the process - dubstep production from a professional amature

[drgk]

i'm gonna weigh in:

the reason/ableton combo gives you almost unlimited options, although there are many software suites (cubase being one) that pretty much compare or exceed ableton in advanced options, and i hear fruity loops is getting better and better to compete with reason. i almost found it easier to be creative when i was using hardware that had a lot of limitations. our cadre started out with rebirth on a mac g3 tower. next was outboard gear, cheap shit at first (mc-505 groovebox, dr sample). we had an alesys andromeda for about 2 weeks once. when the first version of reason came out it was the first software synth i'd ever heard that sounded about as good as the andromeda. that did it for me. why pay THOUSANDS of dollars for outboard gear when you can buy a program that does everything the gear does, and can be updated without complete replacement.

Now my comrades and i all use reason, ableton live and midi keyboards/controllers along with turntables, guitar, etc.. a firewire breakout box is nice too, lets you pipe in sound from a mixer with recording studio quality.

basically the only thing you might need a pro-studio for would be laying down vocals (sound booth), mastering and pressing vinyl, or recording acoustic instruments/miked guitar amps, whatever. or you can run a line out of your guitar amp into your breakout box...but i digress.

everyone has their own process. i usually start with a drums because they make a nice backbone to work around. sometimes i have a musical idea or sample i want to build on, but even then i'll first lay out 3-5 minutes of drums in live. easier to start with some structure than to go back and restructure the whole thing from madness. then it's just a matter of taking it as far as i can without taking it tooooo far. one of the most admirable things about the best dubstep that i've heard is that the producers know when to stop, unlike the status quo in drum and bass nowadays.

i started out using 1 bar loops and repeating them, playing things over and over until it sounded right, or trying to quantize my shitty keyboarding. but now that i've been practicing for a while, studying some music theory and jazz scales, playing a lot of keyboards i'm having fun playing the track straight through in one take. if you fuck in the second half just cut it off and loop the first half twice, no? (i love live)after 10 years of making music with my mates and never letting it hear the light of day i'd rather work on a track until the magic fades, sleep on it, master it up nice the next day and post it to the website. if it ever came to being released or if someone wanted a dubplate vip mix i can always go give it some spit and polish. if i don't make a buck, fuck it, i'm making the fucking music anyway.

so
1) drums (mix it up but don't go overboard, MINIMALISM)
2) record bass, pianos, strings, synths, more bass (got to have changeups)
3) add in some live elements, i don't play guitar or sing but i get my boys to do some guitar and vocal tracks for me (AND I AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR COLLABORATORS IN THIS AREA, WINK WINK)
4) random ass samples (sfx, talking samples, etc.) don't go nuts. i try not to use them in every track so i don't get too dependent on them, but they can be fun.

not everyone does it this way tho.

my friend tony uses live in an entirely different way. he just makes dozens and dozens of loops (vocal, guitar, synth, bass) and then never does anything else. he doesn't care who else hears it really so he just mixes the loops live by himself with midi controller faders for his own amusement. something we plan on doing for live p/a sets at some later date. the only way i've gotten some of his tracks finished is by having him send me the files and letting me mix it out into a full track. we've been having fun this week sending a file back and forth and each adding to it.

my brother on the other hand...whoo...he's one of those ocd recluses who's tracks wouldn't see the light of day UNTIL THEY ARE PERFECT! except i maced him and stole his laptop (kidding). who the fuck knows what his process is his recording room spills out it's guts (cables and broken equiptment) down the hall and into the living room. he has pieces of old computers, broken mics, vinyl, piled heaps everywhere. speakers (some hooked up, some not) peak from the mess in places.

we're all unique. figure something out for yourself.

(off topic: who thinks this new blood will mix things up in the dnb scene too?)

[drgk]

please let me know if this is helpful at all.

[cure]

http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14797