Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:50 am
Dubstep has great use for breaks, cos its at such a slow tempo and its not a rigid, straight rhythm like with breakbeat you can really twist them into fresh new shapes
The best thing about dubstep to me is that it mostly seems to rely on more programmed beats rather than breaks (although if you can incorporate it and it sounds good then why not!). Seems to make more sense to layer parts of breaks over the drums in a slightly skittery fashion rather than rely on someone elses beats, as this helps you invent new ways of using them and keeps things fresh.
I think it was Generation by Dub War that used like a fraction of an amen break over a more skippy 2-step beat to good effect (ee..it were proper dubby too). Not really loud in the mix either, I was amazed to hear the amen used so subtly.
If you've got a good handle on production then try and get some real acoustic drum hits and come up with your own beats, compress, add reverb and eq, and you can get them sounding like old breaks anyway if you know what you're doing, then just rex them up and drop them back in your tunes. You'll know you've done it well if someone asks you which record you nabbed it off.
