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Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:40 am
by roryj
Hi all, I'm completely new to making music but I'm completely fascinated with Dubstep and reeeeeeeeeally want to get in to making some myself. I've got FL Studio from a mate to have a go but after fiddling around for a while I can't get much further than creating LFO wobbles and very simple tunes.

What I really want to know is where is the best place to start, I've had a look through some of the Dubstep production bible and other threads in this forum but I get a bit bogged down when you guys start talking about music theory, if someone could share a link to some music theory that would help me out with making dubstep that would be great (I am quite good with music naturally so I don't have a problem there).

Apart from that where do I start! Thanks guys :D.

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:08 am
by GRAYSKALE
You don't really need to know music theory to be honest dude, just follow your eyes!!
Look up some tutorials on youtube and look at different functions of FL like beat making ect doesn't have to be necessarily on dubstep and then once you have the basics you'll be making your own tunes in no time!!

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:31 am
by stereotactic
Best advice I can offer is read. Places like this and Dogs on Acid are absolutely priceless in terms of learning the production ropes. I'm a noob as well, only really started taking it seriously in the last 6 months after 'dabbling' for years, but I have spent a lot of time reading forums and books, to the point where my knowledge of processes far eclipses my actual skills at applying them! If you don't understand a term used, look it up. There isn't so much in the way of music theory per se for dubstep as opposed to other genres, but obviously there is a lot of terminology used which doesn't mean a thing when first starting out.

Then practice! Experiment, go nuts and have fun with it. Also, try and finish tracks, it's very easy to get caught up an 8 bar loop limbo... By creating whole tracks you learn more about the whole process. I played my first proper 'finished' track to a mate the other day, and he was like 'you know what mate, that's alright!'. Man, I can't tell you how good that felt! :D

Patience is the final key. I know how I want things to sound but at the moment I'm not getting any where near it... But I will, and so will you. Keep practicing, keep experimenting, keeping reading and studying, ask questions, you will find a lot of talented producers on here and DOA that are happy to share their knowledge.

Hope that helps!

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:52 am
by dnab
Check out the Production Bible stickied at the top of this forum too, there's infinite wisdom to be found in there :wink:

The one tip that I would give you that helped me so much when I first got my DAW, is don't be scared to fuck up. Just play, play, play, it doesn't matter if it sounds like the biggest pile of crap ever, it's all about familiarising yourself with your software and getting in to how it works.

Good luck!

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:04 pm
by jameshk
Dubstep? experiments with sound around 140 BPM. Go nuts and do your thing.

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:28 pm
by roryj
Stereotactic that's awesome advice, thanks to everyone else as well. :D

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:56 pm
by narcissus
i think the best thing you can do is listen to the dubstep you want to emulate and figure out what they're doing to get those sounds.

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:17 am
by wormcode
narcissus wrote:i think the best thing you can do is listen to the dubstep you want to emulate and figure out what they're doing to get those sounds.
Yeah studying sounds is good, but i'd say don't try to emulate...

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:24 am
by phrex
don't listen to brostep






:mrgreen:

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:36 am
by partition
vulvavibration wrote:don't listen to brostep






:mrgreen:
shhhh, don't wake up the boisterous brostep beasts! it will only end up in arguments about how Burial sucks and Caspa rules!

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:40 am
by tripwire22
FUCK Caspa and FUCK Brostep.... :u:

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:57 am
by narcissus
wormcode wrote:
narcissus wrote:i think the best thing you can do is listen to the dubstep you want to emulate and figure out what they're doing to get those sounds.
Yeah studying sounds is good, but i'd say don't try to emulate...
well, don't copy anybody... but to some degree we all emulate our favorite artists. when we all first heard dubstep and fell in love with it, and we decided we wanted to make it, i think we all started making stuff like what we had heard. the key is to take what's already there, then start bending the sounds into something you feel is better and a more accurate portrayal of your emotions :i:

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 3:29 am
by tripwire22
narcissus wrote:
wormcode wrote:
narcissus wrote:i think the best thing you can do is listen to the dubstep you want to emulate and figure out what they're doing to get those sounds.
Yeah studying sounds is good, but i'd say don't try to emulate...
well, don't copy anybody... but to some degree we all emulate our favorite artists. when we all first heard dubstep and fell in love with it, and we decided we wanted to make it, i think we all started making stuff like what we had heard. the key is to take what's already there, then start bending the sounds into something you feel is better and a more accurate portrayal of your emotions :i:
Perfectly said

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:15 am
by narcissus
why thank you. :)

Re: Making Dubstep

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 6:33 am
by dblth1nk
stereotactic :z: