so recently i’ve been getting back into microtonal music (i.e. music that is “out of tune”, using alternate tuning systems etc.) and recently decided to start a microtonal dubstep track… and i was wondering if anyones done that before.
i do know of a few microtonal tracks out there that could fall under the broader definition of “dubstep”, but i doubt those tracks had much presence here since they’re all recent
since i’ve heard dubstep vibes on otherworldly and alienating sounds, i personally think it’d be really fun to explore microtonal territory if people havent already, unfamiliar tuning systems can bring a new kind of “alien” to the genre
with that said, how do you guys feel about microtonality and dubstep? does it exist, and if it doesnt, should it?
You could argue that a lot of dubstep is microtonal already, along with a huge chunk of other (Western) electronic music. Kinda comes with the post-modernism. Musique Concrète, cutting up tape loops, going to noise music and modern techno rumbles.
The Jamaicans were not known for tuning their instruments perfectly either, listen to any old dub reggae and you’ll hear what I mean.
Just go for it. I’m experimenting with similar things. Dolores Catherino is worth a mention, proper brain-melting stuff. Sevish also makes some crazy things.
i personally wouldnt count some of those things as being microtonal; atleast not harmonically, kinda like saying the beatles was microtonal because they technically played in B half sharp, but i see what you mean; i’ve noticed a similar thing in james blake’s Sparing The Horses
also ayyy good to see some sevish appreciation over here! sevish actually made one of the tracks i was refering to, not sure if you’d call it dubstep but saccades has quite a vibe
I didn’t say anything about classic rock or the Beatles though. I agree with that playing within the same Western harmonic structure, just sharper or flatter, does not really count as microtonal. With that said, there were a few psychedelic rock bands experimenting with “Eastern” tunings and instruments, as well as classical African tunings, in the 1960s and 70s.
I am primarily referring to the early electronic music pioneers, like Leon Theremin, Friedrich Trautwein, and later Stockhausen, Oram, Buchla, etc, the list goes on. Microtonal experimentation in electronic music has been around since the invention of the tape recorder in the early 1900s (especially since the 1940s and onwards).
i was using the beatles as kinda- an analogy, not related just the first thing i can think of related to out of tune samples being labeled as “microtonal”, gotcha!
Sample-based music is often not tuned to anything at all. The entirety of early American hiphop proves this quite well. Lots of actual microtonal stuff going on there.
if you have two of the same songs on each turntable, except one of the turntables was playing the song the same speed but pitched up or down enough to make two 12edo songs into one 24edo track. that would be cool. you would have to get rid of the drums on one track or turn them down. instead of put a donk on it, put i microtone on it.
There are a shit ton of videos like that, not sure which one I showed you. Tried searching in my Youtube history, but can’t find. The gamelan is an Indonesian instrument (Bali, Java, etc).
Might have been the original video that Bjørn sampled, I think it’s this one.
have a nice day
