Dubstep

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Massive beats, mutant bass and bruising breaks.

welcome to...
The sound of dubstep has changed hugely in the two years since we released our ahead-of-the-curve Dubstep & Grime. The genre has undergone a mammoth metamorphosis, germinating from its dark, garage-inspired incubator deep in south London into its current unstoppable global phenomenon. The genre has become a multifaceted, high-octane hybrid, encompassing elements of electro, fidget and D&B on the one side and house, techno and ambient electronica on the other. Almost no electronic sub-genre has escaped its rise. This collection reflects that. Weve explored the outer reaches of synthesis to deliver sick, twisted robo-vox basslines and stadium-sized synth loops while paying homage to the original sub-heavy essence of the genre, all underpinned by uncompromisingly brash and broken two-step rhythms.

welcome to the collection

The collection clocks in at 140bpm, the dubstep tempo de riguer, meaning all loops work together straight out of the box. Drums are served up in stripped (kick and snare), top-only (assorted perc combinations) and full loop variants for maximum flexibility. Try blending a top from one beat with the stripped elements from another for thousands of new grooves. Delve into the kick-free tops loops and the percussion and drum hits folders for even more beat candy. But the bassline remains king. Whether its a filthy two-bar wobble or an epic fourbar progression, weve got it covered. Mod-wheels have been melted and filters overloaded to ensure nearbottomless bottom-end. You know the drill: chop, sample, layer and process rebuild the b-lines your way, or use them as-is for instant song-starting material. Enjoy the future sound of dubstep. Hedflux & Labrat The Producers

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producer tips
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ideas for innovation

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Beat it

One of the pleasures of dubstep is its inherent lack of rigidity reflecting the number of musical cultures imbibed within. Nowhere is this freedom more evident than in the beats. Unlike in almost every other form of dance music, the kick and snare drums can be placed almost anywhere. Load up a two (or four) bar grid and experiment with their placements. Wonky is good. If youre in a rut start with your main hits emphasising the 70bpm feel. To bolster individual hits, get layering. For the snare start with a low punchy hit (try drum machine samples) and double it with a mid-range snapper. Then add a couple of upper claps spread across the stereo spectrum. Move the different hits in time for even bigger (and messier) combined hits. Send multiple hits to the same bus for glue treatment. Try sending the different constituent layers (like the low punchy hit) to different reverbs on every other beat to create variations throughout the groove.
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moving, and keep it interesting. One of the best ways to do this (other than the slightly clichd and easy to program LFO-derived and tempo-linked wobble) is to build multisegment basslines; constituent grooves that contain two, three or more different bass sounds bouncing off each other in a call and response fashion. The more contrast you can make between the different elements, the more impact your bassline will have on the dancefloor. Try throwing a flat low sub bass up against a nasty mid-range wobbler and a big bendy screamer. Switch them about on the beats or the off-beats for maximum effect. Send all to the same bus for final processing. (Or send them to different busses to emphasise the difference still further). Be liberal with pitch bends, portamento and automated rise and falls.
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Stacked synths

Beyond the bass-ics

The dubstep bassline is more often than not the star of the show. It needs to hold the groove and fill the frequency spectrum. And its got to engage the listener in every way that counts. Which means keep it

Dubstep is not about subtelty. Its about bold sonic statements and over-egged leads; bruising basslines and envelopepushed riffs. (both literally and figuratively). That means layering. Stack up oscillators (across octaves) in your lead synth of choice. Detune oscillators for even bigger sounds. Layer one synth with another, picking sounds that either work together or grate. And stack synth lines above basslines for mighty multi-octave, multi-instrument

ideas for innovation

workouts. Use group busses to bring stacks together. Use EQ to carve space out of constituent parts so that each works together without fighting. And use automation to keep levels changing (and the ears interested) throughout the track, easing up one synth part as another dips, or glitching up one as the other drops out.
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them away for a rainy day. The result? Your computer is optimised and your workflow accelerated.
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Unique sounds

Speakers corner

Your monitors are extensions of your ears and are the most important music making tools at your disposal (after creativity). When choosing the right pair of speakers always push your budget to the max. Save for a bit longer to get the best you can afford get it right and youll only need to make the investment once.
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Build a selection of your own sounds from scratch. Hunt them down from obscure places / records or go out and record your own. Layer drum sounds with field recordings of dogs barking or doors slamming and embellish beats with noise recordings taken from the streets. It requires confidence and a little technical know-how, but using your own found sounds will give your music an original element thats even more important in the age of the cut & paste producer.
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Listen up

Streamline your setup

Take a good long look at your plug-ins folder. Do you need that many EQs and compressors? Make a note of the few you use regularly. Do the same with synths. Narrow down your choice to three with differing sound creation methods and learn each of them inside out, mastering their controls. Consider your preferred tools for beat making and spend time re-writing their preset libraries with your own patterns and patches. Top it off with a choice selection of effects and disable everything else, stashing

Get a second pair of ears in the studio from time to time someone with unwavering honesty and less production know-how than you. Its a great way to find out whats not working in your mix and arrangement from a punters perspective. The fact that your second pair of ears is out of the loop can speed up the process of finding out whats fundamentally going wrong (or right) with, or whats missing from a mix.

folder setup

accessing the files

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140bpm

Drum Loops

Tops Loops

140bpm

Dubstep folder

Bass Loops

140bpm

Synth Loops

140bpm

Stabs & Shots

Music Loops

140bpm

Smash Vox

140bpm

Undersounds

FX and Toys Kicks Snares Hats Percussion Crashes

Drum Hits

equipment list

inside the Dubstep studio

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Roland TB-303 Roland SH-101 Yamaha RS-7000 Roland VP-9000 Moog Little Phatty SSL G-Series Compressor M-Audio Project Mix TL Audio Fat Track Tube Production Suite NI Maschine Korg Monotron FAW Circle Vember Audio SURGE Eventide Harmonizer Roland RE-150 Space Echo Watkins Copicat Tape Echo Great British Spring Reverb DR Stereo Spring Reverb BugBrand BabyBugCrusher Akai MPD26 Korg Nanokontrol Hackable Devices Drawdio Tascam DR08 field recorder Bicycle wheel Fire extinguisher Toy Guitar 149 bus (London Bridge to Dalston Kingsland)

credits
Collection created by Steve Young (Hedflux) Simon Carter (Crystal Distortion) & Groove Criminals Audio formatting by Chevy One Demos by Sharooz and The Producers Sample Magic online 1GB+ of free sounds, special offers, newsletter, wallpapers, downloads and our online store at: samplemagic.com Sample Magic network > twitter.com/samplemagic > soundcloud.com/samplemagic > youtube.com/user/samplemagic > facebook.com/samplemagic
Artwork by IWANT Design Limited

Dubstep was created by

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Other Sample Magic releases SM01/ Funky House Grooves SM02/ Breakbusters SM03/ Transmission-X SM04/ Electro-House SM05/ Sunset Sessions SM06/ Minimal & Tech-House SM07/ Around the World in 80 Raves SM08/ Nu-Rave SM09/ Funky House Grooves 2 SM10/ Tech-Funk Breaks SM11/ Minimal Techno SM12/ Progressive House SM13/ Sunrise Sessions SM14/ Tribal Tech-House SM15/ Dubstep & Grime SM16/ Deep Tech-House SM17/ Soundtrack & Chill SM18/ Ultimate FX SM19/ Organic House SM20/ Electro SM21/ Tech-House SM22/ Nu Disco New: Sample Magic Presents SMP01 Toolroom Records Samples SMP02 Paolo Mojo: Future Tech-House SMP03 Florian Meindl: Berlin Deep House

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