How to make Dubstep?

[[ESHS]balcomb]

So what programs do I need to be able to make some quality dub with my PC?

I have no knowledge of how or what to do, if I can do it without a synth (there's gotta be a program for that, hey?) etc.

Any hints, tips or pointers would be much appreciated

[Deakz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0
some sounds to help you start out

[Beanybag]

This is just too tempting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJzfTZlEl40

__________________

[Kelebek]

Start with some wob.

Then add some more wob wob wob wob.

Finalise that with a bit more wob wob wob, and you're done.

[[ESHS]balcomb]

This is only semi-helpful

[[NGO]TheSnikk]

You need a DAW. FL Studio (fruity loops), logic, reason, renoise, cubase and ableton are some popular examples.
Out of these, FL Studio is the most newbie-friendly so to say. I wouldn't recommend renoise to start off with.
FL Studio is also the one that is most used amongst (aspiring) bedroom producers like yourself, and the thousands and thousands of people that want to make dubstep now that its so hyped up because MTV tells you you should like it. Therefore you can find plenty and plenty of tutorials on how to create basic dubstep in FL Studio. Follow a few of those untill you get the basic hang of the program and see what you can come up with.
You can ofcourse use presets like most tutorials will, however that will make your **** sound the exact same like all the other people getting into producing dubstep. I would recommend downloading a few VSTs after you got the hang of fruity loops and play around with those to see if you can get a unique sound for yourself. Then again, who am i kidding, all this commercial dubstep sounds the same anyway.

Have fun.

[[PonE]Dixynormus]

Start with some wob.

Then add some more wob wob wob wob.

Finalise that with a bit more wob wob wob, and you're done.

Haha like it!

tbh just take a Drum and Bass song and slow the BPM's right down and bam! u got ur self a dub step song lol!

[[MoT]OhComely]

wubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwubwub

[[AHLP]TOOL`]

you need Machine, and there are nice dubstep preset banks for in reason, not that i hard. i use fruity loops and make drum and bass/break/jungle but i made a dubstep track once, here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNUCNj43ec

edit: learning producing software takes some months tho ;p so dont think you will be making skrillex **** within 1 week

[Truxtar]

How to make Dubstep: Fart into the microphone

[[Loli]Loli]

Drive a car with just one back window rolled down.

[[5]willdaBEAST]

Reason is a really great program as TheSnikk mentioned, but FL might be a better start. Reason can be a bit complicated.

[[ESHS]balcomb]

Yeah my mate uses Ableton, but he does more trance-style. Thanks, Snikk!

What are those VST's you mentioned? /Or TOOL`, what's this Machine I need....

[jerri`LEE]

VSTs are your 'instruments' or 'effects'. Check out dBlue Glitch effect, or some other nice Bitcrusher effect, and for synths I like NI Massive. Purely massive for any dubstep and electro needs. It's just THAT fat. But yeah like TheSnikk mentioned. You've gotta be in it for a few months to actually be able to get a hang of it. Maybe if you fully devote yourself for a year you'll be able to make some real banging tunes... and that's only if you actually have got any talent whatsoever.

Making music isn't just wubwubwubing it up, you gotta know about compression, limiters, various ways to sidechain your intruments, automation, bla bla bla there are way too many things to list... Enjoy your hell. I know I did : )

Edit: Just for the heck of it I thought I'd provide a link to my soundcloud, http://soundcloud.com/yukyuk-2
I've been using FL Studio and Ableton Live both for about 7~8 months now.

[[ESHS]balcomb]

Cheers man!

Does sound like a lot of work - contrasts the few hours it took for me to learn to write metal in guitar pro

Maybe I'll get into it after final exams...

[[MoT]OhComely]

Being a dubstep artist isn't all that easy. You need to be able to add just the right amount of wub to your dub(step).

[[AHLP]TOOL`]

Yeah my mate uses Ableton, but he does more trance-style. Thanks, Snikk!

What are those VST's you mentioned? /Or TOOL`, what's this Machine I need....

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/...ucer/maschine/

its one the most used instruments of all the top dubstep producers out there

[[AHLP]TOOL`]

and btw, start with fruity loops. cause its one of the easiest (still hard) producing software out there

just get reason, FL or cubase and watch 3423423423 tutorial videos on youtube

[botZlLLA]

With things said that you need a DAW and stuff, that should be clear. IMO the most thrilling part is getting into the rzthm and the characteristic sound.

So for the Drums, you need a deep dry kick, a reverbed snare/clap, a decent Hat and maybe some Toms. Dubstep normally doesn t require a full Drumset.

The average speed of Dubstep is around 135 Bpm, normally a drumloop is around 8 bars long, that means two tacts.

Kick: x x x x x x x -
Snare: - - x - - - x -
Hats are sometimes played as trioles to increase the `felt` speed, but its normally a staggering walking 16th with pronounciation on every offbeat.

As for instruments: I m a Live user for around 10 years now, and i ve gotten used to a lot of instruments. If you are into really doing music like you got in your head and think that predesigned samples and presets aren t what your looking for, I d suggest you take a look into syntheseizers like FM8, Absynth and Massive. Those are the synths I consider the best for dubstep. Mainly because there is no drum Absynth can t create. But just cause IMO the current Samplemania with Instruments like Kore is not really making music but sticking parts together that aren t your own mental property. Dj Shadow is fine though, obvioulsy he invented sampling on the current lvl.

The Bass should be a wobbler normally, so an LFO is bound to Res freq and volume.

As for the effects, bass and drumkit are highly compresed, so a compression ratio of 3 to 4, a threshold of -10 db and sidechaining the bass to the drums is normal, even required to get the volume you aim for.

As for song composition, most tracks i consider typical dubstep consists of
30 sec intro, 15 sec Drop, 30 to 60 sec Verse, Drop, A long break that does everything a little different, a minute of full Verse, A Drop again, an outro.

[[NGO]TheSnikk]

Yeah my mate uses Ableton, but he does more trance-style. Thanks, Snikk!

What are those VST's you mentioned? /Or TOOL`, what's this Machine I need....

VST have been explained perfectly by users above me. Also note what jerri`LEE mentions, its a long road getting the hang of software. I must say FL studio is piss easy compared to some others though, you should be making basic dubstep within a week, but creating the basics of a track is the tip of the iceberg really. After that you can get into the lenghty process of mastering and tweaking.

Then again there are thousands of dubstep 'producers' that just skip that alltogether. For some reason their remixes of random pop songs still get a billion hits on youtube because the current average audience of the dubstep genre consists of people who know nothing about music but instead like dubstep because thats the hype right now.
Anyway, don't get me started on commercial dubstep because i despise it, there's still good dubstep that just never breaks through because its not made by skrillex. Also, you will find that making what skrillex makes is quite easy compared to the better dubstep, so if you're aiming for that the road may not be that long.
In the end, if you really aspire to be a good producer, its very educational to have your track mastered by somebody with years of experience and a lot of skill in that department. You can ask if you can be there in the process, the guys i know will let you.

TL;DR: Producing is a learning process that never ends and will take you months to get started, making easy pop music dubstep remixes is something that you will be able to do within a week. Oh and skrillex is terrible.