What really defines dubstep?

FSTZ · Post by **FSTZ** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:59 am

thesynthesist wrote:wobble

do you want it??

thesynthesist · Post by **thesynthesist** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:47 am

wobble

psyphon · Post by **psyphon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:36 am

Hugh wrote:its stupid to define it and stupid to ask how it could be defined.

Only someone with little or no intelligence would be unable to describe anything asked of them.

Bore off...

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:00 am

I think half the definitions given here could apply to plenty of other music, there is very little vibe musically or emotionally connecting Mala and Caspa or Vex'd and Ikonika for instance. If it's space, bass and place (or whatever Mr Nice said), then I've got a D'Cruze jungle tune from 94 that would fit the bill. Or Radio Babylon wouldn't be too far off either.

As someone said earlier, there's little similarity in rhythm programming (although halfstep beats are often tediously formulaic) between the bigger producers.

Even the tempo isn't necessarily that defined - Pinch has done a track at 90bpm and quite a lot of the newer producers don't feel constrained by 140bpm limitations.

I personally feel that most of the people that say music that has that "dubstep sound" really mean halfstep and sub, slightly lurching beat and funkless drums, which to me is the least interesting aspect of the sound.

That Burial quote is spot on by the way

hugh · Post by **hugh** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:15 am

psyphon wrote:
Hugh wrote:its stupid to define it and stupid to ask how it could be defined.
Only someone with little or no intelligence would be unable to describe anything asked of them.

Bore off...

ur the one making stupid fuckin topics

wub · Post by **wub** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:36 am

The Great God Wikipedia wrote: Musically, dubstep is distinguished by its dark mood, sparse rhythms, and emphasis on bass.

ism · Post by **ism** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:05 pm

I personally feel that most of the people that say music that has that "dubstep sound" really mean halfstep and sub, slightly lurching beat and funkless drums, which to me is the least interesting aspect of the sound.

For me, its that "half step" drawn out pace that i really vibe off. it allows so much space in the sound ! but hey, if everyone liked dubstep for exactly the same reasons, everyone would be producin' pretty much the same track !

onelove

djelements · Post by **djelements** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:19 pm

Downtempo, bass like an earthquake

fuagofire · Post by **fuagofire** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:08 pm

the bastard lovechild of garage/dnb/ragga/dancehall/techno/hiphop and your mum on acid

alphacat · Post by **alphacat** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:33 pm

Like the blessed saint Satchmo said to a reporter asking what exactly jazz was: "Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know.”

It is interesting to sort of pick out what elements most of "the genre" has in common, though. Many of us love de herb, example... just like Satchmo!

Sometimes seeking to define something to a tee with words causes both to lose meaning, in a bad way. Another well-worn maxim says "writing about music is like dancing about architecture"; you cannot use one expressive medium to convey the essence of another expressive medium without assuming that they're about the same thing, which they're usually not.

Honestly, the day anybody just can boil it down to a glib formula is the day I'm on to the next mutation, whatever that may be. Music is music, and descriptive labels come after the fact. Scared of the musician that sits down and says "I'm gonna make THE most spot-on, formulaic, textbook Dubstep tune ever!"

__________ · Post by **__________** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:21 pm

fuagofire wrote:the bastard lovechild of garage/dnb/ragga/dancehall/techno/hiphop and your mum on acid

^^this is the best desciption so far.

dubstep is a good platform to present elements of other genres on. for example, i hate house beats, but anti war dub is amazing.

for me, dubstep is like putting every genre and some weed into a big bowl, then smoking a big bowl, and trying to make some hash cakes out of the mixture that is in that bowl.

like someone else said, its not only hard to define, its quite personal. the sooner we start defining it, the sooner we'll have EVEN MORE shitty generic dubstep beats.

is it just me or are there no good dubstep records coming out recently?

thesynthesist · Post by **thesynthesist** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:15 am

Hugh wrote:
psyphon wrote:
Hugh wrote:its stupid to define it and stupid to ask how it could be defined.
Only someone with little or no intelligence would be unable to describe anything asked of them.

Bore off...
ur the one making stupid fuckin topics

Wobble

hugh · Post by **hugh** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:58 am

slothrop · Post by **slothrop** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:11 am

Alphacat wrote:Like the blessed saint Satchmo said to a reporter asking what exactly jazz was: "Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know.”

Yeah, exactly.

I couldn't pin down what makes a track 'dubstep' but I know it when I hear it. Vibes and ting.

nospin · Post by **nospin** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:03 am

£10 Bag wrote:
fuagofire wrote:the bastard lovechild of garage/dnb/ragga/dancehall/techno/hiphop and your mum on acid
^^this is the best desciption so far.

dubstep is a good platform to present elements of other genres on.

yeah... everytime i put on a dubstep mix for somebody that has no clue about it, usually says something like.. "yeah this is kinda cool... but every song sounds so different..."

now theres an idea...

ferrotype · Post by **ferrotype** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:01 am

personally i think dubstep is like a mash of genres and that it's always evolving so it tends to never really sound the same, just depends on the artits influences, if they've come from an electro rock scene the sound tends to be more egdey and distorted. etc etc.

personally dubstep to me is about having a good dance and vibing out to the subs, and thats all its ever been about for me.

:):):)

psyphon · Post by **psyphon** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:55 am

Hugh wrote: ur the one making stupid fuckin topics

Like I said...

BORE OFF AND FUCKING BORE SOME OTHER THREAD WITH YOUR BORING FUCKING COMMENTS.

gravious · Post by **gravious** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:20 am

psyphon wrote:
Hugh wrote: ur the one making stupid fuckin topics
Like I said...

BORE OFF AND FUCKING BORE SOME OTHER THREAD WITH YOUR BORING FUCKING COMMENTS.

@

Sod you all, I'm off to practice my archetectural ballet...

thief · Post by **thief** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:28 am

I'm more about the Adobe Morris-dancing, but each to their own.

thesynthesist · Post by **thesynthesist** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:45 pm

psyphon wrote:
Hugh wrote: ur the one making stupid fuckin topics
Like I said...

BORE OFF AND FUCKING BORE SOME OTHER THREAD WITH YOUR BORING FUCKING COMMENTS.

wobble.

What really defines dubstep?

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