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Pretty much every time I try to make dubstep I fail. I can make chill stuff, but not dubstep. Dubstep is the reason I got into production, and I still greatly enjoy listening to it. What would be a good way to start over? I know EQing, compression, and the basic stuff, but my sound design has turned horrid, and I can't find good drums anymore. In addition, I simply cannot arrange basslines. It's either uncreative, or really bad. That, combined with my shit sound design, has been the reason I haven't finished any dubstep track in months. I really want to get back into it. How do I get rid of all my old habits?

Delete all your samples and all your presets.

Unplug from the Internet completely.

Listen to every album you own & watch every DVD you own. Find something to sample in everything.

Get a field recorder and spend a weekend walking around your city making recordings.

No field recorder? Use your phone.

Make a 10 track album, with track 1 starting at 90bpm and increasing by 10bpm for each subsequent track.

Read up on and utilise the Oblique Strategies;
Read - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies
Use - http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

Read one of those 100 greatest albums lists, pick an album you haven't heard of, listen to it in it's entirety through headphones (they're usually on YouTube). Try to understand what makes it great, and listen to how it's arranged both in terms of individual tracks and as a whole.

Pick a random video on YouTube and write a soundtrack to it.

Seriously, unplug from the Internet.

Try and write a country song. Or freeform jazz. Or nosebleed gabber. Whatever is outside your comfort zone.

Make a tape of songs you like interspersed with tracks you've made. Listen to it with a friend. Talk about what you're listening to.

Drink green tea.

Take a track you like and slow it down 50% in something like Audacity, so you can listen and 'see' (via the waveform) how things interact with each other.

There are more.

Try not to over think things.
You're most likely trying to produce a specific type of dubstep.
Stop doing that.
Make things with a dubstep flavor and allow it to flow from within.

You'll quickly create a sound that is more unique.

wub wrote:Seriously, unplug from the Internet.

That's actually harder than it sounds these days. Most of us have smartphones, smart tv's, laptops etc that are continually connected. It's not like the old days when we had to make an effort to connect with a modem.

Simulant wrote:

wub wrote:Seriously, unplug from the Internet.

That's actually harder than it sounds these days.

It's not hard to turn off wireless on your laptop, mobile data off on your phone, etc. The physical act of disconnecting devices is easy, just a swipe/click and you're off. The only thing that would make it hard is a lack of willpower, IMO.

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

When I produce there is no way I will be on the internet.
Destroys your flow and totally detracts from the goal at hand.

Pick a random video on YouTube and write a soundtrack to it.

Followed by

Seriously, unplug from the Internet.

But seriously, dance music is hard to produce - don't get disheartened.

Personally I always like looking back in time. All the producers you hear grew up on garage and 2 step or even acid house or techno.

Listen to some heritage and understand where they came from. Learn the techniques of music past and you'll understand so much more about how modern dance music is made.

wub wrote:

Simulant wrote:

wub wrote:Seriously, unplug from the Internet.

That's actually harder than it sounds these days.

It's not hard to turn off wireless on your laptop, mobile data off on your phone, etc. The physical act of disconnecting devices is easy, just a swipe/click and you're off. The only thing that would make it hard is a lack of willpower, IMO.

And when you want to look something up, a switch/click and you're back on again lol. I Google stuff so frequently, I'm just used to having it around.

I tend to turn my phone off altogether when producing, I don't want to be taking calls. I don't answer the door either if I'm not expecting anyone.

This is going to sound stupid/obvious. But if you're good at making chill stuff, make chill stuff. Forcing yourself into a certain genre is going to put a chokehold on your creative juices. Get an EP made of chill tracks and maybe once you're done, you'll feel like moving on to something different. All the producers I'm in love with make headphone music, not club bangers, so don't feel pressured into making some shit you're not feeling.

Also, it helps to separate sound design and composition duties. One is more technical whereas the other is more creative. There's elements of both in each of them but they're weighted differently. Record a bunch of audio from your synth while twisting knobs, then go in and chop it up into a sampler or save them in your sample folder. Then when it's time to compose you've got a bunch of one shots that you can sequence and chop further, or load into a sampler or additive synth like Alchemy or Harmor.

It also works for making homemade presets. Have all the interesting parameters already mapped to the macros or XY pads or whatever tools you have to modulate things. That way you can just drop em in and start fiddling right away. Not just limited to the synth, you can add in post-effects and save it as a track preset so you don't have to bother inserting an EQ or whatever when you're in the zone. Throw a couple effects on that might be useful, bypass em, and save the track preset. That way, when you think "shit this could use an overdrive though..." you just have to un-bypass it.

OP I'm going to give you the best advice here.

Find a song you love, and try to replicate it on your DAW.

Not exactly, but follow the pattern (intro/build/drop/transition etc) Where there is a melody, make your own. Etc Etc

If you love Skrillex, find your favorite song by him and try to imitate it with your own twist.

There is nothing wrong with being influenced by other people. It's helpful for your growth to try and replicate those you admire. This is a great way to get on the right path for your own song. Guarantee it will sound nothing like the one you're using as basic framework.

Don't let others make you feel bad for that.

^ bad advice

bennyfroobs wrote:^ bad advice

Benny, care to share any of your own work?

The OP is lacking understanding on how to create a song. It's a bit daunting if you don't know what you're doing.

I'm not saying try and copy someone.

But use a song you like as a foundation on how basic song structure works. Hearing a bass, understanding how and when a melody can come in/out of the song. Learning how to organize a song by listening to other songs is key.

Basically what I did when I first started was I produced tunes as much as possible with just samples, loops and presets. Then I took about a year break so I could learn Ableton, Massive, sound design, EQ, music theory and basically everything you need to know. Now that I have started back up my production has increased soooo much. I have not used a single sample or preset after I came back, so that long break just spent learning really helped me a ton as a producer.

Dustwyrm wrote:

bennyfroobs wrote:^ bad advice

Benny, care to share any of your own work?

The OP is lacking understanding on how to create a song. It's a bit daunting if you don't know what you're doing.

I'm not saying try and copy someone.

But use a song you like as a foundation on how basic song structure works. Hearing a bass, understanding how and when a melody can come in/out of the song. Learning how to organize a song by listening to other songs is key.

i suggest u read OP again and then carefully consider why ur advice was bad

I was in your situation when I first started producing. The reason I started producing was because I wanted to make dubstep, but as I got into it I realized I like making rap beats better, so that's what I make now. I'm too add/lazy to come up with my own presets so I just scroll through my nexus and sytrus until I find something that's what I want. I know the basics of synths like ADSR, the waveforms, etc. so I can tweak here and there when I want to, but tbh I just use presets.

bennyfroobs wrote:i suggest u read OP again and then carefully consider why ur advice was bad

...

Justiboi wrote:Pretty much every time I try to make dubstep I fail. I can make chill stuff, but not dubstep.

I suggest you reevaluate your reading comprehension skills before piping up, Benny Froobs.

Ultimately this guy wants to know how to make a song. Samples, eq, and compression, while mentioned, are irrelevant. The OP is confused at how he's attacking his dilemma. You're equally confused to think he wants to know where to get more drum samples at.

If you can't figure out how to make a song, something you should be familiar with, then sound design shouldn't even be in your vocabulary.

Well he does say:

Justiboi wrote:my sound design has turned horrid, and I can't find good drums anymore.

To me it doesn't sound like he needs help doing macro arrangement, more along the lines of just getting a hot 8 bar loop that isn't boring. If he can get some sounds designed that he likes and gets some practice arranging them into parts that sound good, he can probably manage doing large scale arrangement like breaks and builds.

Perhaps you're right, but when I saw: "I simply cannot arrange basslines. It's either uncreative, or really bad."

and

"Pretty much every time I try to make dubstep I fail."

Just sounds like the guy is asking the wrong question. If you can't arrange basslines, I don't think sound design is your problem.

Well if the sounds you're trying to arrange are shite, I could see how you'd have trouble sequencing them into something that sounds good.