Hi all, new here. I’m Zach. 21, classically trained. Really don’t want this to come across like I have no idea what I’m getting into (well ok, maybe) or have no experience or desire to learn on my own. I’ve done a fair share of music production/self-learning in the past year now (been composing solo piano for the past 13+). My question is what is the best way to go about learning the structure/technique/process to creating a dubstep track (specifically melodic). Recently I feel like I’ve hit a mental-block and can’t seem to move forward to start creating the complex sounds I’m hearing from artists like MiTiS, Skrux, Illennium, etc. I feel like I’m at the point where I know how far I have to go, but can’t quite figure out how to get there. Any advice for a classically trained pianist ?
It just takes a lot of practice and learning bro. Good luck!
also try importing a track you like into your daw, while you work on the track you can flick that track on for a bit and have a listen carefully to how the instruments are placed in the mix, then you can try to emulate that. eventually you will learn a lot about how pros mix in this way.
As a pianist melody improvisation will probably be your strong suit. So your weak suits will be sound design, and writing drums. Probably focus on sound design first as the drums you’re probably going for aren’t ridiculously complex. Filters, EQ, and compression, learn them. Before you start mixing in electronic sounds, try getting a good recording down of just piano and drums. Then add sub and make sure the mix retains clarity, and then start experimenting with sounds.
Reverse engineering presets is good way to get your feet wet. I like to find presets that have insane amounts of modulation going on and just start turning shit off like crazy, then turning different things on and creating an original sound. Of course you need to KNOW what you’re enabling/disabling for this method to work. Just some advice for down the line.
Welcome to DSF!
I dunno the artists you listed (will check in a bit) but if you want to check out more melodic dubstep and how it is structured I’d suggest checking out more of the funk and jazz inspired guys who use melody and harmony extremely well (will post a couple bits below). Listened to a couple of your tracks and I hear nice melodies, but the drums get a bit stagnant. The drums imo are as important if not more so than the synths. They must work closely together in order to create the groove and vibe. The drums make the people move.
Also might help if you mentioned what software or equipment you’re working with.
The sound design itself comes with months and years of experimentation and finding what works for the sounds you like. There’s basic synthesis to learn or tutorials to help get a start, but that will only get you so far. Good sound design is usually half synthesis (or sample selection) and half sample mangling (such as resampling your own sounds and experimenting with them).
Also although there are generally no rules, “dubstep” usually works best in 4, 8, 12 bar sections. It’s not a rule except to make it more DJ friendly really, but I really do think working in that format helps get a feel for how to make the right kind of grooves and melodies for “dubstep”, at least when you are starting out. Speaking of which, have you DJ’d at all? Even just on software, mixing will help you immensely when it comes to the structure and the technique of how tracks are put together.
Couple of faves from the more melodic side of dubstep