Pitchfork July featuring...

[feral witchchild]

What the fuck is clownstep?

[bandshell]

I always took it to mean, novelty, shit jump up sort of stuff, like fasten your seatbelt by pendulum.

[deamonds]

TeReKeTe I was just going to mention that, its not even the fact that the wobble is hated. Its just the LFO Rape I dont agree with..

My Defininition of LFO Rape

LFO Rape
The process in which subject uses an LFO preset to create soul-less, machine music.

There is nothing wrong with the LFO abuse as long as it is moderated, and as you said, vex'd Dgenerate EP - is some real darkside stuff. Same with Armour - Iron Man (technically the same person) pure hard, darkside music, but with soul..

I'm not too sure if the London based croydon lot have used this LFO abuse as a scapegoat for writers block or something, but it aint getting any better...The half step template also seems to be wearing a bit thin from time to time unless done well...

[tranquera]

I also think the rest of the world soundsystems weakness leaded original producers to make bits with basslines than u could hear on every crappy systems cause they were probably fed up to bring deepness on weak systems having less reactions from the crowd than in the UK.

Hummm... Interesting point... I don't know if this production trick is intentional... It makes sense... But I reckon that isn't easy to have a nice sound system to potentialize the sub meditation... I think this is a problem to every promoter all over the world... I speak for me and my parties at a specific club in Sao Paulo, Brazil... Without the sound system we have at the club basement... We can't play Dubstep here...

[uncle bill]

I'm not a big fan of pop theory because I suspect all the jargon is designed to give journos something to argue about. It's what journos do.

I think I know what Reynolds and Co mean by "feminine pressure" though. It's about a balance of elements that are steretypically masculine (weighty bass, aggressive beats - pressure) with ones that are stereotypically feminine (synth pads, breathy vocals, atmosphere) in a single piece of music. Getting this balance right has been the recipe for some of the best rave music over the years. Boxcutter does it well. Burial does it incredibly well. Sweet tunes with heavy grooves. Goes back to reggae and R&B (at least) doesn't it?

If that's the case, the best example I can think of is 'Spiritual Aura' by DJ Rap aka Engineers Without Fears. This also happens to be the greatest drum & bass tune of all time.

Not sure what my point is.

Oh yeah, good article as always Blackdown.

[dq]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Orbison

Crying?

[seckle]

for the quick fix.

this is it bro.

+ dj's are paid heavily, and this creates a paradox, because the easy way out when you're paid heavily is to give the crowd exactly what it wants...smash smash smash. its a bit more tricky to take them on a journey, and open their minds up a bit. giving people their "money's worth" doesn't mean you need to spoonfeed them. the art of presenting music to people is fading.

+ the smoking ban's influence on nightlife. smokers out, everything harder in.

+ the influx of dnb dj's that missed the foundational sounds, and instead have adapted 170 down into 140, and don't understand the 2step/ukg swing influence, or the big apple/el-b bounce.

the sound is a thousand things to 100,000 people now. its a viral experience. nothing can control it. you ask 100 people what dubstep is, and you'll get about 25 people that can give you back something you'd agree with. when snoop dogg mixtape's dubstep, you're dealing with a very different thing. you're dealing with a spectacle. how long can you love the spectacle, when you also remember the first flame? i don't have an answer to that.

if more 140 sub bass gets on the fm radio rotations, thats a positive thing though. i don't think anyone can argue that. big up to everyone thats doing their thing, and everyone that remembers the old days. big up to blackdown for encouraging thinking.

[gettingcolder]

before dubstep, from hardcore, jungle, d&b, breaks, garage,... everything was made to get the dancing crowd exploding.
When dubstep came and when it was played on appropriate sound systems it was the opposite purpose... implosion.

Very nicely put!

The whole thread is inspiring.

[86.]

the wobble business is interesting. because if one was to spend, say, another 15 min experimenting with LFO/ADHSR/MSEG , you'd find that there is a whole world of more interesting sounds. Routing to Filter Cut Off shouldnt end there. Route more.

An hour ago I was listening through Beatport's biggest dubstep tunes or whatever they call it. near hilarious (but good tunes were there of course)

I guess, you all been saying that already.

[d+]

the hardcore continuum is so gay

[wheelchairprince]

I think I know what Reynolds and Co mean by "feminine pressure" though. It's about a balance of elements that are steretypically masculine (weighty bass, aggressive beats - pressure) with ones that are stereotypically feminine (synth pads, breathy vocals, atmosphere) in a single piece of music. Getting this balance right has been the recipe for some of the best rave music over the years.

I think this balance is achieved by funky in lots of ways.

A lot of dubstep is overly macho and could be described as metalstep and vice versa with funky you get a load of stuff I wouldn't be seen dead moving to like head shoulder's knees and toes. They'll be rubbish at both ends but as long as they're not distinct they will always crash back together and you'll have things like Hyph Mngo. I also think that the appreciation of house which funky added to the appreciation of garage within dubstep adds a better shared history but I don't know how well house fits into the 'nuum'.

[uncle bill]

I think I know what Reynolds and Co mean by "feminine pressure" though. It's about a balance of elements that are steretypically masculine (weighty bass, aggressive beats - pressure) with ones that are stereotypically feminine (synth pads, breathy vocals, atmosphere) in a single piece of music. Getting this balance right has been the recipe for some of the best rave music over the years.

I think this balance is achieved by funky in lots of ways.

A lot of dubstep is overly macho and could be described as metalstep and vice versa with funky you get a load of stuff I wouldn't be seen dead moving to like head shoulder's knees and toes. They'll be rubbish at both ends but as long as they're not distinct they will always crash back together and you'll have things like Hyph Mngo. I also think that the appreciation of house which funky added to the appreciation of garage within dubstep adds a better shared history but I don't know how well house fits into the 'nuum'.

Yeah, I agree with that. That's why I don't like the whole Nuum idea too much. Any theory of rave music that doesn't include the original House music is pretty worthless. House is a key influence on everything that came after it and it's good to hear that influence re-stated every now and again.

[86.]

I think I know what Reynolds and Co mean by "feminine pressure" though. It's about a balance of elements that are steretypically masculine (weighty bass, aggressive beats - pressure) with ones that are stereotypically feminine (synth pads, breathy vocals, atmosphere) in a single piece of music. Getting this balance right has been the recipe for some of the best rave music over the years.

I think this balance is achieved by funky in lots of ways.

A lot of dubstep is overly macho and could be described as metalstep and vice versa with funky you get a load of stuff I wouldn't be seen dead moving to like head shoulder's knees and toes. They'll be rubbish at both ends but as long as they're not distinct they will always crash back together and you'll have things like Hyph Mngo. I also think that the appreciation of house which funky added to the appreciation of garage within dubstep adds a better shared history but I don't know how well house fits into the 'nuum'.

Yeah, I agree with that. That's why I don't like the whole Nuum idea too much. Any theory of rave music that doesn't include the original House music is pretty worthless. House is a key influence on everything that came after it and it's good to hear that influence re-stated every now and again.

Am I reaching to say, even further back with disco?

Actually I don't think I'm reaching at all...

[seckle]

late 80's NY house is so close to the beginning stages of UK funky that its not funny. i'm not saying that people copied people, but i could show you many tunes from 1989-1990 that could be played on any of the rinse funky slots and you'd have no idea it was 20 years ago.

[starkey]

for the quick fix.

..smash smash smash.

i hate smash smash smash.

[dq]

Am I reaching to say, even further back with disco?

Actually I don't think I'm reaching at all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1ZIvRB ... re=related

"not just playing records, but creating atmosphere..."

[seckle]

for the quick fix.

..smash smash smash.

i hate smash smash smash.

everyone loves smash smash smash. i'm just saying, a little more mystery and dynamics with the smash. the unexpected wins everytime.

[Coppola]

Big up this thread! Lots of inspiring ideas and opinions

i sort of hope that dubstep really does split..

I agree.

[iron myke]

This has been a wonderful discourse, it's refreshing to see a thread like this.

[86.]

Am I reaching to say, even further back with disco?

Actually I don't think I'm reaching at all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1ZIvRB ... re=related

"not just playing records, but creating atmosphere..."

Most def....I've never seen this vid