Dubstepforum.com

breakage wrote:most times a load up a break and (for dubstep mostly) rearrange it to a half time sort of feel and then just switch and swap bits around for a couple of hours or so

Neat! Why didn't I think of that

lol

FSTZ wrote:when you are doing a remix of someone elses tune...

about what percentage of the original song do you use?

i try to use all the sounds (or as many as i like) and (hopefully) use them in a different way...
i always prefer remixing tunes i don't know very well cos you dont really know how the sounds where used and lets you get more creative with it

for example, the Matter Of Facts remix, the white noise, mid bass, sweep thing in the end of the first half and into the second half is a bleep loop from the original that DLX used in the intro

adisize wrote:First of big up to you breakage making lovely music!

Now question time...

Any tips on keeping dark minimal beats rolling and to give them some energy?..
Callahan & Together perfect examples of this, really minimal but still keep you moving

uuuuummmm im not sure lol
you'll know when you got a good rolling beat

also, its all about having subtle changes in the beat, new hats, shakers, maybe some congas, ride cymbal, crashes whatever really and just keep them moving around so every time you change it up it breaths some life into the beats again and takes it on a different vibe

Wub wrote: What's the strangest sample you've ever used in a release, and where did it come from?



In your experience, what's the most underrated place to sample from?

strangest sample (from tunes that have been released) was probably in "So Mars", near the end i randomly sampled a guitar sound from Doves and put it in randomly cutting in and out against the music

or the end of "Ask Me" is a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sample that totally doesnt suit the tune in any way

detuneproductions wrote:For your drum tracks are you working with sample based kits or chopping up wav breaks? Or both together?
For example, untitled jungle sounds like a kit with hihat break beneath, whereas, bring back has got to be chopped breaks?

Also, where to go in manchester to find an Audiosalad style vibe?

well, my names Breakage, not One Shot lol

i always use breaks, even if it's a one shot beat from a sample cd and then layer it with one shots

i thought Audiosalad was in Manchester???

kani wrote:is any of your audio wizardry due to some Jimmy Page like pact with the the dark lord..



but in all seriouslyness. big tunes from the get-go, i own all but three out of that list on vinyl. ill be checking back here daily.

LOL

and thanks, what are you missing?

How do you go about writing your tunes?
do you just work through methodicaly from start to end? or work a main hook and add/remove elements to create diferent parts of the tune.
or neither?

Can you recomend any unheard of or up and coming producers you're currently into?

are the warm pad strings in "rain" samples from EXS24?
if not where did you sample them from?
and how did you get them sounding quite so warm?

Legendary wrote:Your favorite part of making music?

probably playing it out after its all finished and mixed down, there's always at least one person with a "FUUUCCCCKOFFFFFF" face... kills me every time

that and the mixdown, i love mixing down

eshscramble wrote:how do you approach basic track arrangement? i.e. build ups/drop/breakdown etc... do you have a method, or do you build each track differently?

every track is different really, but i always try and make my intro's quite short, even with my d&b now i dont want an intro past 32 bars if i can avoid it, after that its fair game, i roll out untill it get boring lol

breakage wrote:

kani wrote:is any of your audio wizardry due to some Jimmy Page like pact with the the dark lord..


but in all seriouslyness. big tunes from the get-go, i own all but three out of that list on vinyl. ill be checking back here daily.

LOL

and thanks, what are you missing?

the latest Critical, that KOTR vol4 and the Heist remix,..
Reinforced was the goods so anything that came out through them i was all over and i was really impressed with that Enforcers EP and your Numbers EP. pretty much sold after those for first releases.

i should look at some of those songs in the Chemical Rec. player key finder thing. a lot of your tracks seem to set in a different key than the majority of dnb. any consideration of that when your producing, or does it carry over from your samples?
and i want to thank you for your appreciation of dynamics and especially for not forcing your breaks into unsuitable (see faster) tempos. it really lets them carry their initial appeal over into your song, it kinda made it hard for me to b2b with a lot of the locals though..!

ChrisH wrote:What is your favorite, or most often used plug in effect?

Thought of another 2....

What is your favorite music outside of electronic dance music?

Was there one tune back in the day that really made you fall in love with dance music?

Logic Studio's Tape Delay, or when i was on PC, Analogic Delay (a PC alternative to the Logic Tape Delay)
i pretty much only use delay's and reverbs in my tunes plug in wise

my favorite music outside of dance is probably either hip-hop (ive even been known to like a bit of jeezy!),rock, or 70's dub and reggae
i love them all the same i think...

i think the driving force at first was probably T.C.M, i grew up in Buckingham and my foster brother was really good mates with them... i used to think they where really cool cos they had a Ford Fiesta with T.C.M 1 (i think) as the license plate number

djrobyn wrote:was the remix for doc scotts "here comes the drumz" the first tune you released?
it is good to get a career started with a remix?

i once read there is a special bass note at the end of "so vain" you only can hear on some big systems with enough bass power, is that true?

what is more fun to produce: dubstep or drum & bass?

erm... i think it was actually the first Solar Motion 12 (an production name with, who is now AK-47)
i remember "so Bad" was the first tune that got signed to Reinforced...

it's not much different if you start on a remix, the reason it was such a big deal though was that everyone though it was a bootleg and caused a lot of trouble.... for a long time lol

it's not a "special bass" thats just silly lol its just a really really deep note in the 2nd half where that distorted reverbed bass comes in
only time its ever really cut throug is on the valve system though

Is there any software or hardware you just cant get your head around and what software would you recommend for a beginner ?

You're a Logic man - makes me like you more lol

Whineo wrote:How did you get in to producing Dubstep? Which tunes caught your ear?
I get the impression that it came quite naturally but were there any production habits that you had to adapt?

i had been hearing about it for years and as a closet garage fan (especially the darker/ more off beat stuff) for a long long time i was easily drawn in
i think after i released "This Too Shall Pass" and made "Clarendon", people really started forcing me to listen to dubstep more...
when your so deep into one style, it's kind of hard to fully get into another, but with dubstep it didnt seem much different tune tunes i was making, just a bit slower... which i also liked lol
in fact it had my whole music ethos, minimal, bass orientated, subtleties, dub, the lot lol

as for the production... that took some time, i couldnt work THAT minimal, but as soon as i just started being me, it was cool

damn was hoping for a fresh face not from a grid q&a
now i gotta think of some good questions which haven't been covered before

-Dubson- wrote:with a view of dubstep from more of a dnb background, how do u see the scene progressing. Do u think more exposure and publicity is a good thing?

i think it can work both ways, its good and bad
i think its wicked the amount of attention it gets and the fact that you are hearing it on daytime radio and on adverts and people are winning awards and what not, its good for the scene
i think that main bad thing is that people dont like that and think that to enjoy it you have to of been around since el-b made his first shuffled hat loop... if you like it and other people like it, obviously the music is doing something right. right?
there's nothing wrong with a scene being popular, it's good for all parties involved, the only way a music scene really hangs around is if it's fan base grows...?
i think with the right work and crowd and scene attitude and sense for progression it could have the possibility to be as big as house & techno and all the 4 4 shit... it may sound dumb, but im sure the house guys didnt imagine house getting as big as it is now...

i say we shut em down!!!