Dubstepforum.com

After DJing for a while, getting to know the genre etc, i have decided i want to have a serious attempt at creating music

I am very into Reggae influenced Dub/Dubstep, similar to that of the 'war' whitelabel series, and also quite minimal and dark dubstep, such as Kryptic Minds, J:Kenzo, The Widdler, Ruckspin, Mala, Silkie etc, and i would love to have a go at trying to create something similar. After much bargaining i have managed to borrow reason off a friend and after many hours i have a grasp of the most basic controls.

After searching for hours on trying to find sutible tutorials i have only come across a mass of 'create a wobble' help videos, which although i appretiate, are not what i am looking for right now. I am a huge fan of the widdler and have downloaded his 'default rack' on reason which i think will prove helpful, although i am not quite sure where to go next as far as advice goes.

I have bought a pretty basic sample pack with a few useful snare drums and kicks etc, plus a couple of vocal shouts and horns, but would appretiate any recomendations on other packs.

I am lacking however, the basic knowledge of how to create even the most simple beat. I understand from djing the track has to be in sections, intro, drop, breakdown etc. But am unsure of how to construct this, as i gather a track is in 4 sections of 16 bars, am i correct? how do i measure 16 bars on the sequencer?

Are there any pre-made drum tracks that i can put onto the sequencer and then edit to my liking? Is that acceptable? I really dont have any idea how producers go about creating a track. What comes after the basic beat is created? bass? synth? i have so many questions..

What i am asking is for any general advice on how to create a nice sounding halfstep drum pattern, what i need to do to create it and get it onto the sequencer, whether i should i create it as i go along, or create the whole track in one go, and what i should concentrate after this.

I basically need a step by step guide on how to go about everything, from creating the first few beats, to creating a synth, adding vocal samples, everything.

Here is a screenshot of what i see when i open reason, if that might help.



Thankyou in advance DSF, any advice you can give me on my quest into the unknown is hugely appretiated

Peace and Dubwise love, Alex

big ups for giving it a go bro, should head over to the production forum.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/production.html

some good reading in there

perhaps do an evening course

the first thing i felt was wrong about your impression of production is that there are set structures an that things have to be split into 16 bar sections.. it's rules like that that lead to stale, samey productions. just do what you think sounds interesting, keep variation going, mess with structure/rhythms etc. if you just produce standard wobble tunes in 16bar sections then i hate to say it but it's kinda pointless at this stage in dubsteps growth. trying different ideas is much more interesting and rewarding, and good luck man!

not that I dabble frequently at all but I've always found not sticking to structured formulas helps with creating something more original then generic drop break drop almost predictable pattern... I've always been into just making stuff I like the sound off, even once other people liked it heheh

production section should have lots of info.. much fun to be had in reason and redrum... haven't played around since last year though

When you say try and not stick to 16s etc, while that may be unique and different, it's also an absolute c*nt for DJing.

Best way to learn reason, or any DAW in my opinion is to do loads of the video tutorials, even if they are on things which don't interest you, like "how to make wobble bass", because despite the fact it may not be your thing, it'll teach you what the synths are about a lot more.

Other than that, what everyone else said really, read through the Production forum, there are a few useful topics in there, use the search function on the forum too, they usually help quite a bit

Hope this helps!

Avoid dubstep sample packs.

and vengeance.

use sinewaves.

Mutiny wrote:Is that acceptable?

no



There was an El-B video tutorial for Computer Music I think, he wasn't really making dubstep but it was pretty helpful/interesting.


I think you're better off locking yourself in your bedroom for a few hours a day with the blinds drawn and just experimenting.

I don't have a lot of expierence with producing full tracks but I did go from not understanding Reason
at all to being able to use it to full potential.

I'd start with opening Redrum and foolin around with it. Just make some beats and if you don't
get anywhere watch some videotut's on the particular subject.
If you know your way around Redrum just start building a drum pattern in Redrum itself then start drawing it in the sequencer (this is how I do it anyways). Don't worry about the song structure right away, just start making a few bars of drums and changing it up a little. Also try to make your drums sound 'different' so try to do some layering or maybe something with effects.

I think the logical step after creating your beat is to make the bass. You should def. watch some videotut's on this because it get's kinda overwehlming at first.
Don't think you should start with an intro and build from that. I think the easiest way is to make your bits
and if you got your puzzle, start solving it

Anyway if you have any questions about Reason, just fire away

i might get shot for this, but i think the rusko production masterclass is a pretty good start point, he explains the basics very well. i'd also recommend a few of the DNB ones, alix perez and mistabishi really know what they're doing. although one thing i would say though is that there's a lot of good information to be garnered from video tutorials, don't take everything they say at face value because you can easily pick up bad habits. i ended up thinking that i needed to layer snare drums all the time, and further down the line that compression was a solve all for everything.
learn to trust your ears for what sounds best.

i would also say that whilst reason is a brilliant place to learn, most people will agree that to really step your productions up a notch, its better to branch out.
for now. just have a play with synths and beats and look for as much info as you can. learning is a long, but satisfying process

epochalypso wrote: There was an El-B video tutorial for Computer Music I think, he wasn't really making dubstep but it was pretty helpful/interesting.


I think you're better off locking yourself in your bedroom for a few hours a day with the blinds drawn and just experimenting.

i think there was a benga one as well... http://www.duttyartz.com/2008/benga-on- ... e-dubstep/

ultimately tho you want to have someone you know help you out...and then lock yourself up for a few months.

The best advice i was ever given, by someone who's opnion on the matter i respected, was, to never give up and just keep making tunes.

Another important thing is to watch tut's on function of Reason itself (not only for a certain
style of music).
For example: I got pretty excited when I learned about automation

AxeD wrote:Another important thing is to watch tut's on function of Reason itself (not only for a certain
style of music).
For example: I got pretty excited when I learned about automation

What is automation?

Well it comes down to changing the sound of your devices automatically during the track. For example
the volume of a certain synth, resonance and delay.
I think automation is a little easier in Ableton but you can get the hang of it in Reason pretty fast too.

epochalypso wrote:Avoid dubstep sample packs.

and vengeance.

Nothing wrong with using vengeance sample packs especially if your going for a more techno sound - just make sure you fade in any samples that have been overcompressed as they tend to beef up the attack a bit too much sometimes, I know those packs are overused but they have some good bread and butter samples on there

House sample cds are so much better than anything that claims to be dubstep or DNB - all too often the producers making the dubstep/DNB sample cd hold back all their best sounds with the result that whats left ranges from mediocre to shit

I know you may not be a big fan of his seeing as your into the darker side of dubstep, but take a listen to what he has to say in this series of tutorials. He gives a real nice break down of how HE goes about creating a track. It may give some insight as to how YOU might want go about creating a track.

INTRO'S ARE USUALLY EITHER 16 BARS OR 32 depending on what you want.


usually 32 bar intros are for deep tracks and progressive shit, although recently a lot of bangers are being made into 32 bar intros i believe to eat up time and make it seem like their is a lot going on



ALWAYS KEEP A SNARE ON THE EIGHT BEAT FOR NOW. then just fill the kicks and hats in wherever sounds good to you


IMO, START OUT WITH SHORT REPETATIVE RIFFS, DONT TRY AND PULL SOME ZOMBY TYPE SHIT AND MAKE ARPEGGIOS and shit yet.


USE DELAYS ON MOST OF YOUR SHORT SOUNDS, automate your volumes on your sounds, it gives them a nice effect


ALSO, SIDECHAIN!