Ableton Forum

i'm just working on a kind of dubsteppy number and i've gone and put the snares is all these wierd spots. it's lots of fun, but i think i need to listen to some dubstep and other breakbeat where the snares aren't on the 2's and 4's to gain insights into making such drum patterns work on the dancefloor.

i also need to make sure the tune is mixable with both breaks and dubstep, which is going to be a bit eeenteresting.

if any of you have links to music with the snares in funky spots please let me know.

That q-tip track - Breathe and stop - comes to mind as one of the best heavily syncopated tracks around.

i just think of it as halftime
youll find that in dubstep its more often on the 3 although some snares will shift and be early or late

yea, that beat on breathe and stop is dope as hell. i think i might bite that pattern somewhere.

re: dubstep and halftime

- i am indeed treating the beat as halftime, with the snares on the 3 instead of the 2 + 4. my issue is that after the snare sounds it feels like there is too much of a stop. i need the beat to flow back into the next bar or next phrase more elegantly. too much stop and start action is no good. i'm also trying to figure out how to make there be fewer kickdrums in the patterns without losing momentum.

this is fun. if i figure out some good formulas for this type of beat i think i'll do a lot more of it.

Fun stuff.

I find that a lot of rolls and ghost snares (like in D+B) help make it flow a lot smoother.

The dubstep forum has lots of great songs to download.

I really like what some of the people down in the south and West US are doing with the sound.

I've been messing with my own take on it where it isn't as dark. More dub rooted sounds.

The Phat Conductor wrote:yea, that beat on breathe and stop is dope as hell. i think i might bite that pattern somewhere.

re: dubstep and halftime

- i am indeed treating the beat as halftime, with the snares on the 3 instead of the 2 + 4. my issue is that after the snare sounds it feels like there is too much of a stop. i need the beat to flow back into the next bar or next phrase more elegantly. too much stop and start action is no good. i'm also trying to figure out how to make there be fewer kickdrums in the patterns without losing momentum.

this is fun. if i figure out some good formulas for this type of beat i think i'll do a lot more of it.

Dub Step is a minimal Genre.

Any flow on from the snares is usually done with catchy high hat patterns.

You can choose to loose kick drums, but fill out the space with the typical WHomp WHomp Fwarp bass noises.

The rest of the sound will be filled out with big delay dub effects or a catchy percusive melody.

Good Luck - Here is a good link to find the latest beats http://www.garagepressure.com/

awesome link jacob, thanks so much man. good advice too guys, cheers.

any specific tunes or producers to recommend?

The Phat Conductor wrote: - i am indeed treating the beat as halftime, with the snares on the 3 instead of the 2 + 4. my issue is that after the snare sounds it feels like there is too much of a stop. i need the beat to flow back into the next bar or next phrase more elegantly. too much stop and start action is no good. .

thats part of the thing about dubstep, less really is more
put too much stuff and all the sudden youre making breaks

Amen to the ghost notes. Those hits you almost don't consciously hear is what makes it funky.

The Phat Conductor wrote:any specific tunes or producers to recommend?

Breakbeat wise (I'm sure you already know 'em...) -Bunker Buster - School of Thouught/Krafty Kuts, and there are a couple of Freq Nasty tunes that have the snares off of the 2 and 4 - can't remember the tracks, though...

Phat conductor: It might not be your cup of tea musically, but I´d think you would be interested in some of the rhythmic principles that heavy metal outfits like sweden´s Meshuggah and Sol Niger use....you ever try those types of polymetric beats? It´s a very "glitchy kind of groove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5YEqmIIdj8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDl9dyqprN4