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Thread started 09/09/12 9:03am

imago

Can SOMEBODY Explain Dubstep to me?

I've noticed that many singers are releasing singles that have dubstep mixes in them now.

And unless I'm way off base (and I admit, I very well could be), Skrillex is a dubstep star.

I like some of his stuff, and I understand that in some way, it's refusal to go verse-chorus-verse-chorus is part of a rejection of mainstream pop today.

HOWEVER, it just doesn't sound different enough to me from the current dance music scene to really brand it 'a movement' of sorts. Most of the shows that I've seen of dubstep artists tend to be frequented by the same old douchbags that you'd see in any trendy bar.

Can someone explain what dubstep really is? And, what might set it appart as it's own musical movement? I honestly think it's no different than the jungle and tribal stuff that was coming out of the 90s and early 00's , but this time, it's getting a bit more attention.

Help and Asian out yall.

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Reply #1 posted 09/09/12 9:58am

MattyJam

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Why do you want to understand something you don't even like?

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Reply #2 posted 09/09/12 10:02am

SavonOsco

Dubstep has been around for over 15 years...
Without getting boring, it started as reggae dub fused with EDM sounds ...it doesn't sound that new to you because you might've been hearing it for years and didn't know it.The signature "wobble" is now what people hear to recognize it...that wobble is only a few years old though

Skrillex is a star because he's based in LA and had the ability to use the promotion that LA gives...he's good but there are other guys that are better..my favorites are Skream and Benga...

Like most subcultures in music (Hip Hop etc)... Now that it's going mainstream ...it's gonna suck...I hope not....
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Reply #3 posted 09/09/12 10:53am

Thibaut

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Reply #4 posted 09/09/12 12:32pm

robertlove

I only know that it's great to listen to when you're working out cool

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Reply #5 posted 09/09/12 12:56pm

chocolate1

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MattyJam said:

Why do you want to understand something you don't even like?

I can't answer for Dan, but sometimes understanding something more might help change my opinion of it...

Maybe I was just wrong in my assessment, and an explanation will make me listen to it in a different way.

But I don't get it either. The kids at school are into it.

I just thought I was getting old. lol


"Love Hurts.
Your lies, they cut me.
Now your words don't mean a thing.
I don't give a damn if you ever loved me..."

-Cher, "Woman's World"
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Reply #6 posted 09/09/12 1:41pm

arX

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Against the ruin of the world, there
is only one defense: the creative act.


-- Kenneth Rexroth
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Reply #7 posted 09/09/12 3:46pm

aardvark15

It's just a specific group of electronic based dance music. Probablyt the signature thing that makes dubstep dubstep are the breakdown's that usually come before or after the chorus I.E: We Found Love and Party Rock Anthem

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Reply #8 posted 09/09/12 5:27pm

Militant

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moderator

aardvark15 said:

It's just a specific group of electronic based dance music. Probablyt the signature thing that makes dubstep dubstep are the breakdown's that usually come before or after the chorus I.E: We Found Love and Party Rock Anthem

Party Rock Anthem is not a dubstep song. Neither is We Found Love.

Those are both Electro House.

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Reply #9 posted 09/10/12 1:08pm

SavonOsco

Militant said:



aardvark15 said:


It's just a specific group of electronic based dance music. Probablyt the signature thing that makes dubstep dubstep are the breakdown's that usually come before or after the chorus I.E: We Found Love and Party Rock Anthem




Party Rock Anthem is not a dubstep song. Neither is We Found Love.



Those are both Electro House.




Exactly...most dubstep don't have vocals unless it's for the "drop" or for the chorus....
Most folk listen to "ET by Katy Perry, is the closest that people unfamiliar can equate to dubstep.
That Internet Explorer commercial with the Alex Claire song "Too Close" is a perfect example of dubstep.
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Reply #10 posted 09/10/12 4:41pm

wiggleme

chocolate1 said:



MattyJam said:


Why do you want to understand something you don't even like?







I can't answer for Dan, but sometimes understanding something more might help change my opinion of it...


Maybe I was just wrong in my assessment, and an explanation will make me listen to it in a different way.




But I don't get it either. The kids at school are into it.


I just thought I was getting old. lol



no....i seriously was thinkin the same. i have a sister who is just a wee bit younger than me and her boyfriend of a yr. now introduced her to dubstep. shes n her thirties as i and she really digs it....but she digs her man so shes gonna dig what he gives . but.....on the other hand i work with a 22 yr. old who recebtly went to vegas , where they had a huge dupstep convention?...lol...anyway...she showed me videos and it was eye opening to say the least!!!....

so my question is ..is it music? is it another form of art n expression or....all that is wrong with music today?
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Reply #11 posted 09/10/12 11:11pm

SavonOsco

Your answer is yes it's a form of music...and no it's not all that's wrong with music....
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Reply #12 posted 09/10/12 11:23pm

kewlschool

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mad Yes, dubstep is boring as hell. So, I'm not old. I just can't stand boring music. wink

99.9% of everything I say is strictly for my own entertainment
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Reply #13 posted 09/11/12 5:09am

gemari77

Personally... I LOVE the group NERO out of England which is labeled Dubstep. It could be labeled anything and I'd still like them... interesting synth layers, resonant bass frequencies, killer hooks and the futuristic vibe...almost like a throwback to early 80's synth music but with deeper bass and more modern beats..

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Reply #14 posted 09/11/12 7:46am

wiggleme

kewlschool said:

mad Yes, dubstep is boring as hell. So, I'm not old. I just can't stand boring music. wink



yeah..it not my cup of tea. i do dig what ive heard of some remixes of songs , but i could only listen in small doses....
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Reply #15 posted 09/11/12 7:56am

paisleypark4

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Its a form of techno however it is a bit more wild and rock-like compared to jungle and trance and all. its about the crazy sound effects, the loud synths and an abundance of noise in the climax. Very little vocals if any from what I hear.
Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #16 posted 09/11/12 9:22am

novabrkr

Skrillex has become the most recognized name in dubstep, although it's highly debatable if his music is even dubstep to begin with. As the name strongly implies the original forms of dubstep were influenced by Jamaican music and contained elements from dub and reggae. There's none of that left in stuff like Skrillex. The music really wasn't that aggressive or "chaotic" before some American artists started gaining attention. From what was known as "dubstep" for years they haven't really taken much else than the "wobble bass" and the "drops". It's really just another case of a bunch mainstream music journalists adopting some term, not knowing what it means and turning it into the standard definition of the word (just what happened to, e.g. industrial).

I still have to comment that Skrillex sounds nothing like 90s drum'n'bass, for that matter. lol

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Reply #17 posted 09/11/12 2:24pm

SavonOsco

It's not a form of techno,it's a form of EDM...
The root of Jamaican Dub/Reggae must not be ignored..if you take off the layers of synths and wobbles..you can still hear the Jamaican influence..the tempo solidifies that...when it speeds up, the Ska influence is heard.
Skrillex and others have added more to it..but that's being innovative and that's all good...

I can understand it not being people's cup of tea...minimal vocals and such aggressive sounds and wicked tempo isn't for everyone
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Reply #18 posted 09/11/12 8:11pm

PurpleMusiq8

novabrkr said:

Skrillex has become the most recognized name in dubstep, although it's highly debatable if his music is even dubstep to begin with. As the name strongly implies the original forms of dubstep were influenced by Jamaican music and contained elements from dub and reggae. There's none of that left in stuff like Skrillex. The music really wasn't that aggressive or "chaotic" before some American artists started gaining attention. From what was known as "dubstep" for years they haven't really taken much else than the "wobble bass" and the "drops". It's really just another case of a bunch mainstream music journalists adopting some term, not knowing what it means and turning it into the standard definition of the word (just what happened to, e.g. industrial).

I still have to comment that Skrillex sounds nothing like 90s drum'n'bass, for that matter. lol

EXACTLY!

I find dubstep to be extremely boring and I'm 24 years old. It's all the rage with people in my age group. Thing is, I've been listening to electronic music for years, (sorry if I missed the 90's wave of drum and bass, etc. I was like 8 or something.) but this doesn't sound like anything new, which is why I guess a lot of people like it. I was actually in an industrial band up until a couple of years ago, and while some could argue that industrial is dead (much like what people say about punk music) there are definitely bands worth checking out that have came out in the last couple of years. To me though, dubstep just sounds like a lot of rehashed drum and bass but way modern. I just don't like the predictability of the songs, how there is always a "drop" or much like in industrial music where it's always at the same bpm and uses the same boom, boom, boom, boom, 1, 2, 3, 4, drum beats. Which is why I kind of got out of the industrial/goth scene which I felt was becoming stale just like everything else. I never was one to go with what everyone else liked, hell I listened to Prince when everyone else was into Blink-182, so why would I start now? Dubstep just sounds like pretentious hipsters trying to do something cool with music but the problem is now it has a name and now it's all the same. I would much rather listen to the Prodigy or Acumen Nation or something like that.

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Reply #19 posted 09/11/12 10:03pm

musicology54

Perfect example of dubstep:

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Reply #20 posted 09/11/12 10:32pm

robertlove

aardvark15 said:

It's just a specific group of electronic based dance music. Probablyt the signature thing that makes dubstep dubstep are the breakdown's that usually come before or after the chorus I.E: We Found Love and Party Rock Anthem

falloff

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Reply #21 posted 09/11/12 11:15pm

funkycat00

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Some of the recent raves that i've been to play this crap! You can't dance to it! mad

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Reply #22 posted 09/12/12 12:54am

mostbeautifulb
oy

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I can't explain in words- but this pretty much sums it up for me...

Epic

[Edited 9/12/12 0:55am]

My name is Naz!!! and I have a windmill where my brain is supposed to be.....

ديفيد باوي إلى الأبد
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Reply #23 posted 09/12/12 2:19am

DakutiusMaximu
s

Whatever you call it, it's pretty awful... er, I guess it would be more polite and proper to say I don't like it.

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Reply #24 posted 09/12/12 4:06am

smoothcriminal
12

Some forms of dubstep are tolerable. lol
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Reply #25 posted 09/12/12 10:03am

robertlove

The first time I heard this one...magic! When the keyboard kicks in headbang

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Reply #26 posted 09/12/12 3:37pm

aardvark15

robertlove said:

aardvark15 said:

It's just a specific group of electronic based dance music. Probablyt the signature thing that makes dubstep dubstep are the breakdown's that usually come before or after the chorus I.E: We Found Love and Party Rock Anthem

falloff

Well SORRY anybody who listens to the top 40 radio says thats what it is lol

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Reply #27 posted 09/13/12 5:19am

RodeoSchro

Don't you just say "dirtybit" somewhere in between the beat?

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Reply #28 posted 09/21/12 6:56pm

DakutiusMaximu
s

This may not explain it but it sure shows this guy knows how to dance to it. He starts a little slow so be sure to hang on till 1:30 when he really kicks it off:

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Reply #29 posted 09/22/12 6:52pm

estelle81

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Personally, I've always liked techno/house/eletronica/whatever-it's-called-this-decade music. I just love all the different beats; they just make me happy for some reason and I guess that's all that matters in the end.

This is my dubstep jam right now:

I'm obsessed with this song at the moment. I have to listen to it everyday and it always makes me smile for some reason. I loved it before I heard it in the 'Dredd 3D' trailer. Funny thing is that there are several dubstep remixes to this song but I only like this one...crazy eh lol

Prince Rogers Nelson
Sunrise: June 7, 1958
Sunset: April 21, 2016
~My Heart Loudly Weeps

"My Creativity Is My Life." ~ Prince

Life is merely a dress rehearsal for eternity.
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