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Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:25 pm
by Johnst
Don't kill me, but i've had a revelation:

I won't lie. i was initially attracted to dubstep last year by the likes of Rusko, datcision, and that other mid range distorted bass style. and when i started trying to write tunes, i was hoping to emulate that. however, due to my lack of sound engineering skills, i was completely unable to do that. in fact, i'd go as far as to say i failed miserably.

however, here's the revelation: it forced me to try other things. so i began experimenting. i began fucking around. and lo and behold i made some music that i liked! if i had been able to make that style i would never have branched out and experimented to find my own sound. I would never have learned how to use as many elements as i can to make a song and interesting. I know that a lot of you guys on here preach it, but damn, you were right...

and now that i'm starting to understand effects chains, synthesis, and mixing, i don't really want to make that mid range stuff. i've found how awesome it is to make something that is you.

does anyone else feel that the same thing happened with you? or something similar? i just thought this was a revelation for me, and in light of all these people who wanna emulate skrillex i hope they figure out that there is light at the end of the tunnel. it's just not the light you expect...

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:15 pm
by manray
Bro are you high or something?

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:19 pm
by Basic A
Write only the music you wanna write, but when the time comes, know how to write anything thats asked of you too.

Balance between love and learning, art and "I-wanna-be-an-exec-producer-one-day". :D:

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:20 pm
by Erebus-7
funnily enough i kinda had the same thing, came into dubstep production hoping to get all those 'filthy sounds' decided how shit it really was and how it was impossible to get a truley original sound and got into hip hop and grime instead

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:27 pm
by qwaycee_
nice read. no cut throat business in this one.

not trying to say i'm some sort of serious originator or visionary or any of that shit, b/c i'm far from it. but i never even bothered to try and emulate producers i admire....b/c i knew i would never reach their level. just aint happening. would rather build my own thing block-by-block, however long that takes.

i mentioned in some other thread that i'm feeling 120bpm right now...enjoying working at this tempo. helping me get enough ideas out.



and maybe more technical based....i came across posts on here in the past like "which vsts i need?"....i think the best thing is for mans to go through their vst folder and actually delete shit. besides, half of them are pirated anyway :lol: maybe strip it all down to one or two synths. one reverb, etc. i been rinsing crystal (and a little bit of olga) for time now. fuck all this "hey guys!!!! i want to know if my vsts are appropriate for making dubstep. they list as follows:

albino
massive
z3ta
tal bass line or whatever its called
fm8
operator
cytrus
ts404
synplant
vanguard
babar vst"

strip it all down to essentials. less distractions imo. theres cats still making beats on mpc with broken pads. and the beats are still brilliant.


bit of a rant...

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:47 pm
by jsills
glad you had that open mind and embraced a new sound. its funny i think a lot of people need to go back and do their history lessons and get in touch with the roots of dubstep. but there is def room for everything. thats the whole reason i started listening to and then making dubstep, everyone was doing something different and it was all under one roof. the temple of subbass unites all

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:06 pm
by sixth sense
Yes it is.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:22 pm
by alphacat
qwaycee_ wrote: albino
massive
z3ta
tal bass line or whatever its called
fm8
operator
cytrus
ts404
synplant
vanguard
babar vst"

Babar?
Wossat, eh?

And as far as the OP -

Congrats on your epiphany... and remember that restraint is the other - and mostly overlooked - aspect of virtuosity.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:35 pm
by Johnst
qwaycee_ wrote:nice read. no cut throat business in this one.

not trying to say i'm some sort of serious originator or visionary or any of that shit, b/c i'm far from it. but i never even bothered to try and emulate producers i admire....b/c i knew i would never reach their level. just aint happening. would rather build my own thing block-by-block, however long that takes.
i'm starting to slowly reach that conclusion. anyways, the best feelings i get when making music is the moment you discover something new. so if i just reached what i wanted originally too easily i don't think there would be as much joy in getting there.

and @ alphacat: yes, i was just excited. :D

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:38 pm
by AllNightDayDream
threads like this make me :D

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:45 pm
by qwaycee_
alphacat wrote:
qwaycee_ wrote: albino
massive
z3ta
tal bass line or whatever its called
fm8
operator
cytrus
ts404
synplant
vanguard
babar vst"

Babar?
Wossat, eh?
lol it doesnt exist...just fuckin around.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:02 am
by AJGR
hey qwaycee, i would be interested to hear some of your 120bpm stuff.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:11 am
by Kes-Es
I came in the other way around, I wanted to be producing sounds like james blake and joker and such and found out that I had a knack for noisefuck quickfix music.

I still work toward my other goal, but getting tracks out makes you feel good, so do both.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:36 am
by therook
I like you're thinking OP. I actually just visited the dubs section of the forum and (no offense) every tune sounds like the same brostep I keep hearing everywhere. What's sad is that most people define dubstep as (brostep) and that is not what the genre is. Its about the physical and mental psychology of a nice deep dub hitting your chest, drums, and maybe some light weight mid's. Although I do like the sound of some brostep, it saddens me that dubstep is now the next phaze from metal. I keep seeing all of these screamo wannabe's put out "brutal" dubstep with god-forsaken massive and it just sounds like complete bitcrushed shit.
/endrant

fuck it just roll a nice big fat one up.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:43 am
by Kes-Es
therook wrote:I like you're thinking OP. I actually just visited the dubs section of the forum and (no offense) every tune sounds like the same brostep I keep hearing everywhere. What's sad is that most people define dubstep as (brostep) and that is not what the genre is. Its about the physical and mental psychology of a nice deep dub hitting your chest, drums, and maybe some light weight mid's. Although I do like the sound of some brostep, it saddens me that dubstep is now the next phaze from metal. I keep seeing all of these screamo wannabe's put out "brutal" dubstep with god-forsaken massive and it just sounds like complete bitcrushed shit.
/endrant

fuck it just roll a nice big fat one up.

It really gives me a sense of pride that even though I fall into this category, I use neither massive nor the typical bitcrushing techniques, good to remind myself I know enough about synthesis that I can achieve those sounds without 43586582437653234856834576 tutorials and a filled plugins rack.


/feeding my ego

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:54 am
by qwaycee_
AJGR wrote:hey qwaycee, i would be interested to hear some of your 120bpm stuff.

soon time :)

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:04 am
by sackley
Yea, gonna hop in and just say that I came into production from a percussion (and bits of theory/tonal instruments) background and went from trying to do some kind of dubstep to my own whatever it is.... drumfunk? something....

And for all the freeware love: SO TRUE

I've been laying crystal, atlantis and shortcircuit (with my own samples) into everything I've been doing lately. The sub in a track I'm just taking a break from atm is a single wave sample of the bass hit of an udu I have. Shying away from my payware stuff.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 2:25 am
by therook
sackley wrote:Yea, gonna hop in and just say that I came into production from a percussion (and bits of theory/tonal instruments) background and went from trying to do some kind of dubstep to my own whatever it is.... drumfunk? something....

And for all the freeware love: SO TRUE

I've been laying crystal, atlantis and shortcircuit (with my own samples) into everything I've been doing lately. The sub in a track I'm just taking a break from atm is a single wave sample of the bass hit of an udu I have. Shying away from my payware stuff.
That's all you need man. Some shuffly drums, some odd noizes and bits placed in the track, a pad, maybe a lead, and a HEAVY sub. oh ya. nothing beats that.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 4:23 am
by shoot2stun
Aw shucks, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

But yeah, let the producers you like influence you but not dominate your style. I agree with people saying that you should be versatile tho. Hell, one day you might just wanna make an excision-esque track just for kicks.

Re: Less is more?...

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 4:27 am
by ogunslinger
Kes-Es wrote:
therook wrote:I like you're thinking OP. I actually just visited the dubs section of the forum and (no offense) every tune sounds like the same brostep I keep hearing everywhere. What's sad is that most people define dubstep as (brostep) and that is not what the genre is. Its about the physical and mental psychology of a nice deep dub hitting your chest, drums, and maybe some light weight mid's. Although I do like the sound of some brostep, it saddens me that dubstep is now the next phaze from metal. I keep seeing all of these screamo wannabe's put out "brutal" dubstep with god-forsaken massive and it just sounds like complete bitcrushed shit.
/endrant

fuck it just roll a nice big fat one up.

It really gives me a sense of pride that even though I fall into this category, I use neither massive nor the typical bitcrushing techniques, good to remind myself I know enough about synthesis that I can achieve those sounds without 43586582437653234856834576 tutorials and a filled plugins rack.


/feeding my ego
haha mind i remind you of resampleing :h: hahaha