do most dubstep tunes work in 8 or 16 bars?

cloak and dagger · Post by **cloak and dagger** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:23 am

Just curious about this one.

I know there aren't any "rules," but it seems to be a tempo thing more than anything; when I make drum & bass, I work in 16s, when I make downtempo or house I work in 8's.

The tune I'm working on now basically goes by 24's instead of the standard 32's, and I like how it sounds, but I don't want to make something that's gonna clash with whatever's playing.

I expect a lot of responses in the vein of "do whatever works" or "don't compromise" or something like that, but I'm more curious what other people are doing...either professionals or amateurs.

scooterjack · Post by **scooterjack** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:40 am

I personally go for 8 bar sections or stanzas with mid range tempo (ie: dubstep/breaks/etc). Longer (16ish) for faster music and shorter(4ish) for slower tempos, 'generally'

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:45 am

depends on the tune or feel i'm going for
latest one i finished i think main section was in 32
i tend to write in a formula when i'm doing dancefloorish wobblers though
gen 16 bar intro, 64 bar main 16 bar 2nd drop then 32 or 64 2nd half and 16bar wind down outro

kinda goes with how much variations and such you want

cloak and dagger · Post by **cloak and dagger** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:42 am

cool good to know...thanks for the input

my tunes are more in a minimal / techno vein so an 8-bar format suits it better than a 16-bar one...i just want to make sure it's not gonna keep anybody from playing it

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:18 am

i just make mine like that so it's easy to dj and doesn't get boring
there's no real rules
oh yeah love the dnb i have from you btw

cloak and dagger · Post by **cloak and dagger** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:30 am

[quote="Deadly Habit"]i just make mine like that so it's easy to dj and doesn't get boring
there's no real rules
oh yeah love the dnb i have from you btw

[/quote]

thanks man! that made my day

i still make some dnb from time to time and have a couple of things coming out but am enjoying making dubstep so much more at the moment.

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:41 am

nowaysj wrote:
Deadly Habit wrote:depends on the tune or feel i'm going for
latest one i finished i think main section was in 32
i tend to write in a formula when i'm doing dancefloorish wobblers though
gen 16 bar intro, 64 bar main 16 bar 2nd drop then 32 or 64 2nd half and 16bar wind down outro

kinda goes with how much variations and such you want
Deadly, when you write the 64 or 32 main, don't you find you write in smaller phrases that repeat and evolve that add up to the 32 or the 64?

Could flesh this out a little more:

16 bar intro, 64 bar main 16 bar 2nd drop then 32 or 64 2nd half and 16bar wind down outro

THX

kinda i guess
what i tend to do is switch up maybe every 4 to 8 bars even if it's the same melodies playing by automating things like the lfo rate, some bit crushing etc and toss in some stabs/background hits to keep the drum pattern variation up a lil since i gen write a simple beat that repeats on the 1-3 and switches up on the 4th bar

hell http://soundcloud.com/deadly-habit/deadly-habit-ridin peep that since thats the formula i used for that

test_recordings · Post by **test_recordings** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:25 pm

Structure your song in a regular pattern (like 4 intro, 4 verse, 2 or 4 chorus, 2 bridge etc) so people can remember how it goes, doesn't matter what it is as long it's not 3 this, 1 that, 4 those etc

mat_de_b · Post by **mat_de_b** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:39 pm

You take a bar as 8 or 4 140 beats?

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:44 am

mat_de_b wrote:You take a bar as 8 or 4 140 beats?

wha?

antipode · Post by **antipode** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:35 am

You take a bar as 8 or 4 140 beats?

4

thecatinside · Post by **thecatinside** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:38 am

mat_de_b wrote:You take a bar as 8 or 4 140 beats?

As long as the time signature is 4/4 one bar always has 4 quarter notes so it's the latter, tempo has no meaning in this.

thecatinside · Post by **thecatinside** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:40 am

mat_de_b wrote:You take a bar as 8 or 4 140 beats?

As long as the time signature is 4/4 one bar always has 4 quarter notes so it's the latter, tempo has no meaning in this.

thecatinside · Post by **thecatinside** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:40 am

doublepost. Lousy WLAN connection.

antipode · Post by **antipode** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:42 am

As long as the time signature is 4/4 one bar always has 4 quarter notes so it's the latter, tempo has no meaning in this.

I think he's referring to drum patterns being half time.

mat_de_b · Post by **mat_de_b** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:59 pm

Yeh that was what i was getting at...

pengwavs · Post by **pengwavs** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:17 pm

tbf there is no specific structure that you have to stick with, as long as everythings simetrical its all good, but obviously if u bangin off bar 2s or 4s it might not work so well.. jus bare the symetry thing in mind and all shud go well

enfant · Post by **enfant** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 4:40 pm

rusko does 16's

do most dubstep tunes work in 8 or 16 bars?

do most dubstep tunes work in 8 or 16 bars?

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