Dubstepforum.com

Hello everyone, I have never done a dubstep track before and I would like help. I normally produce UK Hardcore (Some may know me as Nakura) and I am finding out it is a whole different game with dubstep, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here is the final mastered version.
Soundcloud

Did a bit of a update

you can tell your good at song structuring i like the break the only thing id do different would to be layer the basses up to get more detailed sound other then that very good man

Soundcloud

This is great, though I agree with what Dak has said. Also, do you have a saw sitting on top of your sub bass?

I'd also put a bit more low end in, jus turn the sub up a tad. Sub bass is arguably the most important aspect of dubstep.

Dak0 wrote:you can tell your good at song structuring i like the break the only thing id do different would to be layer the basses up to get more detailed sound other then that very good man

Thanks mate, I was not sure what to do with the breakdown in dubstep, so I just did what I would do in UK Hardcore. Laying does sound like a good idea, I am trying to make it work with one layer, but I guess it is not as powerful as it should be.

ComfiStile wrote:This is great, though I agree with what Dak has said. Also, do you have a saw sitting on top of your sub bass?

I'd also put a bit more low end in, jus turn the sub up a tad. Sub bass is arguably the most important aspect of dubstep.

I don't remember if I have a saw in there, I am away from my producing computer, otherwise I would check, I think it may be a Sine wave, 2 Squares and a maybe a saw for top. I am not sure about what waveforms to use to make a basic wobble, so I just guessed.

Thanks for the advice, I will look into those things.

bringin your own ideas to the game is what will set you apart.. if you bring hardcore techniques to dubstep tracks it'll be different to everything else.. that's the beauty of dubstep, it's so simple yet can encompass any style of music really and still be dubstep

Davwuh knows what's up. Genre mashing is awesome, don't just follow the rules of dubstep otherwise you'll be producing what's already been produced 10000 times before.

This is a great start and it's obvious that you have a great deal of experience with production. What I would do if this was my track is:

1) add more sub bass (what i usually use is just a plain sine wave and set up a Low-Pass filter that only allows frequencies under 100Hz through)

2) make your wobbles more interesting. you could do this in a million different ways but how i would start would be to duplicate your wobble bass track a few times and modify each track so that they all sound different. you could add a bitcrusher to one and change one of the oscillators of another, etc.

3) if you want it to sound more like dubstep, you should make more buildup before your drops hit. however if you want to keep doing your genre mashing then obviously you don't need to do that. it's entirely your call.

keep it up mate!

davwuh wrote:bringin your own ideas to the game is what will set you apart.. if you bring hardcore techniques to dubstep tracks it'll be different to everything else.. that's the beauty of dubstep, it's so simple yet can encompass any style of music really and still be dubstep

I have been messing around with UK Hardcore and Dubstep over the last couple of days and it is not as easy as you seem to think. UK Hardcore is in the 170 to 180 Bpm range wile Dubstep is in the 140 (70, if you like) Bpm area. I could speed it up, but then I will be venturing into Drumstep, and I much rather do Drum & Bass at that speed. UK Hardcore has a almost without fail, a 4 to the floor beat and a off beat bass, dubstep, has a half-step beat and a heavily modulated bass. If I where to keep the 4 to the floor beat, the 170bpm tempo and use the modulated bass from Dubstep with some sidechaining to make room for the massive hardcore kick, you would end up with Electrocore. If I where to take everything about substep and just borrow the tempo, I would end up with Drumstep.

I could just do a Dubstep section in a UK Hardcore track (which I have heard several times), but that seems kind of cheap and not truly blending the genres, you are just tacking on a Dubstep bit to a UK Hardcore Track. The genres also have two differnt moods to them, Dubstep to me seems to be more of a chill out genre or a "holy fuck, check out that sub" genre (you can also stomp pretty good to Dubstep), while UK Hardcore is a more focused on creating a euphoric feeling, a happy feeling, A sense of epicnes, or a very aggressive feeling. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be cool to mix them together, it would just be very difficult. Also, the reason I am working on dubstep now, is because I am getting a bit burnt out on UK Hardcore and I need to take a vacation from it, so it would be a good idea to keep my Dubstep and my Hardcore separate, at least for now.

T-Flex wrote:Davwuh knows what's up. Genre mashing is awesome, don't just follow the rules of dubstep otherwise you'll be producing what's already been produced 10000 times before.

This is a great start and it's obvious that you have a great deal of experience with production. What I would do if this was my track is:

1) add more sub bass (what i usually use is just a plain sine wave and set up a Low-Pass filter that only allows frequencies under 100Hz through)

2) make your wobbles more interesting. you could do this in a million different ways but how i would start would be to duplicate your wobble bass track a few times and modify each track so that they all sound different. you could add a bitcrusher to one and change one of the oscillators of another, etc.

3) if you want it to sound more like dubstep, you should make more buildup before your drops hit. however if you want to keep doing your genre mashing then obviously you don't need to do that. it's entirely your call.

keep it up mate!

Good point, if you follow the rules too close, you will just make the same thing as the next person. For now though, I am not interested in that, I am more interested in how to make a great basic track, learn about Dubstep as much as possible and take a vacation from my true love, UK Hardcore.

1) I am a bit afraid to add more sub since I do not have monitors, I may add too much and mess up my track.

2) Good idea, I could give it a try, but I like to try to keep my stuff in midi form as much as possible, I don't really like working with audio.

3) You mean it does not sound like Dubstep , JK. How would I go about making more build up in the intro? I am used to UK Hardcore Intros, where they are nice and simple (most of the time) and easy for the DJ to mix with.

I will not stop until I make at least one release quality tune.

Thank you for the advice

doing dubstep from where you're at w/ production skill-
1 get massive
2 mix a couple sounds
3 run them through filter (daft is muh favorite)
4 apply lfo to filter cutoff
5 baayyum
6 look up instructional stuff on how to make wobbles
7 keep on tempo (as you are) and go however you want. kinda just have to assume what sounds good- listen to other good artists and figure out your own groove


layering is a basic tip that help a shit ton- use a few snares and different kicks at the same time to achieve the sound you want (you used a wobble on the kick in this song lol which can work i guess, in rap they use bells and different stuff -citing yellawolf-). and layering works for everything too including wobbles.

also don't worry about the sub thing being an issue cuz you don't have monitors, decent headphones work just as good. most of the time there's not ENOUGH bass anyway

3) You mean it does not sound like Dubstep , JK. How would I go about making more build up in the intro? I am used to UK Hardcore Intros, where they are nice and simple (most of the time) and easy for the DJ to mix with.

There are lots of ways to create build, like putting a low-pass filter on instruments and gradually bringing the cutoff frequency higher and higher, or using a beat and making it go faster and faster (starting with quarter notes then eighth notes then sixteenths, etc), or using a sweep or cymbal that gets louder/more intense as it goes.... the possibilities are limitless, generally speaking you just have to do something to gradually increase the intensity of the song or of certain instruments in the song.

Check out these prime examples of buildup before a drop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6GIdGhxyHw (the lowpass filter's cutoff frequency gets gradually higher on the synths in the intro, and a big sweep leads us into the drop at 1:37)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEDXYa9qk9w (not dubstep but has the longest buildup in a song i've ever heard @ 2:22 - 3:52)

Something really important that I think a lot of people are missing out on telling you is that you need more of a sense of predictability in your drop. white noise + a filter with resonance that is sweeping up while the white noise is gradually pitching up and maybe a percussive build of some kind, stop everything and have the white noise stopping delay or reverb over the sample you use and then drop everything, I would also do a lot of research on mastering.

Feedback for feedback?

http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=199961

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions guys, I am now done with the track. I am happy with that way it sounds and I am getting bored with it and want to move on, so I am posting the track now before I master it in case anyone is interested, I will post the mastered version when I get around to mastering it. For the final version of the track I decided to split the bass into 3 parts, low, mid and high and apply different processing to each one and then route them to a bus track. I like how it came out.

Also, @Monstro, I know how to master, these are just the renders straight out of FL studio. When I master I render out a .WAV copy of the track and then I master it that way. There is no point in mastering the song until I am 100% done with it. I went and listened to your tracks, they are nice and loud, but they sounded like the mixing could use more work.

Sounds great for being new to it for sure! Like someone else said; you definitely have talent as far as songwriting goes. I'm actually trying to get my basslines to sound fuller and deeper as well. It's been fun experimenting. I just started producing dubstep; made the switch over from another genre as well. I switched from death metal, though. Haha. I plan to combine them once I get my Pod UX-2 interface .

SpatZ wrote:Sounds great for being new to it for sure! Like someone else said; you definitely have talent as far as songwriting goes. I'm actually trying to get my basslines to sound fuller and deeper as well. It's been fun experimenting. I just started producing dubstep; made the switch over from another genre as well. I switched from death metal, though. Haha. I plan to combine them once I get my Pod UX-2 interface .

Thank you, That would be cool to combine death metal with dubstep, would like to hear some of that.

Here is the final mastered version of my track
Soundcloud

nice one. that synth that bounces on top of the bass is solid,but i feel you can do more with it. good track, feedback for feedback? http://blog.yvd.com/2010/11/farmville-f ... ps-us-out/