Does dubstep have to be 140 bpm?

[jsills]

Honestly dubstep's pace give it a good bit of it's character but you can't always just write @140. Don't put limits on music or creativity.

[2mb1o]

Yes. 140-145, drop at :55.
End of story.

Got quite a fair few vinyls at 136/138

So, it Isn't Dubstep

[Wrigzilla]

guess what when it's all not the same tempo and you have to use the pitch fader, that's mixing

Now I'm no proper DJ and I could tell you that.

[DJ Crackle]

Yes. 140-145, drop at :55.
End of story.

Got quite a fair few vinyls at 136/138

touche

[legend4ry]

The drop isn't at 0:55! Thats just 32 bars. jesus christ *face palm*

[Echoi]

The drop isn't at 0:55! Thats just 32 bars. jesus christ *face palm*

[B-Frank]

Yes. 140-145, drop at :55.
End of story.

Got quite a fair few vinyls at 136/138

So, it Isn't Dubstep

Perhaps detecting sarcasm isn't a strong point of mine... But I am very much hoping this was sarcasm.

[2mb1o]

[deadly_habit]

The drop isn't at 0:55! Thats just 32 bars. jesus christ *face palm*

yea 16 bar intro or gtfo

[DJ Crackle]

The drop isn't at 0:55! Thats just 32 bars. jesus christ *face palm*

I don't give a fuck if it's 12590812985 bpm.
Drop at :55 or gtfo.

[Basic A]

Honestly dubstep's pace give it a good bit of it's character but you can't always just write @140. Don't put limits on music or creativity.

I aggree, but I think the pace that is 'dustep' is hard to pin down at a bpm...

[grooki]

pretty much all my dubstep type tracks are at 140, just because that's FL's default tempo.

[Basic A]

pretty much all my dubstep type tracks are at 140, just because that's FL's default tempo.

Try 135 sometime. Knowing you, youll like it. And itll give me something not dmz to mix my shit with

[redshiftdubdnb]

guess what when it's all not the same tempo and you have to use the pitch fader, that's mixing

I'm hoping that wasn't aimed at me Mr! If so I am well aware of that I started on drum and bass. Now that can be more of a c*nt to mix when your starting out.

You really think so? I honestly find dubstep A LOT harder to mix, its easier to get clashing hats and stuff!

In my opinio beat matching dubstep (whether they be the same or different tempo's) is alot easier than mixing drum and bass. I think you have quite alot less room for error in DNB and the fact it is quicker means everything you do needs to be done that little bit quicker. Also i think it is easier to determine which deck is behind or infront with dubstep also.

While I don't agree with the idea of dnb pushing you to do everything faster, I agree with the gist of that statement.
DEFINITELY had a much harder time starting dnb than I did starting dubstep, and I actually started mixing dnb when i was significantly more comfortable on the decks, then when I started mixing dubstep.

i started out only mixing drum and bass. (and no bpm counters! pitch % muthafucka!! haha) dubstep in general can have a lot more space because it's significantly slower, which a lot of times for me makes it easier to tell if something's in sync or not. plus, with dnb you could get fuckin anything between 165-175...like 172, 174, 175 are the most common i've found, but with dubstep nine times out of ten when i load a track into my friends traktor slot it shows 70/140.

mixing different genres each have their own tricks.

[-[2]DAY_-]

I love 135ish stuff that can progress from uptempo house-ish bits to half step drops. Would like to find more music like this, I make some of my own.

[alphacat]

I mean, most dubstep songs are 140 bpm. Would it not be considered dubstep if it were a different tempo?

YES.

Or rather, I don't believe that dubstep has to be a certain tempo in order to be dubstep. I would say that if it got fast enough it'd often be functionally indistinguishable from DnB, but that's because the two are musical cousins with many shared references including each one to the other (like Loefah saying he started out wanting to make slower, more danceable & vibe-heavy jungle, or the current fad for ½step in DnB.)

When people first started applying the term "dubstep" to the fairly broad continuum of bass-heavy underground sounds coming out there was a wider range of tempos in the music being described. The lowest common denominator was the Bass/Space/Pace formula, but specific ratios of each were pretty wide open back then.

As it coalesced into a more 'stable,' 'defined,' or 'generic' sound (all of these descriptives are true in some measure) then the tyranny of 140 arose from DJ complicity for the same reasons that DJs like house music: it's much easier to mix something that you know is going to follow the same tempo or pattern as the tune that's on deck without thinking ahead. You can just reach in the bag and know that it's all... the same.

I disagree with the earlier statement that when it gets too much slower it becomes downtempo - you can't say that slower stuff by Scorn or Barry Hercules' sounds like downtempo, because it's heavier and not just slower. Downtempo tends to have a different vibe that's more about chillin' and relaxing, while aggressively heavy music does NOT have that effect usually. You could say there's a certain tension that belongs to dubstep that's not a desired goal in much downtempo music...

FIGHT
B.P.M.
FASCISM!