Sunday, September 16, 2012

Producing the Top Dubstep Songs - Knowing Your Different Genres of Bass Music

By Jason Johann


Because the same elements occur across all genres of this style it's quite easy to get confused as to what is what. With the boom of technology, pretty much anybody can start producing bass music. They then label it wrong and promote it all over the internet as dubstep when it may actually be drumstep, or neurofunk or neurohop.

Unlike other genres of music, this division of dance music is actually very easily identified. The quality that defines this type of music, is strangely enough, the tempo or the speed of the song. If you want to produce the top dubstep song possible, it is wise to know the basic differences between these genres first. Here is a list of the most popular types of bass music and their tempos:

1. Dubstep is 140 BPM almost all of the time, but the drums are played in half time which tends to make the music seem much slower than it really is. The drums are also swung. The snare drum, just like the kick, hits on every other beat. Datsik, Flux Pavilion, Nero and Culprate are some of the artists to listen to.

2.Complextro is also at 140 BPM but the drums are not halved so it seems a lot faster. It's basically house music on steroids. The kick and snare drum hits on every beat instead of every other beat. Porter Robinson is a great example of a complextro artist.

3. Drumstep is often at 160 to 170 BPM but the drums are heavily syncopated and halved which results in a hip hop and groovy feel. Noisia and Pendulum are some artists to look out for.

4. Drum and Bass is brother to drumstep and has many of the same qualities except for the fact that the drums kick at full tempo. A number of drum and bass artists also create drumstep so listen to Noisia and Pendulum once more. Another great artist to listen to is Camo and Krooked.

5.Moombahton and Moombahcore are set to a tempo of 110 BPM and incorporate elements of reggaeton. This genre is basically house music at a slower tempo.

6. Neurofunk is the newest subgenre and this is commonly referred to as neurohop, but is easily mistaken with glitch hop. Neurofunk is between 90 and 100 BPM and incorporates syncopated, swinging drums, funky basslines, heavily modulated bass and synths that employ the pentatonic or blues scale. This style has less of a funk feel and more of a hip hop feel, however, the two genres are commonly combined.

So there it is. You are now able to discern the distinctions between these music types like a professional and can show others how to tell the difference betwixt the two (isn't that word amazing?) Go on, get out your midi controller and DAW (digital audio workstation) and dance away while you make music.




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