brostep

[abZ]

(i.e. who can drive girls off the dancefloor the fastest)

LOLz what an assumption....as long as its good bro step - bring it on!!

[fractal]

(i.e. who can drive girls off the dancefloor the fastest)

LOLz what an assumption....as long as its good bro step - bring it on!!

I believe diversity is a great thing for dubstep, bump what ever style you love! On that note, I'd have to agree that the nights, at least where I'm at, that are filled with the harder more agressive music are usualy a boys club while the nights that feature music with a softer deeper side are overflowing with women... It's sad but true

[djshiva]

my favorite name for it so far is "Car Repair Step"

thank you ivy

I LOL'd.

I have said it sounds like someone trying to stop a car that turns over but won't start, so...yeah...car repair step works.

Anyway, on to the subject. I am definitely a huge advocate for diversity in music, and I don't think anyone is saying that should not be there. What I have witnessed in my limited exposure to dubstep events in the US (mostly the Midwest) is a massive homogenization of the sound in the direction of the harder stuff, sometimes to the exclusion of anything else. That is not diversity. And I can certainly lament that sameness, because any DJ/night that consists of the same thing over and over bores me to death, even if it's something I like.

I want to not only hear a DJ take a journey with their set, I also want to see a night that's well put together with a range of styles that flow.

That said, in response to Blackdown, while I understand your feelings toward the current trends, I have always said that no matter how hard you try to hold onto something, it will always slip through your fingers and evolve. Past keeping it a super elite niche sound that only 5 people know about, there really is no way to stop the evolution, nor to control its direction. Once it moves past that little group of 5, you have all kinds of people, from all walks of life, with a massive range of musical tastes that are now involved and changing the sound, for better or for worse.

So the choice as I see it, is to cling to what it was, lamenting the changes, or to let it go and become what it becomes. And I say that fully realizing that the arc of electronic music has always been for it to blow up, become popular, and ultimately to become disposable pap for drug-fuelled idiots. And yet, is dubstep not a branch from that continued evolution? So without the cycle of underground>popularity>utter shite, we wouldn't have gotten to where dubstep WAS, much less where it is now. And it will evolve, just as everything has, and shift and mutate into something unexpected and beautiful, only to become something trite while underneath it something new will swim to the surface.

Welcome to the way it has always been. See you tomorrow when it becomes something else only to do the same thing the other one did.

[seckle]

my favorite name for it so far is "Car Repair Step"

thank you ivy

I LOL'd.

I have said it sounds like someone trying to stop a car that turns over but won't start, so...yeah...car repair step works.

Anyway, on to the subject. I am definitely a huge advocate for diversity in music, and I don't think anyone is saying that should not be there. What I have witnessed in my limited exposure to dubstep events in the US (mostly the Midwest) is a massive homogenization of the sound in the direction of the harder stuff, sometimes to the exclusion of anything else. That is not diversity. And I can certainly lament that sameness, because any DJ/night that consists of the same thing over and over bores me to death, even if it's something I like.

I want to not only hear a DJ take a journey with their set, I also want to see a night that's well put together with a range of styles that flow.

That said, in response to Blackdown, while I understand your feelings toward the current trends, I have always said that no matter how hard you try to hold onto something, it will always slip through your fingers and evolve. Past keeping it a super elite niche sound that only 5 people know about, there really is no way to stop the evolution, nor to control its direction. Once it moves past that little group of 5, you have all kinds of people, from all walks of life, with a massive range of musical tastes that are now involved and changing the sound, for better or for worse.

So the choice as I see it, is to cling to what it was, lamenting the changes, or to let it go and become what it becomes. And I say that fully realizing that the arc of electronic music has always been for it to blow up, become popular, and ultimately to become disposable pap for drug-fuelled idiots. And yet, is dubstep not a branch from that continued evolution? So without the cycle of underground>popularity>utter shite, we wouldn't have gotten to where dubstep WAS, much less where it is now. And it will evolve, just as everything has, and shift and mutate into something unexpected and beautiful, only to become something trite while underneath it something new will swim to the surface.

Welcome to the way it has always been. See you tomorrow when it becomes something else only to do the same thing the other one did.

nicely put, and very buddhist might i add.

the only thing that i'd offer towards what you've said is that never before in underground electronica have we seen the ease in which top quality musical equipment, software and the price point for building a home studio have converged. for junglists in the mid nineties, the cost of a sampler and an 8 track dat machine was still much more expensive than the middle of this decade. in 1995 for about $4k you could buy the top of the line sequencer and drum machine like the Emu sp1200 and the Akai mpc60. then you'd have to buy recording interfaces for another $4k. this had a very big impact on the quality of the music being released, because the general hobbyist producer would have to pay dearly to attain the equipment to get to a certain level of production quality.

now, with about $4k and reasonable musical skills you can not only create something above fair, but you can also mimic the sound of some of what the biggest producers in any genre can do in a matter of weeks at your computer. as one of the main music editors of the NY times calls it, the "garageband generation". he also laments that with things like "garageband" it gives a platform for the mediocre to suddenly be flooded with light. sure you could argue that this time is empowering creativity, but as people like blackdown have pointed out, its also a time when the levels of poorly produced shit, can be marketed and sold on the internet without any kind of curation or control. sites like beatport don't give a fuck about production quality. all they care about is pushing units sold.

i liken this time in music to the time when the digital camera came into photography, and the shit hit the fan with the professionals in that field. sure, it gave the tools to the masses to tear down the status quo but it also separated the amateurs from the artists immediately. it also elevated the bar for standards of quality, and what elements were necessary for a image to be a "great photograph".

if there was ever a time to be critical and picky in underground music, its right now, because "dubstep" is similar to driving down the las vegas strip with all the lights flashing in your face, and "all you can eat" buffets at every corner. you can spend days in Vegas, and never find anything inspiring or real, but your sure as hell going to be exhausted when you leave.

[djshiva]

^^^^ True. But we can contain the spread of technology about as handily as we can contain the spread of dubstep. Which is to say, not at all. LOL

I have always said: "The best thing about punk rock was that anyone could get a guitar and be in a band. And the worst thing about punk rock was that anyone could get a guitar and be in a band."

Substitute a laptop and a cracked copy of Reason or Fruity Loops and the song remains the same.

And I have to also point to the punk rock statement as an indicator that, in the words of Battlestar Galactica: All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.

[Dark Reign]

Where I come form Girls love the filthy robo-step bro-step whatever you wanna call it, hot girls too. Sometimes theres more girls than guys at our parties.

People complain that this music is disposable and made only for the dance floor, but whats wrong with that? theres planety of music like Burial to sit at home and listen too. The producers that make this music want it to go off in the dance and give people a good time and let loose.

Most dance music is disposable and theres nothing wrong with that as long as theres deeper stuff to listen too why complain? I could see all you guys complaining if there was ONLY jump-up. But clearly thats only a portion of the scene.

[seckle]

no ones trying to control anything or contain anything. people always immediately go to that train of thought whenever there's threads like this. its just not a time to be quiet about people writing shitty music.

[DRTY]

Where I come form Girls love the filthy robo-step bro-step whatever you wanna call it, hot girls too. Sometimes theres more girls than guys at our parties.

People complain that this music is disposable and made only for the dance floor, but whats wrong with that? theres planety of music like Burial to sit at home and listen too. The producers that make this music want it to go off in the dance and give people a good time and let loose.

Most dance music is disposable and theres nothing wrong with that as long as theres deeper stuff to listen too why complain? I could see all you guys complaining if there was ONLY jump-up. But clearly thats only a portion of the scene.

^^^

[djshiva]

no ones trying to control anything or contain anything. people always immediately go to that train of thought whenever there's threads like this. its just not a time to be quiet about people writing shitty music.

But seriously. What is complaining about it gonna do? Griping about shitty music has NEVER stopped shitty music from happening. Ever.

The best thing you can do is just keep promoting good music, bringing people's attention to the "good" stuff (and I used quotes because good is ALWAYS subjective), and letting the bad stuff do what it does.

Threat by example, and all that.

On a (maybe) amusing note, someone asked me to play for a radio show, but requested that I "not play that 2-steppy stuff" and instead play "old" dubstep.

...

I think this is what is known as losing the plot.

[morro_e]

its just not a time to be quiet about people writing shitty music.

this this this, seckle!!

[Dark Reign]

its just not a time to be quiet about people writing shitty music.

this this this, seckle!!

Time to give Nicleback a call!

[jolly wailer]

[jolly wailer]

all signs point to

[Sharmaji]

its just not a time to be quiet about people writing shitty music.

this this this, seckle!!

Time to give Nicleback a call!

is this craig? no? oh chad! WHATTUP BRO????

i gotta say i adore this term; it sums up my disdain of the modulation from intensity to macho-fueled whatever.

[JimmaJamJamie]

djsihva & seckle have pretty much wrapped it all up and said it all.

One of the reason's i don't like this "sub-genre" is because it just sounds shittly produced and is still picked up by labels. It's just constant grinding noises and chainsaws and shit and it just hurts my head after a while and when DJ's play just constant chainsaw shit all through there set it gets extremely menotinous.

I obviously still like mental songs but only when they are done well e.g. Distance, Skream, Coki, Kromestar etc...

[86.]

djsihva & seckle have pretty much wrapped it all up and said it all.

One of the reason's i don't like this "sub-genre" is because it just sounds shittly produced and is still picked up by labels. It's just constant grinding noises and chainsaws and shit and it just hurts my head after a while and when DJ's play just constant chainsaw shit all through there set it gets extremely menotinous.

I obviously still like mental songs but only when they are done well e.g. Distance, Skream, Coki, Kromestar etc...

it's Vex'd/Coki's fault to begin with.



*typed with some sarcasm...some



I like how Kromestar can flip between the two styles.

[xxxy]

Think about this - I might spend 2-3 weeks writing a deep 12 and get £250-300 for my troubles - thats way below minimum wage so why are you suprised that no-one can be arsed with writing deep? Producers I know who've been writing just bangers for the last few years have got more gigs this month than I've had all year! I mean threads full of compliments are great but they don't pay the fucking rent do they?

yeah man, fuck making tunes that you like; make tunes that make you money, because that's what underground music is all about kids making money...forget programming a decent synth sound and working for hours on beats and staying true to what you enjoy; just grab massive (off a torrent) load up a fucking square wave and whack an LFO on the cutoff and set it to 1/16t then get some boring half step beat with fuck all swing and then smash the two together whilst you're there maybe grab some generic horror sample or someone saying FUCK (pref Danny Dyer) to place before the drop and robert is your mother's fucking brother $$$$ here I come - if I wanted a career make shit music I might as well open my cheeks for the devil and work in sales cos it pays a lot better and you can get to bed at a reasonable hour.

No offence

[bandshell]

Think about this - I might spend 2-3 weeks writing a deep 12 and get £250-300 for my troubles - thats way below minimum wage so why are you suprised that no-one can be arsed with writing deep? Producers I know who've been writing just bangers for the last few years have got more gigs this month than I've had all year! I mean threads full of compliments are great but they don't pay the fucking rent do they?

yeah man, fuck making tunes that you like; make tunes that make you money, because that's what underground music is all about kids making money...forget programming a decent synth sound and working for hours on beats and staying true to what you enjoy; just grab massive (off a torrent) load up a fucking square wave and whack an LFO on the cutoff and set it to 1/16t then get some boring half step beat with fuck all swing and then smash the two together whilst you're there maybe grab some generic horror sample or someone saying FUCK (pref Danny Dyer) to place before the drop and robert is your mother's fucking brother $$$$ here I come - if I wanted a career make shit music I might as well open my cheeks for the devil and work in sales cos it pays a lot better and you can get to bed at a reasonable hour.

No offence

well said.

[Pistonsbeneath]

Think about this - I might spend 2-3 weeks writing a deep 12 and get £250-300 for my troubles - thats way below minimum wage so why are you suprised that no-one can be arsed with writing deep? Producers I know who've been writing just bangers for the last few years have got more gigs this month than I've had all year! I mean threads full of compliments are great but they don't pay the fucking rent do they?

yeah man, fuck making tunes that you like; make tunes that make you money, because that's what underground music is all about kids making money...forget programming a decent synth sound and working for hours on beats and staying true to what you enjoy; just grab massive (off a torrent) load up a fucking square wave and whack an LFO on the cutoff and set it to 1/16t then get some boring half step beat with fuck all swing and then smash the two together whilst you're there maybe grab some generic horror sample or someone saying FUCK (pref Danny Dyer) to place before the drop and robert is your mother's fucking brother $$$$ here I come - if I wanted a career make shit music I might as well open my cheeks for the devil and work in sales cos it pays a lot better and you can get to bed at a reasonable hour.

No offence

well said.

x2

[ST100]

chillin.