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Does 'dubstep' really need to have 140bpm?

I urge anyone who makes music (who normally uses 140) to try playing around with stuff at about the 125bpm mark - I've experimented; it's slower (obviously), and perhaps more meditative. Could you still call it 'dubstep' or is it some other genre (or are these just needless labels?) Can dubstep be defined by a bpm figure, or is it characterised more by the sentiment it conveys?

By the by, if anyone has the 'Frogs on Acid' and 'Weed Smokers' by Cluekid on vinyl, try playing these at 33rpm - it really illustrates my point about the merits of slowing stuff down. The bass might shake your house down though.

140 is nice-nice.

125 is way too slow.

Mattron wrote:140 is nice-nice.

125 is way too slow.

too slow for dubstep atleast.

Province wrote:

Mattron wrote:140 is nice-nice.

125 is way too slow.

too slow for dubstep atleast.

yeah thats what I meant.

i play with dnb acts mostly (always) and i tend to crank it to at least +2 which is like 143

Urgh this thread again.

it is wot it is

who cares?

i was messing about today doing a mix at -40% so the tunes were around 80bpm, some tunes worked really well that slow. Roots Dyed Dark (Skream Remix) - Marc Ashken for example sounded bassy as fuck and i liked Doors Of Perception - Data & Cell, that little string bit that comes in at about 1:50 sounded sweet, the only thing really is that everything sounded so depressing at that tempo haha

Tunes that are made around 125 mark like Tom Pooks - Trouble for example do have a lot of energy. Also Ramadanman - Justify, the tech rework by Will Saul/Mike Monday sounds better than the original too in my opinion. They are both great though.

On the whole though dubstep is around 140 and a halfstep 125...it just don't work.

i find that going down to 138-137 is enough for a totally different vibe.

some of shackletons tracks are around that speed n theyr pretty sick

spire wrote:i find that going down to 138-137 is enough for a totally different vibe.

True. I've always found it gives it more energy strangely enough

when djn dubstep. The fastest it'll ever be is around 135-138.

-boring wrote:i play with dnb acts mostly (always) and i tend to crank it to at least +2 which is like 143

I always seem to end up around the +5/+6 pitch mark if im being honest. I find a lot of stuff actually sounds so much better if your playing out, especially stuff like warp 9 or 3kout

maksim wrote:i was messing about today doing a mix at -40% so the tunes were around 80bpm, some tunes worked really well that slow. Roots Dyed Dark (Skream Remix) - Marc Ashken for example sounded bassy as fuck and i liked Doors Of Perception - Data & Cell, that little string bit that comes in at about 1:50 sounded sweet, the only thing really is that everything sounded so depressing at that tempo haha

If and when you decide to sell this vinyl, please let me be the first to know! Love that shit...

there's nothing wrong with making music at bpms of 120 to 125 obviously, but if you're doing halfstep type dubstep, that means your taking the tempo down to 60 which is really really slow if you mean to play this stuff in a club. nothing wrong with experimenting, but most bass music at 120 to 125 in my opinion is too slow at half time. like someone mentioned in this thread, if you're referring to artists associated with dubstep, shackleton has some really good stuff around this bpm, but its not half timed - he fills the spaces with percussive elements to keep a steady beat going.

keep experimenting though!

gwa wrote:when djn dubstep. The fastest it'll ever be is around 135-138.

agreed! let the track breathe for groove! most of the kids i know who switched from dnb like to push the pitch way up tho... agro heads i suppose

138

140 - 145 tunes now sound like drum & waste, big leadup, a whoosh, bear saws....

the 130-135 stuff is miles better, much more spacious, plodding and has the oppertunity to be more experimental imo

Distance - Feel Me - perfect bpm...as well as d1 - sorrow.....go with most other genres