The Dubstep Production Bible (updated 2009-06-03)

[daft cunt]

Large thanks to everybody who contributed, Futures Untold, Johnny Beat, Klimaxx, Deadly Habit & Junglist/Rendr in particular.

The old version of the bible is still available there.

Plz help with the unlinked chapters.

1. Basic Studio Setup
1.1 – Monitors
1.2 – Headphones
1.3 – MIDI controllers
1.4 – Soundcards

2. Tools
2.1 – Free software
2.2 – DAWs
2.2.1 – Ableton Live
2.2.2 – Cubase
2.2.3 – FL Studio
2.2.4 – Logic
2.2.5 – Reaper
2.2.6 – Reason
2.2.7 – Renoise
2.3 – Production effects explained
2.4 – Hardware (later)
2.5 – Samples
2.6 – Free frequency analyzers

3. Techniques
3.1 – Bass
3.1.1 – Sub-bass
3.1.2 – Wobble
3.1.3 – Reese
3.1.4 – Random bass tips
3.2 - Resampling
3.3 – Drums
3.4 – Sidechain Compression (later)

4. Theory
4.1 – Song Structure
4.2 – Mixdown (later)
4.3 – Mastering (later)
4.4 – Music Theory
4.5 – Random tips & best piece of advice thread

5. Resources
5.1 – Books & Magazines
5.2 – Wiki
5.3 – Other recommended production forums

6. Distributing Your Music (later)

[vonboyage]

If u want more freedom than the boring old synced wobble you can draw an automation curve in the cc channel of your choice, assigned to filter cutoff knob
you can make sick morphing sounds this way, instead of being locked to straight sync on 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 etc. With Albino assign a filter at the bottom and youll get extra wump wump.

This is a brilliant thread bruv.. its so good im guna print it for future reference.

I need to learn what u said there in my quote..

& Bass-Compression



Not such a Daft tnuc, Are ya ?





EDIT: Sticky !!!!!!!

[sodium nightlife]

this should be a sticky, ace thread

[deamonds]

this should be a sticky, ace thread

x2

[thinking]

yo, I'll make this thread sticky for ya. Please please please keep every post completely ON-TOPIC otherwise it will defeat the object, so just post useful info, or copy & paste tips from other threads.

[mach1nemademan]

tweaks and parameter changes:
a small idea that helps me alot. when im tweaking knobs on vsts or on reason devices i try to make every change in the same increments (usually 10 12 or 16 depending on the parameter.) this wont always get you the sound your after but it will get it close and keep things from getting too crazy if your a tweak freak. you can go back thru after and set things just right. always having a base to start from helps keep things in order. im a huge automation junkie and doing live mods is the easiest way for me to make sick basslines. set a loop of your bassline and hit record and start incrementally twisting knobs, flipping thru filters ect. do your best to do it on beat and you can get some really freaky things going on. if your timing was off just go edit the automation curves. hope this helps someone.
ez
=m3

[daft cunt]

yo, I'll make this thread sticky for ya. Please please please keep every post completely ON-TOPIC otherwise it will defeat the object, so just post useful info, or copy & paste tips from other threads.

Thanks mate!
Copy & paste is the only thing I've done so far and I'll stick to it since people here know much more than me.
Btw, any moderator's or wise person's advices are welcome to keep this as clear & useful as possible.

[kins83]

Brilliant thread mate, really helpful. Big up D.C.

[thinking]

couple of tips while I'm here, not that I produce much any more (although I'm working on it ).


Reverb:


set up 2 reverbs on separate busses, then add a send for each bus to all your drums/percussion etc. Make one reverb a nice long/large-ish room one, and the other a shorter/drier one. Experiment with diff send amounts on each drum channel for both buses.

Using reverb in this way can help make your drumset sound 'cohesive'.


Volume:

you know your always turning the volume up to 'see how things will sound' - quickest way to spanner your ears permanently, and also tire yourself out with hearing fatigue nice & quick. I used to set myself an alarm for every half hour or so to remind me to turn it back down to a reasonable level.

[deamonds]

Volume:

you know your always turning the volume up to 'see how things will sound' - quickest way to spanner your ears permanently, and also tire yourself out with hearing fatigue nice & quick. I used to set myself an alarm for every half hour or so to remind me to turn it back down to a reasonable level.

constantly doing this, didnt realise there was anything wrong with it

[daft cunt]

a small idea that helps me alot.. just havent seen it posted anywhere so maybe it will help someone. when im tweaking knobs on vsts or on reason devices i try to make every change in the same increments (usually 10 12 or 16 depending on the parameter.. filter osc pitch what have you.of course theres some knobs that this doesnt apply to.).. that way if i jump back to something else and get lost i can know exactly how far i had moved each parameter but jumping it that many increments and reobtain my original sound ..i know im not putting this into words very well but im sure you get the idea. this isnt gonna always net you the sound your after by it can get it close and keep things from getting too crazy if your a tweak freak and dont make a million saves (this just kills the momentum for me you can go back thru after and set things just right on the final pass thru your device rack...always having a base to start from helps keep things in order for me cuz im a huge automation junkie and doing live mods is the easiest way for me to make sick basslines. set a loop of your basslines and hit record and start incrementally twisting knobs, flipping thru filters whatever and just do your best to do it in time with the beat and you can get some really freaky things going on. then if your timing was off just go edit the automation curves. hope this helps someone
ez
=m3

I think it'd be good to make posts as short and clear as possible.
Could you shorten this a little bit?

[Sub Shifter]

big up intresting read mate wot do u guys reckon of upin a few sly plugs ive got a few nice ones im willing to share up it as an mp3?

[mach1nemademan]

Track Duplication

its a pretty basic technique but i thought id add it:
I've used this in several ways:

1. on tracks already bounced to wav/aif:
if you have a part thats dull or just not keeping up with the rest of the song, before you start trying to throw processing at it to get it louder just try duplicating the sequencer track for it. this can add alot of thickness to a sound. this also can cause a loss of definition and timbre however so duplicate it the least amount of times possible.. the goal is to get it balanced out with the other parts of the song not to take it to what you think should be its final volume. that should happen later when you brickwall it with your limiter.
or try duplicating a track then pitch shifting it up or down an octave.. this can increase the presence of the sound and make it more interesting all in one shot. ive used it lots for layering strings and pads and what not.

2: on sounds not yet bounced to wav/aif
such as a synth or bassline coming from a malstrom box or vst ect.
duplicating these types of tracks not only increases their volume but can have drastic effects on the overall sound since you are increasing the signal thats passing through whatever filters/oscillators/envelopes your using on it. if you cant quite get the sound your after out of a device after tweaking it try duplicating its sequencer track and/or adjusting the velocities and going back and trying to tweak it some more. you just might find what youre after. i do this sometimes even on tracks that are fine volume wise. duplicating the track then cutting the devices master volume back down will still net you some new sounds since the base signal to the device is still being altered.

lastly.. just remember that if you have to make edits to a track thats been duplicated, delete all but one copy of it, make the edits, then reduplicate the track to keep everything kosher.
this basic technique definitely wont solve all of your problems but its pretty useful. im def no pro, but i hope this explanation helps

[Jubz]

Reverb:


set up 2 reverbs on separate busses, then add a send for each bus to all your drums/percussion etc. Make one reverb a nice long/large-ish room one, and the other a shorter/drier one. Experiment with diff send amounts on each drum channel for both buses.

Using reverb in this way can help make your drumset sound 'cohesive'.

Whats the benefit of this over say two inserts on the same channel?

[Sharmaji]

Reverb:


set up 2 reverbs on separate busses, then add a send for each bus to all your drums/percussion etc. Make one reverb a nice long/large-ish room one, and the other a shorter/drier one. Experiment with diff send amounts on each drum channel for both buses.

Using reverb in this way can help make your drumset sound 'cohesive'.

Whats the benefit of this over say two inserts on the same channel?

set up something as a send on a mixer and every channel of the mixer can access it... if you have a couple of 'verbs on your sends, you can mix and match w/ different sources and build a more sonically-interesting mix using only 2 instances of the plug-in.

[dougd]

In the Track Structure section, the bit from "It's Simple" to "Go for it!!!!" is a parody... we know that but it might confuse new people, given that it's quoted out of context in the middle of a bunch of solid, useful info. You might want to remove it.

[daft cunt]

Fair enough

[michael red]

if you don't have a solid spectral analysis read-out and want one, you can download a free one called 'inspector'. just do a search and you'll find it. works well and is plain and simple.

http://www.blackholeclub.com/forum

is where i found the link to the inspector and another thread with some other free VST's.

[forensix (mcr)]

like the other bible there are a few untruths in there

[daft cunt]

like the other bible there are a few untruths in there

Which parts are you thinking about?