the hell is Dubstep?

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tonight-i-am-feeling-old ]Try asking here..[/url]

This song gives me MEGA natural highs (and is supposed to be dubstep, but some of the purists may disagree ;))

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A dubstep is the tread at the top of a flight of stairs that you thought was there, but isn't. Its what causes you to climb to the top of the stairs then effortlessly and gracelessly trip over something invisible.

next round.....

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^^^^

😆

This is dubstep

very good maccruiskeen! 😀

That's not dubstep, that's popstep. This is dubstep:

Early 'mainstream' dubstep (its roots are a few years earlier and much more underground) -

But it has now gone pretty commercial and 'pop' with most people I guess now seeing dubstep as stuff like this -

slainte ➡ rob

I think its quite similar to drum and bass but a bit slower. I know what it sounds like but not sure what makes it what it is.

Chase and Status are a big dubstep group, i think.

I am now mostly listening to

It's utter shite. No further explanation is required.

It's funny when I first heard dubstep it was Burial, but I just don't think of him as dubstep at all now. I just think of it it as Burial, as you know it's him any track you here. Now, I don't think I could slander his beautiful music by calling it dubstep.

its the trendy genre at the moment, in general, pretty low quality control, but the kids & radio 1 like it!

but the kids & radio 1 like it!

I don't think radio 1 play propper dub step really. You need to hear a live mix of it.

Id rather not tbh... 😉

The modern dubstep is shite - listen to some of the older stuff from 2002/3/4 and the production quality is significantly higher. Mostly down to it not being 'trendy' and everyone and their mother having a go a producing tunes...

I can recommend the Dubstep All Stars CD mix series for a good chronology of dubstep.

****ing shite is what it is

Skiffle 'n bass is where it's at this year, kids.

Strangely I think its the so called pop step that least offensive, the 'real' dub step really is an acquired taste

you won't hear proper dub on radio 1

sounds bucking rotten.

maccruiskeen, i`ll be laughing for days at that! 😆

Play a drum n bass tune slowly and you have dubstep.

Some of it is ok, some really dirty industrial sounds, most of it is crap.

Skrillex is not dubstep, it's shite electro glitchy stuff.

16 bit are my favourite dubstep artists, their stuff is pretty varied and goes from properly filthy stuff to nice relaxed things like this

Play a drum n bass tune slowly and you have dubstep.

Some of it is ok, some really dirty industrial sounds, most of it is crap.

Agreed entirely.

I think...
It actually started with artists like Vex'd, Skream, Benga, Pinch and DJ Distance. Mary Anne Hobbs show Dubstep Wars showcased it near the start of it's mainstream acceptance. Their sound got stale and dubstep has been adopted as a moniker for all sorts of bass music.
eg. I heard Nero calling themselves dubstep on Chan 4 the other week. Sounded like trance to me just with a different bass sound.
I like loads of bass music, but don't really give a shit what genre it's called! (I don't think "bass music" is a genre name. Is it?!)

([edit]also the 'slowed down drum n bass' thing is no criticism, as that's how the artists described it when they started making it)

([edit] - from wiki - [I]...in 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted at London's night club Forward.[/i] 10 years it's been going, strange the question should come up now!)

Mary Anne Hobbs show Dubstep Wars showcased it near the start of it's mainstream acceptance

When Radio 1 jump on the bandwagon, you can be sure the genre's finished

I heard Benga describe dubstep as sub-bass played at 140 bpm. Sounds about right, and he should know.

Oi, Bob - leave the Hobbs alone!! She doesn't (didn't) bandwagon jump 👿
(I know what you mean though!)

Not a big fan of dubstep but do like this ever so much

mainstream what has become called 'dubstep' is awful, nero, skrillex etc, just isn't really dubstep, horrible commercial pap to please the masses. some great stuff out there though, some good mixes on places like DOA.

Not a big fan of dubstep but do like this ever so much

that's awful 😀

dogshit & depressing

Just noticed the ad I'm getting on the Skrillex vid says "Cheap Hip Fat Removal"....!

That Burial/thom yorke one is awesome, can't beat a bit of Burial.

Craig David.

crudstep, mugstep, call it what you will... it's just drum and bass with austerity measures.. chiefly all the best bits of the beat have been rationed and divided up between about 20 other tracks leaving an empty bassy void which is often padded out with left over noises from the atari video games stockpile..

tory dance music often seen being enjoyed by young tory men going through a rebellious phase..

it gives me diarroeah.. definitely not my drug of choice..
(unless I've had a couple of jeagerbombs.. then it makes me shake ma booty..)

Didn't someone once play a 45rpm drum and bass track at 33rpm and then decide to give that "new genre" a name?? 😉

I played a old Todd Terry album accidently at the wrong speed and it sounded ace 🙂

I think there's a few music snobs on here 😛 Just because dubstep has changed a bit and is mainstream(ish) doesnt mean that the new stuff being made isnt dubstep. Its still 140 bpm and its still full of bass. I reckon it covers everything from Srikllex, Nero etc to Burial and Benga.

I dont really agree with it being DnB slowed down either, it has some things in common but they're not really that similar....

Now, for shit music genres, moombahton anyone?

[url= http://slugrave.co.uk/ ]Slugrave[/url]'s where it's at baby...

It should sound heavy, like a train and a robot having an argument. The "wub-wub" sound is now a trademark sound of dubstep. This is really easy to make with a triple oscillator, which a lot (if not all?) beat making software has.

It also is best heard live, given it's minimal nature the empty spaces are filled with bass. I think this is why radio friendly popstep has so much going on as it's written to be played on teeny weeny speakers.

Proper dubstep sounds more like err...dub! Here's some Kode9 and Spaceape to explain what I mean. Compared with Skrillex it's a completely different sound. If you have bassy speakers then it'll be fine, or stick it through headphones/fat speakers. The minimal nature will sound sparse on little laptop speakers.

Dubstep is like the dance version of jazz. It uses longer percussive loops that force the listener to really hunt for the rhythm, and the percussion is often syncopated at half-time or a completely unrelated rhythm to the rest of the track.

My brain finds it really frustrating to listen to, but I suppose that's the idea: In the same way that jazz chords evoke feelings of uneasiness, so too do a lot of dubstep rhythms creating tension in the music.

If you watch the way people dance to it in a club, it seems to encourage everyone to dance like nodding dogs as their brains try to find the rhythm. The human brain naturally gravitates to 4 or 8 bar loops so it finds longer, more complex or syncopated loops difficult to deal with.

I don't like it, but I find it quite interesting...

It causes youngsters to riot too... Fact.

to be fair..

I saw Freq Nasty play a set during his brief return to the UK recently.. he incorporated some dubstep and it sounded ace in that context..

it made this happen:

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Its essentially just garage from about 15 years ago rehashed with heavier bass... Lame.

passtherizla - Member

Its essentially just garage from about 15 years ago rehashed with heavier bass... Lame.

That's not strictly true. It could be said to be a progression of 2-step garage, but pure 4-on-the-floor garage.

'essentially' being the keyword... I'm a self confessed massive music snob, I used to play out at events most weekends here in brum and coventry.

there are good elements of the scene but I lean toward the more 'dubby' end of the genre... no gay high pitched voices or crappy vocals.

i'd suspect more ignorant than snob 😉

ignorant.... hmmmmm douche bag 😉

Didn't someone once play a 45rpm drum and bass track at 33rpm and then decide to give that "new genre" a name??

No, are you thinking of Breaks? I did hear of someone speeding someone else's breaks tunes up to 172 and releasing them as their own dnb, they got found out fairly soonish.

maybe you are also thinking of drumstep. either way you ain't get your riddims right, blud. safe.

What Tim said... 😉

It can only really be considered to have a direct blood line to a very specific genre of garage, which could be argued has so little in common with the true definition of garage, that it isn't actually garage but a new genre, ie two-step or dubstep, which are 'essentially' the same.

Loving this -

The track that got me into dubstep. Doesnt have a lot in common with some of the afore mentioned stuff, Skrillex etc but its still great. Our clubs unofficial theme tune (if cycling clubs have theme tunes).

Dubstep = 2-step + Dub. ( duuuh! )

2-step, and dub are quite noticeably different.

Beautiful beautiful dubstep.....
.
.
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Its drum and bass, but they forgot to put all the drums in.

What the hell is dubstep? I think the official description is '99% sh1te'

I don't mind the odd dubstep tune in a mix, but basically it is a mishmash of genres that don't really work together, resulting in pretty rubbish music.

Skrillex on the other hand is awesome 🙂

Best track that fell under the (stupid shitty horrible pointless blah blah) genre name of dubstep for me was

Holy thread ressurection batman....just found this 😀

Just so happens I iz listenin to this

if it's anything to do with justin beeper then i'm out 😐

i'm amazed that people can qualify a genre as being bad/ good, yes there's shit loads of bad dubstep, but then there's loads of good. i don't think the speed is relevant to the genre anymore. it did start slightly faster, maybe 140 but that's no longer the case.
to decide what is dubstep i'd basically ask, does it have syncopated drums, either high hats or kicks, dubstep can be four four, but it should have a swing. it should also have space, like original dub. skrillex is neither dubstep, nor any good.

I'm amazed that people actually give a shit about genre names. Good music is good music no matter what you call it.

i agree with dezzy!

currently listening to the dubstep fm podcast, enjoyable yes.

Dubstep FM is a good place, interesting to hear what the American take is.

Rorsch, that sounds a bit too Radio 1 for me. I think it's the sample, it's a bit "euphoric". DezB, that's definitely the grimey end of the step. I like the tongue in cheekness and when his hat turns around 😀

But, it is important too separate the wheat from the gash. Otherwise things which are good get diluted and lumped together, take the growth of drum n bass for example.

Not really dubstep, but played in the same circles: Skull Disco. The 2 double cd's are still available from the Skull Disco website. Lush.

Hmmmm, not bad. Funny comments too 😆

Years ago I made music and didn't know what it fell into, it's more like this than a lot of other stuff I've heard. It's a bit Marmitey.

I just cried a bit with excitement over how excellent this thread could be . . . so

Loved this when I working as shop grease monkey

Mantastic - Member

It's utter shite. No further explanation is required.

+10000000

Bands with no talent attract people without talent 😆

@terrahawk DUBSTEP BADGERS. ZOMG. 😯

That's fantastic.

My little brother, who is a DJ/producer type in his spare time, describes dubstep as "Music to text to" which I reckon is as fair an assessment as any...

after reading margrave of the marshes i can tell you that dubstep was john peels favourite genre of music ever. i guess thats partly because he saw the begining of something with so much potential. i guess he might have had something to do with it conception; by proxy. seeing how he was the first to play hip hop and jungle etc on public radio (bbc).

i'm sorry, what???

I think I have come across the definitive answer - [url= http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/09/20/the-poke-presents-downton-dubstep/ ]Downton Dubstep[/url]

basically john peels favourite genre of music was dubstep. due to its energy, he died shortly after the genre gained his recognition.

[i]after reading margrave of the marshes i can tell you that dubstep was john peels favourite genre of music ever[/i]

I've read the book and don't remember that. Think it would go some way to beating punk, surely!?

Frankenstein - Member
Mantastic - Member
It's utter shite. No further explanation is required.
+10000000

Bands with no talent attract people without talent

I wonder what these idiots are into...

i think it's slightly stretching his influence to give him credit for it's conception.