tge wrote:Taking a break from dubstep is a legitimate answer. Taking inspiration from other types of music is one way to bring something totally unique into the scene. I took a break myself about a year ago and spent a lot of time floating around the Witch House and Chillwave scenes, from my time with that I came back with a boat load of ideas and motivation for making my own take on dubstep.
Very true . I've been going for the Datsik like feel , grimy as fuck , simple , but also putting effects to a creative use . Are there any good artist(s) that have the grime/feel of datsik without the robo effects ?
Breakstep. Why this sound didn't take off more is beyond me.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:06 pm
by ariosa
start studying up on different vsts, how synthesis works, and what devices will add variation in your production. also listening to stuff from other genres is a very good way to mill lots of ideas through your head, even if it's not the same kind of music you want to make, it will generate new thoughts & ideas, and when you listen to other recordings from a production standpoint, you can get a good concept of how they mix their instruments, in production the mix trumps all, even if you have great sounding synths or whatever, everything must sound like it fits in with the other elements.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:32 pm
by Undrig
Dj Rephlex wrote:90% of my problem is also , making my music more "interesting" with effects , effect blending , etc... Are there any guides on how to make your music more interesting ? I can't find any .
That's a bit like asking "are there any tutorials out there to help me be more creative?" Lock yourself in a room with some Miles and douche your synapses a bit.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:12 pm
by illandnatti
Undrig wrote:
Dj Rephlex wrote:90% of my problem is also , making my music more "interesting" with effects , effect blending , etc... Are there any guides on how to make your music more interesting ? I can't find any .
That's a bit like asking "are there any tutorials out there to help me be more creative?" Lock yourself in a room with some Miles and douche your synapses a bit.
I don't know if any of this will help you, but this is what works for me.
I personally have a problem with using too many of the same sounds. There are some things which I'll recycle; sub bass, certain layers in my snares, some hi hats and cymbols, etc, but I generally try to switch up my mid tone bass and pads every time if I can, otherwise I feel that I risk sounding too repetitive.
There are many ways to make your music more interesting, but I recommend locking yourself in a room for several hours and actually MAKE new sounds from scratch. If you don't know how to synthsize the sounds you want, then grab a demo of Massive, read the manuel, and start watching tutorials. Every major producer has barricaded themselves in their studio quite a bit to come up with the sounds that are out there today.
I usually find 4-5 different basses and/or pads (give or take) that I like enough to use in a track after a 3-4 hour session in my room. I don't usually use them all right away, maybe only 1 or 2 in the current song I'm making, but I'll file the rest away for other songs later. Keeping the texture of the sounds in a track fresh brings about a feeling of originality that nothing else will.
As far as getting inspiration back, I recommend taking the 'listening to other styles of music' a step farther. MAKE some! Try your hand out at house, or reggae, maybe hip-hop. Experiment by recording live instruments, and getting an MC to throw down vocals over a track or two for shits and giggles. Or try remembering what it was that got you into this scene in the first place. For me it was a track by Distance called 'Traffic' that I heard in 2007. It snowballed for me from there. Seckle uploaded a video of Distance headlining the Dub War birthday club night in 2009. Whenever I watch Distance in this video I am always inspired to make dubstep again. EDIT: Distance starts playing at around 4 mins in.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:00 pm
by James WheelandDeal
Make a trance tune. You'll quickly be back making dubstep.
Honestly though you get a lot of fresh inspiration from listening to more 130, breaks, jungle or whatever.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:04 pm
by tge
Dj Rephlex wrote:
tge wrote:Taking a break from dubstep is a legitimate answer. Taking inspiration from other types of music is one way to bring something totally unique into the scene. I took a break myself about a year ago and spent a lot of time floating around the Witch House and Chillwave scenes, from my time with that I came back with a boat load of ideas and motivation for making my own take on dubstep.
Very true . I've been going for the Datsik like feel , grimy as fuck , simple , but also putting effects to a creative use . Are there any good artist(s) that have the grime/feel of datsik without the robo effects ?
I'll admit I'm not Datsik's biggest fan, but I don't think I'd ever refer to his stuff as "grimey" (as in referencing or being influenced by Grime music) or simple for that matter. haha. But again, it's what you wanna do.
There are tons of Robostep artists, and I'm sure there's a topic floating around that centers on the style here somewhere, just do a search. I don't follow it much myself, sorry.
Also, just to beat a dead horse; it's cool to like someone especially, but it's better if you can figure out exactly what it is you like about them and apply it to your own work in a new and different way rather than simply trying to sound like them.
@leyenda303: Breakstep is the shit. Killamanjaro by Search & Destroy and Dreamweavers by Toasty are still two of my favorite tracks.
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:11 pm
by pdomino
Not sure about pidgeon holing that sound but PROTOCOL X never got the recognition he deserved back then imo !!
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:45 pm
by fractal
yeah, the breakier side of dubstep is great
good thing protocol is still on them buttons
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:45 pm
by fractal
Pistonsbeneath wrote:http://www.discogs.com/Various-Grime/release/264005 http://www.discogs.com/label/Rephlex .......In 2004, Richard James' label, Rephlex, released two compilations that included dubstep tracks - the (perhaps misnamed) Grime and Grime 2. The first featured Plasticman, Mark One and Slaughter Mob,[38] with Kode 9, Loefah and Digital Mystikz appearing on the second.[39] These compilations helped to raise awareness of dubstep at a time when the grime sound was drawing more attention,[24] and Digital Mystikz and Loefah's presence on the second release contributed to the success of their DMZ club night.[40] Soon afterwards, the Independent on Sunday commented on "a whole new sound", at a time when both genres were becoming popular, stating that "grime" and "dubstep" were two names for the same style, which was also known as "sublow", "8-bar" and "eskibeat"...........
were you aware of what rephlex was when you took the name?
also DJ Rephlex Records was the alias of richard james
also this^^
it'd be like naming yourself "dj hyperdub"
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:20 pm
by pdomino
fractal wrote:yeah, the breakier side of dubstep is great
The fact that Rephlex Records was one of the very first labels to ever even release any dubstep (before the name "dubstep" even became accepted in the lexicon), and only 2 people in this thread have said anything about this dude's name, fuck that makes me kinda sad...
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:34 pm
by pdomino
protocolx wrote:still lurking. . . . . .
Dirty bugger ... from the shadows !
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:12 pm
by badger
glad to see that some people are talking sense. one of the worst things about dubstep is the feverish obsession that so many people have towards it, to they extent that they listen to nothing else, which is a guaranteed way to get bored and/or make shit music
what made dubstep great was that it took influences from all over the place and applied them to a loose set of rules; and what's now making dubstep shit is that, in some quarters at least, it takes influences from nowhere other than itself
thankfully there are still those out there doing new things, or at least recontextualising old ones
dj cal cutta wrote:threadstarter needs to change their name, asap
The fact that Rephlex Records was one of the very first labels to ever even release any dubstep (before the name "dubstep" even became accepted in the lexicon), and only 2 people in this thread have said anything about this dude's name, fuck that makes me kinda sad...
if releasing compilations called "grime" is accepting the term dubstep...
can't think what else they released that was dubstep except maybe spac hand luke
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:08 pm
by Pistonsbeneath
badger wrote:glad to see that some people are talking sense. one of the worst things about dubstep is the feverish obsession that so many people have towards it, to they extent that they listen to nothing else, which is a guaranteed way to get bored and/or make shit music
what made dubstep great was that it took influences from all over the place and applied them to a loose set of rules; and what's now making dubstep shit is that, in some quarters at least, it takes influences from nowhere other than itself
thankfully there are still those out there doing new things, or at least recontextualising old ones
dj cal cutta wrote:threadstarter needs to change their name, asap
The fact that Rephlex Records was one of the very first labels to ever even release any dubstep (before the name "dubstep" even became accepted in the lexicon), and only 2 people in this thread have said anything about this dude's name, fuck that makes me kinda sad...
can't think what else they released that was dubstep except maybe spac hand luke
his point was that it was before the term was accepted
they were also the first to release a dubstep compilation but it was definitely decided at that point...horsepower had released in fine style before im pretty sure and that wasnt labelled as dubstep at the time...i think it was classed as ukg
those rephlex 'grime' cds did a huge amount for the genre, in the same way as later on planet mu did a huge amount
rephlex also released music by the bug that was outrageous and helped lay the foundations for what we have now...their hayday was long gone by the time dubstep was being released
personally rephlex are incredible and they've released a hugely diverse array of stuff that i guess ill be listening to a long time after 99% of dubstep tunes
Re: Dubstep/Loss of inspiration
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:29 pm
by ImKindaOfABigDeal
There is some great advice in this thread!! You could also look at changing the way you build your tunes ie if you start with drums maybe switch it up a bit start with pads and synths you know just flip it around a bit or perhaps make some other style of music that you would normally avoid it may not turn out great but it may give you other ideas for other tunes.
