Like most forms of electronic dance music, a lot of dubstep is created for the dancefloor and produced to be heard on a loud sound system. One of the most exciting elements of dubstep is the freedom to move away from a set song structure and the reliance on breaks and bass drops. The tempo of dubstep is generally around the 140bpm mark, which provides potential for DJs to mix it with breakbeat, whilst an increasing number of drum & bass DJs are using dubstep in their sets too.Īlthough there are stylistic similarities between dubstep and drum & bass, the latter has suffered from stagnation in the past through the over-use of various techniques, samples and sounds.

This has become the form of dubstep that most people will be familiar with, and it's a characteristic that distinguishes it from most other dance music.ĭubstep also has many similarities to drum & bass: both rely on the use of shuffled and syncopated hi‑hat patterns to give the beats movement, and heavy sub‑bass for warmth and depth. Initially based around a garage‑influenced, two‑step kick and snare beat, the genre has evolved over the last few years, with an increasing number of tracks containing a half‑step rhythm. Technicalĭubstep's main characteristics lie in its rhythms, bass and dark sound, with heavy use of spatial atmospherics, low‑end frequencies and swing. Throw in Skream's platinum‑selling remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill' and you've got yourself a new sonic phenomenon. Not to be outdone, Dub Police and Sub Soldiers exposed us to Caspa and Rusko, two of the scene's most popular international ambassadors they play to a weekly global audience of thousands. Labels like Tempa and Hyperdub laid the foundations with artists such as Horsepower Productions, Kode9, Skream, Benga and Burial. With roots in the predominantly London‑flavoured two‑step and grime scenes, where experimental garage remixes were often made with FL Studio, dubstep has evolved its own production values that have set new precedents for the treatment of low‑end frequencies.

From the grimy nightclubs of Croydon to mainstream radio airplay, via high‑profile endorsement from acts as disparate as Snoop Dogg and Radiohead, its meteoric rise is unrivalled. New genres appear on an almost daily basis in electronic music, but few have had the impact of dubstep. We explain some of its fundamental production techniques, from 'wobbly' bass lines to half‑time drum programming. Like drum & bass and jungle before it, dubstep showcases the inventiveness of British urban music.

Massive native instruments sub bass