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After spending time counting the sections of various tunes I noticed that most dubstep drops use sections that are pairs of 8 bars
(as in 8 bars of one bit, then 8 bars of that bit repeated with some subtle variations)

every 16 bars there is usually a more major change and I notice that most tunes use 4 16-bar sections for a drop
(tend to 'undrop' at 2:15 assuming a drop at 0:27, and the full tune length is usually under 5 minutes):
BTW the sections in this one go A B A B, nice structure to use

however some tunes use 6 sections of 16 bars, my favorite examples being The Aliens' Who Run It, w0t, and this classic example:
un drops at 3:12 instead of 2:15, usual tune length for 6 section tunes is over 5 minutes

so which do you prefer to use? i'm considering weather to start trying out 6 sections which when done right makes the drop more epic, but if done wrong it sometimes seems like its over staying its welcome.
obviously musical rules were meant to be broken and that and its perfectly fine to use 3,5,7 etc 16-bar sections but this is just a general pattern i've observed

do whatever works best for you or the particular song you are working on. try 6 sections, and ask for feedback if people think it needs more variation or should be shortened. or if you got a sick drop that you think should be played for longer, then do it, just make sure you add in some variation, not only with the synths but with drums, blips, pauses, and any fx you can imagine really..

not rly sure what your looking for. because as you said yourself there are no real rules in music. and you've shown you know the typical structures of dubstep songs. so just do what works...

lyons238 wrote:do whatever works best for you or the particular song you are working on. try 6 sections, and ask for feedback if people think it needs more variation or should be shortened. or if you got a sick drop that you think should be played for longer, then do it, just make sure you add in some variation, not only with the synths but with drums, blips, pauses, and any fx you can imagine really..

not rly sure what your looking for. because as you said yourself there are no real rules in music. and you've shown you know the typical structures of dubstep songs. so just do what works...

but of course you have to consider that the tunes are also meant for DJs and its the difference between a 1.75 minute drop and a 2.75 minute drop. sometimes when I see a tune goes into the breakdown after minute three I beat jump 32 forward to make the drop shorter... but then some tunes like who run it/w0t pull off this formula so well that I love the drops all the way past the 3 minute mark.

also, half of the reason for this post was to inform people of this pattern I noticed, cause I had no idea and have made tons of tunes that are 6 8-bar sections aka 3 16-bar sections... and then they would always feel when playing them out like the drop was gone before it started. example: the demo of my most recent release on Tycho called Poor Tall was 6 8bar sections but when I improved it I added 2 more at the end of the drop and when playing it out there is a huge difference in satisfaction

THIS TUNE IS THE FUCKING FORMULA!!!

Listen to it, and copy it, and your be winning.

thefrim wrote:

lyons238 wrote:do whatever works best for you or the particular song you are working on. try 6 sections, and ask for feedback if people think it needs more variation or should be shortened. or if you got a sick drop that you think should be played for longer, then do it, just make sure you add in some variation, not only with the synths but with drums, blips, pauses, and any fx you can imagine really..

not rly sure what your looking for. because as you said yourself there are no real rules in music. and you've shown you know the typical structures of dubstep songs. so just do what works...

but of course you have to consider that the tunes are also meant for DJs and its the difference between a 1.75 minute drop and a 2.75 minute drop. sometimes when I see a tune goes into the breakdown after minute three I beat jump 32 forward to make the drop shorter... but then some tunes like who run it/w0t pull off this formula so well that I love the drops all the way past the 3 minute mark.

also, half of the reason for this post was to inform people of this pattern I noticed, cause I had no idea and have made tons of tunes that are 6 8-bar sections aka 3 16-bar sections... and then they would always feel when playing them out like the drop was gone before it started. example: the demo of my most recent release on Tycho called Poor Tall was 6 8bar sections but when I improved it I added 2 more at the end of the drop and when playing it out there is a huge difference in satisfaction

yeah this is a good point. my songs will not be played in any clubs anytime soon so i dont worry about this too much. but it is still nice to keep in mind for the future.

I'm no pro but every 2^n (n > 1) bars, something should happen. That's how I see it. Of course, nothing's set in stone but I think this is a good rule.

3za wrote:
THIS TUNE IS THE FUCKING FORMULA!!!

Listen to it, and copy it, and your be winning.

I was staring at that gif for a good 4 minutes straight. kind of weird. it's 2 30 in the morning.