Dubstep

What it means

Dubstep is an electronic music style that arose around the turn of the millennium in London. Characteristic are a basic pulse felt as slow at a comparatively high tempo, an emphasized beat in the middle of the bar instead of a continuous quarter-note pulse, a very deep, heavily processed bass, and a lot of space between the sound events. The sound of the bass — shaped with rapid filter movements and distortion — is the actual distinguishing mark.

Musical use

Musically the style rests on few elements that are placed exactly: the effect arises from emptiness and impact, not from melodic development. The form often follows a build of tension and release in which expectation builds up and at a fixed point passes into the full sound. Harmonically much remains restricted to few chords, often in minor. For musical consideration the style is interesting because the material is largely defined in terms of sound and rhythm — tone colour and timing take on the role that melody and harmony play elsewhere.

Performance practice

Whoever works with this material should watch the deep bass: very low frequencies are inaudible on small loudspeakers and easily overwhelming on large systems; check therefore on different means of playback. Place sound events rhythmically exactly, since the style lives from precision. Keep the texture transparent and resist the temptation to fill gaps. Watch the volume and hearing protection, especially with distortion and low frequencies. Document settings so that results remain reproducible.

Bear in mind that the build-up of such pieces lives from expectation: the tension arises from the time before the bass enters, not from its volume. Check the mix on different means of playback, because very low frequencies are missing on small loudspeakers and overwhelming on large systems. Place sound events rhythmically exactly, document the settings, and watch hearing protection at high volumes.

Check the effect at low volume too, because the texture shows its weaknesses there.

Also check whether the volume relationships in the low range still hold on large systems.