2) Doesn't look like they have much except for the Essential Mixes.
Still, this is an awesome concept, and I hope to see it developed further. I was planning to do an AskMe to figure out where the cool kids these days are getting their DJ Mixes and remixes.... posted by schmod at 2:28 PM on May 10, 2012
Is this a good time to ask what Dubstep is? I've attempted my own research and I can't seem to figure out how it is distinguished from club/dance/electronica/techno type music that existed before "dubstep" appeared.
Is this a good time to ask what Dubstep is? I've attempted my own research and I can't seem to figure out how it is distinguished from club/dance/electronica/techno type music that existed before "dubstep" appeared.
Then you're not actually listening to it. posted by beaucoupkevin at 2:33 PM on May 10, 2012
Good companion site, as I don't see tracklistings there.
As it would seem, the universally-accepted common thread between 'dubstep' songs is the "wobbler" (wub wub wub) sound that was often a subtle feature of early songs in the genre that slowly leaked over into pop music.
Around the same time, bits of Drum & Bass also began to leak over into pop music, which also got confusingly lumped in with Dubstep, because D&B sounds were unfamiliar to most Americans. There's also other stuff (like the stutter edit) that seemed to proliferate into multiple genres simultaneously, but ended up incorrectly being branded as Dubstep sounds.
A lot of people (myself included) find that the current over-the-top incarnation of 'dubstep' shares very little of importance or significance with the original genre, to the extent that it's now often pejoratively called 'Brostep,' due to its popularity with the frat party crowd. posted by schmod at 2:46 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also, the site doesn't work for me. posted by schmod at 3:03 PM on May 10, 2012
Is this a good time to ask what Dubstep is? Previously
Also, it's been done to death, but..
"Well, first the 'drums' start beating, then they beat a bit faster, then a bit faster, then a bit faster then they stop, someone says something and optimus prime takes a shit. In every. single. song." posted by hypersloth at 3:09 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
It uses flash for its thing. I had to refresh a couple of times after disabling flashblock before it worked. posted by Memo at 3:19 PM on May 10, 2012
"Then you're not actually listening to it."
Yeah, schmod answers most of the question and did so while I was writing my answer and then going to all the trouble to make available some examples. :)
But, really, songs can vary quite a bit. There's a signature low-frequency sound with a wah-wah effect that's syncopated, and the beat or underlying beat tends to be about 70bpm. But, still, the rest can be quite different.
I don't think that Emika sounds much like Kuedo, for example.
However, if you listen to the original version of Original Nuttah and then a dubstep remix, the essence of dubstep is obvious.
"A lot of people (myself included) find that the current over-the-top incarnation of 'dubstep' shares very little of importance or significance with the original genre, to the extent that it's now often pejoratively called 'Brostep,' due to its popularity with the frat party crowd."
Ah, god, no, please don't ruin it for me. I absolutely love Emika and the idea that this is fratboy music will kill my enjoyment of it immediately and forever. Please tell me this isn't true. Dammit.
And, wow, that background color I chose sure fucks up your eyes if you look at it for more than ten seconds. Also, if the embedded player doesn't start the song when you first click it, then stop and click start again -- something about loading the file, I guess. Needless to say, these won't be there long and I only did this to be helpful. posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:24 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
I get most of my mixes from Soundcloud these days. A user by the name of db+ has an extensive collection of FACT and Essential mixes. And you can follow producers and labels you like and have mixes and tune samples show up in your feed pretty regularly.
On preview, maximum respect for the Original Nuttah! posted by Uncle Ira at 3:29 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
As long as we're linking to MixCloud, might as well drop in a link to Mary Anne Hobbs's account. If you want a primer on the initial draw that dubstep had for many many people, you could do worse than MAH's Dubstep Wars program.
My personal favorite of all the Essential Mixes is Beardyman's.... two hours of vocals and beatboxing, cut-up, sampled and edited... live. Here's a video of the madness. Here's a SoundCloud link of the mix.
Great stuff, thanks. Lots of hidden gems tucked in those mixes. posted by Mr Mister at 3:30 PM on May 10, 2012
Yawn. YAWPOEM.
The Mixing Bowl is the go-to community for legal, free downloads of sets, including essential mixes, but also much, much more.
Okay, okay, but you cannot wait for the five minutes a torrent takes to download from The Mixing Bowl? Das Boy is here for you as well with a substantial Essential Mix library ready to stream on Soundcloud.
There's always the finery of FriskyRadio for the cutting edge in progressive house.
And after a few hours of Frisky, it is strongly suggested to cleanse the palette with a sampling of Radio Isla Negra, probably the 2nd best streaming music radio station in the world.
And after all that auditory stimulation, your eyes are a bit jealous, eh? They're kind of like, dude, you just fed the ears a four course meal? What about us? You are not forgotten, my ocular electorate, for you, we have Be@TV, live streaming multi-camera video sets, both recorded and live, from DJs around the world. Sander Kleinenberg's This Is The Ultimate Boat Party from the WMC is a good place to start... Sander in a rabbit suit and all.
Point being, as said, Mixture FM = YAWPOEM... yet another website piggy-backing on essential mixes. Not that it hurts anything having another flash site that replays essential mixes, I'm not hating, just saying that the Interwebs is rich with DJ content already. posted by nickrussell at 3:56 PM on May 10, 2012 [5 favorites]
I wish I liked dubstep enough to run a fan site for it. I could call it Beyond Lies The Wub. posted by Devonian at 3:57 PM on May 10, 2012
Don't worry, Ivan. Emika and similar haven't turned to 'brostep.' There are at least two distinct worlds of dubstep, with gradients of dubstep in other new, related styles. posted by filthy light thief at 5:41 PM on May 10, 2012
Is this a good time to ask what Dubstep is? I've attempted my own research and I can't seem to figure out how it is distinguished from club/dance/electronica/techno type music that existed before "dubstep" appeared.
No? Not a good time? Never mind, then.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:31 PM on May 10 [1 favorite +] [!]
Even though the site it is now outdated, dubstep would come somewhere after BRIT under the HOUSE tab posted by kanemano at 11:11 PM on May 10, 2012
Even though the site it is now outdated, dubstep would come somewhere after BRIT under the HOUSE tab
What? No, "classic" dubstep at least has a breakbeat. The name is derived from 2-step garage slowed down and paired with the atmosphere of dub.
However, there's a lot of things that someone is calling dubstep now that have only a few things in common - it's not quite as catchall-ish as the IDM "genre" of the 90's but still, it's really hard to generalize usefully. posted by aubilenon at 11:43 PM on May 10, 2012
Yeah, there are two comments comparing things that are called dub step to house. Both are incorrect. The two genres are quite far apart on the dance music tree. posted by flaterik at 12:31 AM on May 11, 2012
A lot of people (myself included) find that the current over-the-top incarnation of 'dubstep' shares very little of importance or significance with the original genre, to the extent that it's now often pejoratively called 'Brostep,'
Yeah, we had to ban bro-step on our turntable.fm channel. It's amazing how much a 'no bro-step' rule weeds out bad DJs. posted by empath at 3:39 AM on May 11, 2012
70 BPM? Dubstep is typically around 140 BPM.
The biggest difference between dubstep and most other forms of electronic dance music is that dubstep (at least 2006 era dubstep) generally has a snare on the third count (third quarter of the measure). A lot of newer dubstep-influenced pop will put the snare on the fourth count to make it compatible with other forms of dance music. Orthodox house, techno, disco, and D&B generally have a clap or snare on the second and fourth counts.
There are people who aren't interested in learning about music taxonomy. When they encounter music that's obviously sequenced by a computer or a specialised hardware sequencer, they just hear doof doof blip. These people would sometimes use the term 'techno' to refer to all dance music that used synthesisers. Eventually they came to feel that the term 'techno' was old-fashioned, but they still couldn't be bothered to learn much about dance music's nomenclature, so they started to use the terms 'house' and 'electro' to refer to electronic dance music that lacked rap vocals and a verse pre-chorus chorus verse middle eight song structure. posted by Human Flesh at 5:41 AM on May 11, 2012
Dubstep can be read as either 70 or 140bpm, it really doesn't matter. For dance music, the snare kind of defines the tempo, though. It always hits on the 2 and 4 beat, which for dubstep puts it at 70bpm, for the most part.
It gets mixed with garage at 140bpm all the time, though. posted by empath at 6:15 AM on May 11, 2012
Ishkur's guide may be getting a bit dated, but it's still a fairly complete education. You can spend hours in there. posted by snuffleupagus at 9:23 AM on May 12, 2012
Also, the hardcore:speedbass and jungle:darkstep techstep harstep trancestep etc nodes would be relevant... posted by snuffleupagus at 9:26 AM on May 12, 2012
« Older In the official video for "Get By" by Delta Heavy,... | Tor.com asks: So Who Would Mak... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
2) Doesn't look like they have much except for the Essential Mixes.
Still, this is an awesome concept, and I hope to see it developed further. I was planning to do an AskMe to figure out where the cool kids these days are getting their DJ Mixes and remixes....
posted by schmod at 2:28 PM on May 10, 2012