Root key

Production
1

Hi guys, which root key is the best/ the most common to make dubstep right now?

2

For physical playback reasons, F through A… generally speaking. Very generally.

Feel free to ignore that though.

3

I would say somewhere between E and G. In particular I use F# or F, somewhere around 50 and 100Hz, give or take.

4

My music theory is shit, let’s say I picked F min to be my key, so what notes can I play ?

5

**Disclaimer, I’m the resident theory-phobe
Why do you even ask this question? Why does it matter what everyone else is doing? Grow up and stand on your own two feet.

1 BigUp
6

haha ? XD

7

Assuming natural minor:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/MinorScale.svg

But yes, remember that you can still use any other tone as what you would call in traditional western theory ‘accidentals’ and actually you don’t have to stick to the western 12 tone equal temperament tuning system at all.

1 BigUp
8

Srsly, dont post such “helpful” posts.

9

Be independent.

1 BigUp
10

Don’t be cancerogenic, thanks.

11

Lol keys smh

12

I actually agree with him (for once). He didn’t exactly word in the most positive nor respectful way though.

Look at the great artists of history: Picasso, Pollock, Joyce, Welles. They are remembered not because they followed historical conventions, but because they did things in new ways and were themselves emulated.

One thing I’d like to conduct research into is the number phi in music. It appears all the time in the arts throughout cultures and history. In order to better approximate phi in relative pitch, you would have to break free from 12tet. For example a ratio of phi=1.6180… would be a little sharp of a minor sixth.

I think you mean ‘scales smh’ as I’m sure your music has some sense of tonal center.

13

Just do whatever works imo.

I don’t even know what key most of my melodies are in i just make it up by ear. Western scales are just taste anyway.

4 Likes
14

I’ve been trying to stop working in MIDI’s 12tet system and instead fine tune audio hits. Maybe you could try that?

15

You sound like me 20 years ago.

In a good way.

PS: I still haven’t figured any of the secrets out.

16

Really, I don’t even know what you are talking to me, as I said im complete shit at music theory, I tried to do what I think sounds good to me then I showed this song to Xilent and he was keep complaining about the keys, a lot of them were diffrent and he just said that I should pick a key and stick with that.

17

the op has a great question, the more I think about it. Everyone approaches this from the “traditional western 12 tone bumclot” angle or the “just tune it to the cosmos and your vibe, maaaan” angles - but really, fuck theory here. Or rather, theory is secondary to the actual task at hand, which is: making a track that presumably “works” in a “typical” dubstep playback space, and I think that shouldn’t be written off.

So, like, bigtop EDM dubstep doesnt give any fucks because it’s all coming thru iBuds or lappy speakers or gigantic stacks of PAs; truhedz® will say it has to work on a semi-large system; everybody else would just like to be able to hear the same song no matter what they were listening to (maybe naive, admittedly)…

So who are you making music for?

18

That’s just one person’s perspective. What do you think?

Anyway, you can always just Wikipedia this stuff, or acquire Music Theory for Computer Musicians, Music Theory for Dummies or something similar for guitarists.

19

this is all anyone should be doing when making music

as you learn more about theory your own interpreations of what is good will change

fuck what other people are doing

2 Likes
20

I remember hearing murmurs throughout the scene, when Yunx was still one of the major curators, about him asking people to retune or just plain make tunes in a certain key so they would blend with his style(E minor iirc). We all saw where ‘dungeon’ led us in dubstep…

I dont think music should be made to fit someones expectations, in this case "xilent’.

Its like an aspiring writer taking courses on designing click bait. Yeah, you can make mass consumption music that fits into a box and is easy to sell. If you’re interested in doing this, you might want to consider looking into marketing instead of music production. It will net you more money and you’ll be the one telling the next ‘xilent’ to fuck off bc he doesnt have enough facebook likes instead of worrying about silly things like scales and notes.

edit: maybe a bit too harsh tbh, no feels intended to be hurt, just the reality as i see it

3 Likes