Dubstepforum.com

solidus wrote:Also, what is the general production structure of the early dubstep? I'm wanting to produce that style as I enjoy the sound more. Examples being stuff along the likes of Skream's Bahl Fwd and Benga's Middle Man.

You're better off listening to those tunes carefully and making notes on what is happening and at what points in the tune.

Then try and copy it.

wub wrote:

solidus wrote:Also, what is the general production structure of the early dubstep? I'm wanting to produce that style as I enjoy the sound more. Examples being stuff along the likes of Skream's Bahl Fwd and Benga's Middle Man.

You're better off listening to those tunes carefully and making notes on what is happening and at what points in the tune.

Then try and copy it.

I've been trying to do that, and with not much luck (ha)

It's not that I don't understand the structure as much as I don't know how to replicate those specific sounds.

OfficialDAPT wrote:YOUTUBE, YOUTUBE, YOUTUBE! IT IS YOUR FRIEND!

This, I learned how to use Ableton, basic dance music theory, simple sound design, basic mixing, the basic essentials of producing all by watching video after video on youtube. Once you have some semblance of an idea what to do, come back to the production threads here and start pouring through those. Until you have a grasp on what's being talked about in those threads they will seem as cryptic as ancient greek.

alpz wrote:

OfficialDAPT wrote:YOUTUBE, YOUTUBE, YOUTUBE! IT IS YOUR FRIEND!

This, I learned how to use Ableton, basic dance music theory, simple sound design, basic mixing, the basic essentials of producing all by watching video after video on youtube. Once you have some semblance of an idea what to do, come back to the production threads here and start pouring through those. Until you have a grasp on what's being talked about in those threads they will seem as cryptic as ancient greek.

I understand that idea so well it's not even funny.

Now that I have some of the basic drum concepts down and some insanely basic synth lead ideas, I guess I'll start producing something. I guess I can always discover Massive through good ol' experimentation. That's how I've gotten what little knowledge I have already down.

(Patience + Practice) x Experimentation = Success

wub wrote:(Patience + Practice) x Experimentation = Success

Fair enough, it's the patience that I don't work well with haha

wub wrote:(Patience + Practice) x Experimentation = Success

So that means Experimentation(Patience) + Experimentation(Practice) = Success
Patience + Practice = Success/Experimentation
Patience = Success/Experimentation - Practice
Patience = Experimentation(Patience + Practice)/Experimentation - Practice
Patience = Patience + Practice - Practice
Patience = Practice

OfficialDAPT wrote:

wub wrote:(Patience + Practice) x Experimentation = Success

So that means Experimentation(Patience) + Experimentation(Practice) = Success
Patience + Practice = Success/Experimentation
Patience = Success/Experimentation - Practice
Patience = Experimentation(Patience + Practice)/Experimentation - Practice
Patience = Patience + Practice - Practice
Patience = Practice

Derivations - don't remind me, haha.

So does this stuff get easier as I go (is it just a steep learning curve)?

solidus wrote:So does this stuff get easier as I go (is it just a steep learning curve)?

It'll takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.

So that's approx 3hrs a day for 10yrs.

wub wrote:

solidus wrote:So does this stuff get easier as I go (is it just a steep learning curve)?

It'll takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.

So that's approx 3hrs a day for 10yrs.

Well I wasn't talking about mastering it, just getting going haha

wub wrote:

solidus wrote:So does this stuff get easier as I go (is it just a steep learning curve)?

It'll takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.

So that's approx 3hrs a day for 10yrs.

How far up your ass did you have to dig for that statistic?

OfficialDAPT wrote:

wub wrote:

solidus wrote:So does this stuff get easier as I go (is it just a steep learning curve)?

It'll takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.

So that's approx 3hrs a day for 10yrs.

How far up your ass did you have to dig for that statistic?

I'm assuming pretty far, but that's just me.

Let's hope that's a bit on the generous side.

Is that the correct interpretation of

140bpm
Kick on the 1 and the 9
Snare on the 5 and the 13
Hats on the 1, 3, 5, 7, etc

?

solidus wrote:

Is that the correct interpretation of

140bpm
Kick on the 1 and the 9
Snare on the 5 and the 13
Hats on the 1, 3, 5, 7, etc

?

Yes that is technically correct but its going to sound awfully dry just keeping that same pattern. Switch it up and live a little!

OfficialDAPT wrote:

solidus wrote:

Is that the correct interpretation of

140bpm
Kick on the 1 and the 9
Snare on the 5 and the 13
Hats on the 1, 3, 5, 7, etc

?

Yes that is technically correct but its going to sound awfully dry just keeping that same pattern. Switch it up and live a little!

How would I do that?

(You have to remember you're talking to someone who feels proud of himself for that, I don't have any reference frame here )

Move the hats, add more hats, move the snare, add more snares, move the kicks, add more kicks. Change up the drums every 8-16 bars depending on what else is happening in your track. A lot of your questions can be answered by simply listening to your favorite tracks and trying to copy them. Don't necessarily worry about copying sounds to the T, but filling up your track with similar sounds and the same structure.

Huts wrote:Move the hats, add more hats, move the snare, add more snares, move the kicks, add more kicks. Change up the drums every 8-16 bars depending on what else is happening in your track. A lot of your questions can be answered by simply listening to your favorite tracks and trying to copy them. Don't necessarily worry about copying sounds to the T, but filling up your track with similar sounds and the same structure.

So it's more of simply shifting the details while maintaining the general structure to add variety that way?

And I've tried to do that, but the difficulty is that learning the a lot of the details of the structure is hard when I have to go off of only a single stereo channel of mastered audio. It doesn't allow me to really see, okay, this contributes to this in this way, this works this way, etc.

That's why a lot of the questions I've been asking are really working to demystify the entire process for me. Now, albeit uncertain, I at least feel like the production part is an attainable goal.

You should attempt what I suggested to get an idea of where other producers put their drums. You can zoom on the waveform and see where the drums are hitting, you only have to here what kind of drum it is

Shit dude I feel like we're straight up holding your hand now. If you can't experiment on your own you will never succeed at producing music

OfficialDAPT wrote:Shit dude I feel like we're straight up holding your hand now. If you can't experiment on your own you will never succeed at producing music

Yeh, sorry if it's coming off like that. I understand about the concept of experimentation, but I also know that with anything worth experimenting with there are certain ground rules that cannot be broken. You don't become a chemist and want to experiment with gasoline and decide to run to a gas station with a book of matches. That's what I'm trying to establish.

In the meantime, in between these posts, I am actually messing around with drum patterns, trying to create something for myself. Whether or not it sounds good is TBD.