Where do you think dubstep is going?

Either way I feel that some guys are throwing smashers to the scene, whether it be fading or not :confused:

Could you elaborate?

Guys like Benga and Skream could’ve easily prevented dubstep from dying and abandoning the true sound of dubstep. It’s all about techno these days, not that that’s a bad thing, I like techno and the Swamp 81 sound, but it will never match the vibes from the true sound of dubstep. The vibes will never die.

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the first phase of dubstep, maybe even the second, is over
a few of the original (arguably) genii have finished their contributions to the music
but, as epic says, the vibe moves on
because dubstep was always bigger than individuals or tunes or even scenes

I know my experience of gigs in Sydney from 05 to 011 and a few gigs subsequently
had crews with the same appreciation for the backbeat, swing, step, dub & sub
as, say, FWD, DMZ, Subloaded or Dubwars
or some bar in Bucarest, club in France or pub in Glasgow.

Sure, somethings became cliched (“rewind!”) or formularized (a la dungeon)
and people move on looking for new sounds and ways of expressing new times.
The drugs changed, steppas got older & jobs, commercialization begat bro
…inevitably things changed.

But I’m sure there’s a few heads like me
that would love to someday find a nice little venue,
install a system
invite some dj mates with crates full of classics that haven’t been played out for awhile,
some new dubstep or bass music and their own dubstep-inspired tunes,
hopefully on serrato so they can mix & scratch on vinyl,
welcome anyone interested to hear proppa played out
and start another scene with the same good vibes that will always accompany this music.

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the ‘real’ scene is very vivid and present, so n signs of ‘dying’ or going through a slump.
all the guys that were after noise/charts/popmusic slowly died out of the scene, sure there are a few left but i dont give a f. most of them though left as quickly as the music left the ‘mainstream’ the ‘public’ the ‘vast majority’ and the focus went back onto the core that has always been there, and its a healthy core!

1 BigUp

At the moment you have some labels who are leading the scene:

System
Innamind
Deep Medi
Lioncharge

Then you have other dubstep labels and sorts:

Version
Artikal
Tempa
Subaltern
Whodemsound (and all J.Robinson’s Labels)
Crucial Recordings
Chestplate
Uprise Audio
Tuba Records
New Moon Recordings
Moonshine Recordings
Nebula Music
Deep Heads

And labels that every once in a while release dubstep:

Pengsound
Hotline
Zam Zam
Soundman Chronicles
Scrub a Dub
Re:st

Release-wise I think the scene is quite healthy and people are buying records (any question rearding who is playing all of this records belong to this thread: Whos buying out the 1k+ press dubstep records?) - That said though, nights are getting more consistent for dubstep (at least in London) but yes, it’s rare to find a night where dubstep is played all night. Not complaining but maybe promoters are scared that if they make an “all dubstep night” just a few heads will show up.

There’s not a scene as it was ages ago were you go to one place to listen to a sound that you won’t hear anywhere else, I think that to have that in 2015 would be quite rare, but that doesn’t mean the sound is dead or anything similar.

Yes, it’s this boring conversation of "a lot of the founders of this sound left for Techno or 130 or this and that - I don’t care, there’s a lot of other guys who are still pushing the sound and writing these amazing forward thinking dubstep tracks.

So I guess the sound will keep developing within itself and I think that doubting of it’s potential would be to underestimate it.

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Not a particularly easy question for anyone in here to answer I would say. The more forward thinking producers/DJs who get sent their stuff probably have the best idea via what they are doing themselves and knowing what the other trailblazers are into at any given time. But even then it’s difficult to predict what will catch on. Those that don’t define themselves as dubstep artists will likely push through the next trend within the scene

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In a sense it doesn’t matter how good the music is now or gets in the future, we need regular opportunities to experience tunes in the proper way - with actual weight - and they are becoming increasingly rare. The scene is fighting with one arm tied behind its back without that.

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Last Downlink show I went to, I heard him drop a lot of “hard” sounding stuff. Which is totally fine, I love the hard stuff…but I feel dubstep was deeper when it first came out. Kind of hard to explain what I mean, but a lot of dubstep these days seems to be “hard and heavy”. I want “deep and filthy”. I’m going to be working on getting those deeper sounds out and about. Hopefully people in the US start listening and making more Neuro stuff. Love those sounds

1 BigUp

personally i feel like we’re in kind of a lull right now. the dub sound has been rinsed pretty thoroughly over the past year or two and while it’s still getting a lot of love it just doesn’t really do it for me.

i want to hear angrier more aggressive sounds for once, and i’m not talking about bro or riddim. everything is either super chill or super dubbed out or too “experimental” i feel. i guess if i had to refer to a time period i really loved it would be early sleeper/district releases on chestplate. it was right around the time dungeon was really gasping its last breath people were pushing out some really energetic stuff that just kind of got ignored as everyone jumped ship towards more innamind type sounds.

skream & benga beats have this characteristic i’m looking for. still distinctly minimal but with enough funk and punch to make you want to jump around dancing. it’s exactly how i feel about good rage against the machine guitar riffs. need more of that vibe. trying to recreate that vibe in my music but it’s surprisingly fucking tough in a 140 template

1 BigUp

yep, their DJ’ing was another story obviously but i feel like tunes like Filth or 26 Basslines represent, for me, the best ‘dancefloor oriented’ sounds dubstep’s had to offer. just straightforward dubstep, you can’t call it anything else - it’s not ‘riddim’, it’s not wonky, it’s not bro it’s not dungeon it’s not chill. it’s just dubstep.

edit: i know 26 basslines kinda has a bad rep cause it was overly-promoted back in the day, but tunes like crunked up, e trips, etc work just as well

imo what’s missing in dubstep these days is the dread. i don’t mean like jah samples or dub chords, i mean like, the scale they used to use. the dark (but not overly distorted), almost mysterious kinda vibe… no one does that anymore. maybe dread’s not the right word, but something in that ballpark…

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I think I know the kind of description you talk about, I mean Midnight Request Line kind of has a sort of mysterious vibe, that kind of what you’re talking about?

know exactly what you mean here. it’s the reason i keep coming back to this tune omerta. the keys and melodies are on that tip…but it’s so rare nowadays. Stream Subtle Mind & Saule - Omerta / Saule & Malleus - The Flip Version (FA012) [FKOF Promo] by FatKidOnFire | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

1 BigUp

Thanks for all your unique answers, let’s keep the conversation going. I think the transformation we’re seeing is really fascinating.

In the next 2 years, I think “normal” dubstep will be what we currently consider hybrid trap. I see a lot of producers from different styles adapting trap sounds in their music. Some people have been working on “deathtrap” and “robotrap”.
Riddim will get more complicated and more melodic. This may cause dubstep to re-emerge into mainstream popularity in a couple years…just as riddim this time.
Old UK shit will still be around but will loose fans to newer sub heavy genres.
We may get some new sounds popping up…and well have another weird sub genre like swamp,trench,fridge,dungeon,etc…

Beyond 5 years…dubstep may be unrecognizable.

Oh yeah I forgot this part… That 2011-2014 skrillex style, knife party style dubstep shit is dead…late comers give up now.

1 BigUp

alright nostradamus…

Oh yeah I forgot this part… That 2011-2014 skrillex style, knife party style dubstep shit is dead…late comers give up now.

It is indeed, but I still prefer either that or underground stuff over riddim and “replace every drum hit with 808s-dubstep” aka the hybrid trap you talked about.

I’m a bit out of touch with the compartmentalisations, can someone enlighten me here?

Riddim = ‘Egoless’ type stuff?
Wonky = ‘Gantz’ type stuff?
Chill = ‘Geode’ type stuff?
Dungeon = ‘Reecey/Growly’ like Truth?

1 BigUp

Nah, “riddim” is repetitive tearout. think 50 Carrot.
“Wonky” was old Zomby, Ikonika etc.

1 BigUp

thanks, so was I right with chill and dungeon?