What do you think defines dubstep?

[RWDD]

I've been wondering about this for some time and can't seem to figure out what defines tunes as dubstep...

It can't be a snare on 3 as many artists don't follow that rule obviously (burial, joy orbison, ramadanman etc etc.)
It can't be a tempo at 140bpm as great dubstep artists such as martyn often break that rule
It can't be lots of Sub bass obv. as we have a lot of midrange cack/brostep going on recently
and at last it obviously can't be the corny midrange wobble even though it is dominant in many tunes

I can proudly say that i love dubstep, but when i come to think of it i have no idea what it is.
What do you think defines dubstep? Just good tunes with lots of bass?

[jsilver]

[deadly_habit]

see the minutes from the swiss dubstep committee treaty of 2005 for the definitive answer

[DZA]

baer wobblez

[jaydot]

The truth is that there's no such thing as "dubstep" anymore. The genre is so expansive and has so many sub/hybrid genres that you can't really pin label on a dubstep track anymore without it blending into dnb/2step or whatever. Which is what makes the genre so great and which is why I hate people who listen to Heartbeats by Chase and Status and call themselves dubstep fans or people that listen to one track of one style and go "I hate dubstep"

[JemGrover]

[krispy]

This is probably wrong on so many levels

To me dubstep is loosely defined as...

Approx 140bpm, follows a particular kick-snare-kick-snare pattern, and has extreme bass

And I know this definition is wrong for so many reasons but if I had to roughly define it as something then I guess this...


However I think Reso said it best in the "Reso Producer Q&A":

"Don't make dubstep then, just make whatever crazy music is in your head regardless of style, genrefication of music is just a way for marketing people to sell it. Just make what you feel is right at that time and learn while you go. You'll get to a point where you'll be good enough to make whatever you want, whether you choose to call it dubstep is up to you."

[caterkilla]

guessing from all of this, i can only think of the mentality...

hip hop was to bring the community together, forget about the violence and just party...
dubstep to bring all styles together, forget about the violence and just party...

extreme point, maybe...?

[Sharmaji]

sexytime

[therapist]

This is probably wrong on so many levels

To me dubstep is loosely defined as...

Approx 140bpm, follows a particular kick-snare-kick-snare pattern, and has extreme bass

And I know this definition is wrong for so many reasons but if I had to roughly define it as something then I guess this...


However I think Reso said it best in the "Reso Producer Q&A":

"Don't make dubstep then, just make whatever crazy music is in your head regardless of style, genrefication of music is just a way for marketing people to sell it. Just make what you feel is right at that time and learn while you go. You'll get to a point where you'll be good enough to make whatever you want, whether you choose to call it dubstep is up to you."

Reso knows best.

[Basic A]

What is dubstep?



1:50 is the important stuff

[nruen]

@ Basic A

1.50

...

Keanu Reeves?

[paravrais]

Right, clearly dubstep isn't 'anything' because that would mean there is no genre and dubstep doesn't actually exist when clearly it does. JLS aren't dubstep now are they? Nor is Venetian Snares etc etc

For me and as far as I'm aware the general consensus is that you sort of work out what genre a song is from the ground up. So first thing you look at is tempo, then drums, then bass etc etc. Dubstep, is AROUND 140bpm and a half time drum beat. That's what it is. I know lots of people will argue for no good reason but think about it. At 140, full time and swing, what do you get? Garage. At 160 and breaky it isn't dubstep is it? It's jungle. A track in halftime at 172 with lots of subbass isn't dubstep is it? It's probably Drum&Bass (I don't like this whole 'drumstep' malarky). A track at 140 with a fulltime breakbeat is, you guessed it, breakbeat. At 120 and sounds like dubstep? It's probably minimal techno.

People seem to forget that there are actually certain (albeit vague) groundrules to genres. There are no rules in making music obviously and there will always be some tracks/artists that people debate on (usually ones that technically don't fit in any 'established genre' so people try to push it into places it doesn't really fit and arguments commence, for example very dubstep like tunes made below 130bpm often fit in this category) but there are rules as to what makes a track in a genre because otherwise there would be no such thing as genres.

Things in the next stage up like wobble bass, deep sub, lots of reverb, influences from dub, midrange growls, kick on 1 and snare on 3 etc are all aspects that could potentially tell you what 'sub genre' something is in but doesn't affect the overall blanket genre if you follow me.

If you don't want to put a label on your music then don't. The label isn't *for* you. It's for labels and punters etc. People need to classify things to help organisation and without organisation you would never be able to find any of the music you love because all you would be able to type into google is 'music' and hope something good comes up.

As for the Burial reference which is one that comes up a lot in talks like this. I honestly consider his work to be mostly garage (and what people are now calling future garage).

[JemGrover]

Some plants are tall and green, some plants are small and purple, some are good to eat, others will kill you...

But they are all plants.
And not trees.

/end bullshit pseudo Chinese proverb

[hurlingdervish]

u kidz and ur computer techno music

[paravrais]

Some plants are tall and green, some plants are small and purple, some are good to eat, others will kill you...

But they are all plants.
And not trees.

/end bullshit pseudo Chinese proverb

Kinda what I was saying...if the roots are right it's dubstep. It doesn't matter what blossom grows on top... :p

Btw I notice your from cambridge too man! Are you one of them folks I spoke to on FGF about being from round here?? I cannae remember if I've noticed/mentioned it before.

[DJ Crackle]

transformer sounds & old movie quotes before the drop.

[djake]

its just music man.

[paravrais]

its just music man.

This is true. But music gets categorised into genres as well. They aren't mutually exclusive.

[JemGrover]

Some plants are tall and green, some plants are small and purple, some are good to eat, others will kill you...

But they are all plants.
And not trees.

/end bullshit pseudo Chinese proverb

Kinda what I was saying...if the roots are right it's dubstep. It doesn't matter what blossom grows on top... :p

Btw I notice your from cambridge too man! Are you one of them folks I spoke to on FGF about being from round here?? I cannae remember if I've noticed/mentioned it before.

Indeed I am. We share one mutual friend on Facebook, in fact.
But yeah, I think it's a fair thing to say about the roots an' ting. As long as the blossom smells sweet and charms the girls