How Do I Start Mixing Dubstep?
You want to learn Dubstep. It is not wrong to say that Dubstep has become the forefront of the music world for the past decade. There are many necessary things to know in DJing, and Dubstep is one of them. But the question arises: how do I start mixing Dubstep?
In this article, I will discuss how to start Dubstep. How to make Dubstep beat? And how to produce Dubstep. First, you have to know what Dubstep is.
What is Dubstep?
It is electronic music. It is a dance music, artists usually use to focus on intense music and rhythmic loops. The lyrics are very short in the dance music, but the looped beats are up to the mark. There are many subcategories of Dubstep, such as drum and bass, downtempo and jungle. Dubstep became popular in the early 2000s, especially in the USA and London. The club scenes are great because of the heavy dubstep dance music.
How to make a Dubstep beat?
It means you love the intense dance floor music and you want to make dubstep music. You want to play this dubstep music on the decks. But you feel difficulty and need help figuring out where to start? Follow the steps to make the Dubstep beat.
Tune selection
First, you have to download the dubstep music, then select some of the tracks that match your tracks.
You may have heard about Dubstep artists like Benga, Versa, Subtronics, Bassnector, Excision, and Datsik.
You must research tracks, go through 90 to 100 tracks on the beat port, and check out the latest released tracks. Add all of your tracks to the Hold bin. Putting your tracks in the Hold bin will help you in the final selection.
Preparation of music for mixing
In preparation for music, you have to set up the cue point. Make yourself ready to press the cue button and drop the Dubstep tunes at the right moment.
Setting a cue button will help you to hit the beats instantly at the right time when the music plays.
Set the hot cuesGrab a DJ controller, and then you will acquire cue performance pads. These pads are beneficial to hit the beats on various tracks during the song.
If you missed the spot, you have to hit the cue. In this manner, the hot cue button settings will help you jump back to the spot you missed.
Record your mix
Set up your DJ software, such as Rekordbox. Grab the DJ controller you use, the pioneer DDJ-400.
You have to make a folder location. If you are ready for mixing, then click the record button.
To learn to make Dubstep
You have to follow these steps for the learning of Dubstep
Make an OG dubstep drum pattern
Drums are essential in beat-making. You may already know the halftime drum pattern. Cutting the snare in half, you should get a halftime feel. This is true for most beats; however, sometimes you must change the bass drum pattern.
You have to start the track by programming the music. DJ has to choose a kick and snare because selecting the kick and snare will make the production easier.
Many people don’t know about kick and snare. Let me tell you:
Kick and snare is an alternation between low and high. Low, high, low, high. Why do you alternate – so that there is a pulse instead of static? Your heart isn’t always pushing; there is a rhythmic pulse.
Programming in Hats and Percussion
The total energy of the beats depends on the hats in the Dubstep. If you put the more layers of hats, the more energy produced in beating. Suppose you put fewer hat layers, so less will ultimately be made in beats.
But in music, you must maintain balance, and simplicity is the key to perfecting everything.
First, you have to produce a basic hat rhythm. For creating a basic hat rhythm, find out the solid hi-hat sound.
After the semi-hi-hat, you know where the music lacks where there is less energy. So complete all of the lagging things.
Now, find out whether there is a crash in the beats. And match with the kicks and snare which I mentioned above.
Lastly, add more hi-hat for better output quality, and the beat is straight and up to the mark.
Conclusion
Dubstep is a core part of the mixing of the tracks. Dubstep is just electronic dance music with a high, intense beat. People usually hit the dance floor and demand the high-beat sensation. This high-beat sensation can’t be made without Dubstep. You must follow all the procedures for making dubstep, such as making the drum pattern and adding hi-hat for better output quality. Remember that all the bases depend on which kind of tune you selected, and then you must start mixing. In short, I have discussed everything. If someone wants to become a dubstep DJ, he can if he follows all the steps I mentioned above.
FAQs
Dubstep tracks are typically produced at 140 bpm, which can also be interpreted as 70 bpm. You can find some slight variation in the speed of Dubstep, anywhere from 130 to 150 bpm. Because Dubstep is so commonly made at this tempo, the genre is also often called ‘140’ by community members.
First, Dubstep tends to sit around 140BPM-150BPM and features a halftime drum pattern. This means that instead of the kick featuring on the 1 and 3, the kick features on the one and the snare on the 3. Some people prefer to define Dubstep at 70BPM instead because it’s half as fast.
The first and arguably most popular form of Dubstep mixing is what’s known as drop mixing. As the name implies, drop mixing works by essentially waiting until the drop is about to occur in the first track before immediately inverting the faders so that, instead, you’re playing the drop from the second track.
