Something strange, this Dubstep. It didn’t just pop out of their speakers one day in its full form. The evolution of this, possibly the world’s newest musical genre, began with Drum and Bass in the mid-90s. This fusion of intricate but repetitive drum rhythms and heavy subwoofer sounds is what started it all. Believe it or not, Dubstep is actually a much slower sound on average than Drum and Bass, which was generally written between 160-180 beats per minute.
Dubstep makers usually keep their BPM around 140 today, which leads to very predictable song structures, like the rising intro leading to what people call “the dip.” When this bass drops, the kick drum enters the scene in syncopated rhythms along with the heavy wobbles of the bass and the high frequency glitches and blips that are popular today. But these elements did not just appear out of nowhere.
The UK garage scene in the late ’90s picked up the pace, but its Dubstep influence is responsible for the even heavier bass lines we have here on the scene today. His contributions are equal to Two-Step’s in the same time frame, cutting the drums in half the time but leaving the melodic elements at over 200 BPM. Grime helped push popular Dubstep into hip-hop, which is why you hear rappers and pop stars in the United States looking for Dubstep players to produce their albums.
In the early 2000s, Dubstep fully evolved into what it is today, and has even evolved into at least 20 different sub-genres, each of which is subtly different from the rest. It is recorded that the term “Dubstep” itself was first used in 2002 by XLR8R on the cover of their magazine. Since then, in 2012, an artist named Skrillex has risen to popularity, receiving five Grammy nominations and three wins.
This goes against the initial prediction of Bassnectar, a popular artist, who said that “farting bass lines will never be mainstream.” How wrong he was, for his own good. You can’t blame him, because technology was not available in the mid-90s for most people to create such abstract soundscapes. However, with the proliferation of Dubstep authoring tools and tutorials, such as digital audio workstations like Ableton Live and Logic Pro, and online music hosting websites like Soundcloud, Dubstep fans have appeared all over the world. corners of the world.
Today America’s biggest pop stars like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift have tapped into the UK’s Dubstep talent pool to produce their singles and full albums. More Grammy nominations will follow and the genre will continue to mature in various directions, offering the classic dubstep sound with unique twists for anyone’s quirky tastes. For example, a subgenre called Deathstep has appeared that carries influences from Death Metal. Reggae has its own version called Ganjastep, along with many others. Time will continue to contribute to the history of dubstep.