Mixes for the masses.
May 10, 2012 2:24 PM Subscribe
Mixture.fm "gives access all the best DJ mixes from around the world. Including BBC Radio 1's famous Essential Mix." [via Hacker News]
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, 2012 [1 favorite]
No? Not a good time? Never mind, then.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:31 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
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
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.
http://www.1001tracklists.com/
posted by cell divide at 2:44 PM on May 10, 2012
http://www.1001tracklists.com/
posted by cell divide at 2:44 PM on May 10, 2012
The definition of 'dubstep' is about as fuzzy and controversial as the definition of 'hipster.' It's not surprising at all that you're confused.
To put it briefly, at some point around 2010, it drastically shifted from this dreamy but bass-heavy and glitchy ambient stuff that originated out of London in the late 90s, to a distorted and bass-heavy variant of house music that happened to use some of the same sounds.
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]
To put it briefly, at some point around 2010, it drastically shifted from this dreamy but bass-heavy and glitchy ambient stuff that originated out of London in the late 90s, to a distorted and bass-heavy variant of house music that happened to use some of the same sounds.
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]
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]
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]
schmod: "Also, the site doesn't work for me"
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
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.
Here's my just-created page with those four songs on it for comparison.
"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]
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.
Here's my just-created page with those four songs on it for comparison.
"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]
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.
Ivan: Emika is great!!
posted by raihan_ at 3:30 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
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.
Ivan: Emika is great!!
posted by raihan_ at 3:30 PM on May 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
Great stuff, thanks. Lots of hidden gems tucked in those mixes.
posted by Mr Mister at 3:30 PM on May 10, 2012
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]
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
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
posted by filthy light thief at 5:41 PM on May 10, 2012
Not "Therein lies the wub?"
posted by aubilenon at 11:04 PM on May 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 11:04 PM on May 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
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 +] [!]
See here
Link
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
No? Not a good time? Never mind, then.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:31 PM on May 10 [1 favorite +] [!]
See here
Link
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
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
posted by flaterik at 12:31 AM on May 11, 2012
Is this a good time to ask what Dubstep is?
The History of Garage and Dubstep
What is dubstep?
posted by empath at 3:35 AM on May 11, 2012
The History of Garage and Dubstep
What is dubstep?
posted by empath at 3:35 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
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
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
It gets mixed with garage at 140bpm all the time, though.
posted by empath at 6:15 AM on May 11, 2012
Chicago's own Chrissy Murderbot, did a year of mixtapes, including one of dubstep.
posted by timsteil at 7:02 AM on May 11, 2012
posted by timsteil at 7:02 AM on May 11, 2012
See here
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
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
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:26 AM on May 12, 2012
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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