What ever happened to the innovation?

[TMSV]

The same thing that happened with DnB when neurofunk took over. Producers became obsessed with getting the filthiest growl, the most neuro-esque riff, the phattest snare hitting at exactly 200hz, the perfect mixdown.

Innovation and song writing took second place to technical expertise and audio processing. The big name producers started pushing the minimal-yet-clinical sound, the up and coming producers tried to copy this and make tunes that sounded like the stuff they were hearing on the radio and at the clubs.

This in turn led to musical inbreeding and a further dilution of ideas to the point where everyone is trying to copy what's already been done without any external (outside the genre) influences. As I mentioned in another thread;

[ActionJesus]

140 got boring.
some fresh sounds here and there but most ppl just try to be clones of each other, its too big for its own good.

im all about 130 and the new wave of grime now a days, especially the stuff that gets played in the Keysound show on rinse.
people like Wen, Beneath, Murlo, Mssingno, Chemist, Facta, Etch, Epoch, Rabit, Sepia, man like Slackk and his crew, etc, etc.

as for dubstep, theres a few people keeping it fresh: Gantz, Wayfarer, TMSV, Chord Marauders, Commodo, Kahn, Author and thats about it. the lioncharge and ruffcut series is also really cool but its more of a throwback to the dubwise vibes, not exactly "new sounds".

theres still some bangers being produced by the likes of Kaiju, innamind recordings and the chestplate lads but lets get real, its not very innovative.

[150Grams]

140 got boring.
some fresh sounds here and there but most ppl just try to be clones of each other, its too big for its own good.

im all about 130 and the new wave of grime now a days, especially the stuff that gets played in the Keysound show on rinse.
people like Wen, Beneath, Murlo, Mssingno, Chemist, Facta, Etch, Epoch, Rabit, Sepia, man like Slackk and his crew, etc, etc.

as for dubstep, theres a few people keeping it fresh: Gantz, Wayfarer, TMSV, Chord Marauders, Commodo, Kahn, Author and thats about it. the lioncharge and ruffcut series is also really cool but its more of a throwback to the dubwise vibes, not exactly "new sounds".

theres still some bangers being produced by the likes of Kaiju, innamind recordings and the chestplate lads but lets get real, its not very innovative.

Just my thoughts.

Lioncharge & Ruffcut - WL War Series

[MUT3]

140 got boring.
some fresh sounds here and there but most ppl just try to be clones of each other, its too big for its own good.

im all about 130 and the new wave of grime now a days, especially the stuff that gets played in the Keysound show on rinse.
people like Wen, Beneath, Murlo, Mssingno, Chemist, Facta, Etch, Epoch, Rabit, Sepia, man like Slackk and his crew, etc, etc.

as for dubstep, theres a few people keeping it fresh: Gantz, Wayfarer, TMSV, Chord Marauders, Commodo, Kahn, Author and thats about it. the lioncharge and ruffcut series is also really cool but its more of a throwback to the dubwise vibes, not exactly "new sounds".

theres still some bangers being produced by the likes of Kaiju, innamind recordings and the chestplate lads but lets get real, its not very innovative.

Well said.

I encourage you all to explore other genres and tempos, then we'll meet back at 140 in a couple years. k?

[ehbes]

still plenty of innovation within the sound imo, it'll just keep mutating and evolving much like it always has done, still plenty of life left in the old beast

That's the thing tho, it's not an old beast, these past few years have been a sort of changing of the guard. I feel like people are saying that dubstep is dead purely because of the massive takeover that dungeon had a year or two ago. But now there's so many different styles and influences being drawn in. HELL mala made a Cuban inspired album. Could anyone have seen that coming 6-7 years ago? Just give the sound time because right now to me is the make or break time.

[Terpit]

dubstep is boring

[orangeluva56]

here ill fix it

attention all labels that still release dungeon

STOP

only good new labels i can think of off the top of my head right now is SYSTEM and DGIT

sad times

[Shum]

some fresh sounds here and there but most ppl just try to be clones of each other, its too big for its own good.

This is true all of these musical genres that have come about, including the stuff you go on to write about. That the musical/production conventions a genre establishes can now spread around the world at the speed of light only serves to accelerate such behaviour.

[particle-jim]

im all about 130 and the new wave of grime now a days, especially the stuff that gets played in the Keysound show on rinse.
people like Wen, Beneath, Murlo, Mssingno, Chemist, Facta, Etch, Epoch, Rabit, Sepia, man like Slackk and his crew, etc, etc.

The 130 dark/grimey stuff is cool but it just feels too slow for me and a lot of the skippy percussion just doesn't have enough impact behind it, it's nice home listening but I really can't dance to it at all. I saw Wen a few months back and he played a wicked set and I really enjoyed a lot of the tunes he played but I felt really awkward trying to dance at that tempo

I realise my inability to dance is not a valid criticism of how the music sounds but it does mean I'm less likely to enjoy myself listening to it at a club

[ni_en_bhed]

what I really miss in todays dubstep is this whole techy side of it. labels like hessle audio oder hemlock. they used to put out really really interesting stuff in the 140 range which made the genre a lot more diverse imo. that whole 'wing' of the genre is just gone now, because all the labels and producers are just techno nowadays.

[Today]

i don't understand taking issue with tempo constraints. I know there are certain qualities that make up what dubstep is, but precisely 140 is not one of them. my favorite dubstep includes tunes that were built from 135ish up to approaching 150. I'm sure i'm not alone either.

its just that sounds and vibes get rinsed out, the genre becomes tapped until some new shit spills over.
I duno. I was bummed about people jumping ship in 2010 when i finally got into dubstep. and i still love it. I hear new tunes all the time that are well dutty.

[ni_en_bhed]

I think to a certain extent it is an issue of tempo.

first of all, "140bpm isnt" so strict imo. I would include anything from almost down to 130 (definately 135!) up to almost 150 into that same tempo range. just because it can be mixed together with dubstep an is roughly the same speed.

but if stuff gets even slower then 130... then theres really just another feel and step to it.
-which I dont like. it just doesnt feel right for me, I cant dance of even nod to it.
of course there is interesting music in other tempos, too, but for me it really cant be dubstep's next step in evolution to change its tempo. because the tempo indeed is one of the main reasons (together with bass-heavyness, moody vibes, diversity, soundsystem and vinyl culture) why I love this style of music so much.

of course this is just my personal opinion and most people rather like raving to techno etc, but for me 140 is a big part of the identity of dubstep

[Func]

The same thing that happened with DnB when neurofunk took over. Producers became obsessed with getting the filthiest growl, the most neuro-esque riff, the phattest snare hitting at exactly 200hz, the perfect mixdown.

Innovation and song writing took second place to technical expertise and audio processing. The big name producers started pushing the minimal-yet-clinical sound, the up and coming producers tried to copy this and make tunes that sounded like the stuff they were hearing on the radio and at the clubs.

This in turn led to musical inbreeding and a further dilution of ideas to the point where everyone is trying to copy what's already been done without any external (outside the genre) influences. As I mentioned in another thread;

if you were spending your time listening to Kryptic Minds tracks and watching the Kryptic Minds tutorial and reading Kryptic Minds interviews all the while trying to make music that sounds like Kryptic Minds, you might need to stop and take a look at yourself

what I really miss in todays dubstep is this whole techy side of it. labels like hessle audio oder hemlock. they used to put out really really interesting stuff in the 140 range which made the genre a lot more diverse imo. that whole 'wing' of the genre is just gone now, because all the labels and producers are just techno nowadays.

Couldn't have put it better

[gravious]

I still hear plenty of innovative stuff - it's just the signal to noise ratio that's changed.

On the plus side there's shitloads of releases now, so even a small proportion of 'signal' is still enough for me anyway!

[wilson]

The same thing that happened with DnB when neurofunk took over. Producers became obsessed with getting the filthiest growl, the most neuro-esque riff, the phattest snare hitting at exactly 200hz, the perfect mixdown.

Innovation and song writing took second place to technical expertise and audio processing. The big name producers started pushing the minimal-yet-clinical sound, the up and coming producers tried to copy this and make tunes that sounded like the stuff they were hearing on the radio and at the clubs.

This in turn led to musical inbreeding and a further dilution of ideas to the point where everyone is trying to copy what's already been done without any external (outside the genre) influences. As I mentioned in another thread;

if you were spending your time listening to Kryptic Minds tracks and watching the Kryptic Minds tutorial and reading Kryptic Minds interviews all the while trying to make music that sounds like Kryptic Minds, you might need to stop and take a look at yourself

what I really miss in todays dubstep is this whole techy side of it. labels like hessle audio oder hemlock. they used to put out really really interesting stuff in the 140 range which made the genre a lot more diverse imo. that whole 'wing' of the genre is just gone now, because all the labels and producers are just techno nowadays.

Couldn't have put it better

You seriously believe that? Wow.

[Func]

You seriously believe that? Wow.

I wouldn't say that they're purely Techno oriented, but there definitely has been an increasing focus on Techno from many of the labels and producers that were a part of the 'Techy' sound early on

Untold's new one

Soundcloud

Either way I'm loving whatever Martyn does and constantly in awe of Pev

[150Grams]

what I really miss in todays dubstep is this whole techy side of it. labels like hessle audio oder hemlock. they used to put out really really interesting stuff in the 140 range which made the genre a lot more diverse imo. that whole 'wing' of the genre is just gone now, because all the labels and producers are just techno nowadays.

Speaking of Hemlock -

Soundcloud

[nousd]

nowdays,
if I can readily identify a tune as dubstep, it's very rarely innovative,
however much of a beautiful weighty roller it is.

lately I'm in a bind:
I hang out to hear proppa dubstep
and then am usually quickly bored when I do
particularly when it's techy and maximal

whereas '04-'08 "dubstep" had so much variety it was rarely boring,
even if occasionally endearingly repulsive,
and I keep thinking it was because of the range of samples (not all dystopian) and the rawness.

[bennyfroobs]

dubstep/140/whatever u wanna call it has never exactly been a huge scene anyway, like back in the day, u always saw the same few names cropping up in mixes and everyone loved em. i'm certain there are more innovative producers around today than there was back then. theres always interesting stuff going on, u have to search harder to find it due to excessive dungeon n shit

i keep finding tunes by producers i like that were released years ago. for example i didnt know jafu had an EP out on deep heads (its brilliant)

if u like dubstep ur always gonna be able to find beats u enjoy some way or another



btw

Soundcloud
^ this album is gonna be a huge one, the first installment was brilliant

[ni_en_bhed]

You seriously believe that? Wow.

I do. please give me some examples that prove me wrong, seriously!
who still does that techy 140 hessle style?

of course its not "just techno". but most of the artists and labels clearly go in that direction