Dubstep producers - Whats your flow & plugins!

[manwell]

Personally I like all the different styles of dubstep and I feel they all have their place in electronic music. I have been listening and going to nights for about 3 years and I have heard a lot of changes in style and feel but the 1 thing I think separates interesting dubstep from boring generic stuff is rhythm. The shuffle of the drums and percussion is what gives the genre interest for me. It doesn't matter what you're doing with the rest of the sounds, if the rhythm has no movement then the track will be dull. I understand why people aren't too keen on wobble sometimes but there are some amazing examples of progressive, interesting music which do use heavy warping bass and big midrange patches.

People often use Joy Orbison, Appleblim, Shackleton, Peverelist etc. as examples of interesting progressive dubstep but these techno and 2step influenced artists can get boring as well if its all you hear at nights. Listen to mixes by the big names and you will see that they are very varied and thats the key to enjoying dubstep, variation. Seriously, I love all kinds of electronic music but nothing comes close to dubstep for me, and at a rave I want to hear real dancefloor music. That doesn't mean clicky electronica noodling or apocalyptic bass so dark it hurts, it means swaggering rhythm that forces you to move.

[contakt321]

@ Manwell, I definitely agree. Anything too same-y gets boring. I encourage anyone and everyone to mix things around a bit and blur the lines.

I just named those people to present an alternative to the usual suspects.

[supamonsta]

I totally agree mates, it's a genre I just discover since a few months, and I don't really know it.

I just heared too much "classical" wobbly dubstep tunes that all have the same sound and gimmicks...

my bad

[john gordon]

glitch-step

[manwell]

@ contakt321, Sorry that wasn't a response to your point, just something I have noticed. Yeah I know what you mean, it very often gets written off because of the artists who make it to more mainstream awareness, and people don't really look any further. I'm really feeling Untold at the moment and seeing Ramadanman for the first time on the 29th, it's going to be massive. You have probably heard of him already but check out Falty DL if you haven't, very interesting stuff at lots of different tempos. You got any good tips about any artists to look up? I keep meaning to check out Debruit as well, anyone know much of his stuff?

The only thing that I feel happens too often is when people say "dubstep is not all wobble, look at these artists", is that they generally choose the quite restrained, polite sound of the more ambient techno clicky crossover, I guess because the heavy dark stuff may put people off. There are all sorts of great dubstep around now (purple wow sound, breakstep, wonky etc.) but I think that to understand the genre people should remember that it was 'urban' music originally so a lot of it will be dark and aggressive. Also I think it is a bit of a misconception that heavy wobble dubstep is easier to make or not experimental enough, if I could make tunes like Bar 9 or 16bit I would! But having said that, I do find that these kind of artists sometimes find a template and stick to what they know works which can get boring and overplayed.

I think the problem is that we are now using a the term dubstep to describe a genre which is far too varied. People who like house and techno will like 1 style of dubstep but not another, the same for people who like electronica and for those who like DnB or hiphop or breakcore. DnB has Liquid, Jump Up etc. which are almost genres in themselves, but I don't think we have got that far yet with dubstep. The names exist but I think they are more descriptions than actual subgenres.

[contakt321]

@ Manwell: No sweat. Untold is AMAZING and yes, so is FaltyDL (who uses Ableton for Live shows)!!!

There is definitely a lot of great stuff going on w/in dubstep, so much variety and so much influence from other genres, to me that's one of the coolest parts about it.

As for the name game, I agree and disagree but that's a different thread.

Back On Topic:
Definitely check out all the different stuff going on in the dubstep scene, so many amazing sounds, and textures. There is no one VST, or workflow that is used. Just go nuts and use what you have and make the best of it.

[contakt321]

Also:

Check out:
El-B - Masterclass Video: http://www.vimeo.com/2991928 (created proto dubstep/dark garage)
Rusko - Masterclass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4rDC1kuHtc (probably the biggest name in dubstep)

These will give you some great insight into workflow of making songs. I found them very helpful.

There are a lot of other great videos on youtube too Benga, Chase & Status, etc - I watch all these masterclass videos even if they are different genres, I always learn something.

[Mehalic]

Damn. I just checked out jeskola's recommendation:

http://co.native-instruments.com/index. ... tchid=8837



Jesus, that's one heavy hitting bass synth. I've been playing with this thing like a little kid for 1/2 an hour and just amazed at the bass tones, and very loud without clipping. I'm loving it - haha!

Thanks for the recommendation jeskola!

[Poster]

Damn. I just checked out jeskola's recommendation:

http://co.native-instruments.com/index. ... tchid=8837



Jesus, that's one heavy hitting bass synth. I've been playing with this thing like a little kid for 1/2 an hour and just amazed at the bass tones, and very loud without clipping. I'm loving it - haha!

Thanks for the recommendation jeskola!

check out Spawn.. http://www.radiansoundlab.com/
who needs Massive?

[abort]

Damn. I just checked out jeskola's recommendation:

http://co.native-instruments.com/index. ... tchid=8837



Jesus, that's one heavy hitting bass synth. I've been playing with this thing like a little kid for 1/2 an hour and just amazed at the bass tones, and very loud without clipping. I'm loving it - haha!

Thanks for the recommendation jeskola!

check out Spawn.. http://www.radiansoundlab.com/
who needs Massive?

thank you thank you thank you!

And yes ..so many sub genre's definitely want to start learning this particular style, its going to warp into something!

[ThrowAway]

I like it dark,wobbley and so bass heavy it makes you feel like someone has a hand on your dick when it booms.

[bosonHavoc]

@ Manwell, I definitely agree. Anything too same-y gets boring. I encourage anyone and everyone to mix things around a bit and blur the lines.

I just named those people to present an alternative to the usual suspects.

no kidding i have never understood why DJ's have to pigeon hole..
i love DJ's that mix that shit up... play some jungle, dnb, house, drop some classic funk into something else to some dub then blast out the dubstep.. what ever.. just go with it and make it work... now that is freaking skill

[manwell]

I would really recommend checking out the Mary Anne Hobbs show on BBC Radio1 if you want to keep up with whats happening in all areas of the scene. Some absolutely killer guest mixes by amazing artists and loads of exclusives. The most recent show called Building The Beat featured Starkey, Reso and Anneka attempting to produce a complete track in 2 hours live on air. There is a video here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/videos/mary ... 20_starkey

[Trypset]

fuck all this about Dubstep being stagnant and the same.....the only thing thats getting old is people using the word dubstep as being generic and claiming they know everything about it.....I got a crate full of import dubstep wax, most people I play with/for/around have never heard any of em, and they are as deep into it as me. Theres good dubstep, you just gotta know what you are looking for, know what labels you like, and research. Over the last year I attended and played out at least 5 times a month in Austin, Texas.....austin, texas in general IMO is second to the bay area as far as American producers/djs pushing the sound,......I like the imports though

Also, from a DJ standpoint....it makes since to pigeon hole yourself into a genre, or style. I wouldn't want to buy records and every BPM and key under the sun b/c then my available media and ways to mix them start to get limited.

DJ's rarely get booked for much longer than an hour or hour and a half, and I'd rather dive as deep as possible into a certain vibe than to scratch the surface of many vibes to keep people happy.

This is applying to my opinion and probably more relevant to dance music DJ's who buy and spin vinyl. It's x108987948297 times easier to make a "dope" mix on ableton that hits every general realm than it is to buy, collect and master your records. I used to use Ableton to DJ but it soon became very easy and boring. I started DJing the traditional, real way and use Ableton for my own projects and prodctions....

[Mehalic]

^^^^

very well put man. I'm from the "old school" generation of DJ's, 1200's and wax. I can appreciate the new stuff that people are doing, but think that the art of track selection is getting watered down. I've been trying to make the jump to digital DJ'ing, but there's just something about the physical feel of playing that I just can't let go of - very eager to try the bridge, will kind of bring what controllerists are doing to DJ's instead of vice versa (in a limited sense).

Back to dubstep. I just started getting into it this year and have been loving the bass driven tracks - I'm dying to get out to a show to hear it loud (the way it should be heard). Having a go at producing it is pretty fun as well because rhythm is such a big element in it as opposed to melody, and that's right up my ally.

Great thread! Oh, and Poster, that SPAWN synth is pretty sicko too man - thanks for the heads up!