Dubstep: What puts a [dub] in your [step]?

What puts a [dub] in your [step]?

Dubstep: profiling the path of a genre.

“Dubstep” – it's a craze. People say it's going to take over Indie. Next year, something like Skrillex should be at the top of Triple J's Hottest 100 Chart, alienating Angus & Julia Stone. Next year, all the cool kids will give up writing love notes, embracing the wilderness, growing out their hair and sipping on organic tea. Next year, they'll be converging on city hubs, crowding around sub-woofers, blowing out their eardrums and totally freaking out at (real or simulated) raves, and/or composing their own stuff using the “Dubbox” Iphone application, or experiencing it all in the comfort of their own bedrooms via the internet ― if they aren't doing these things already.

The fundamental elements of Dubstep (an underground bass movement) have recently infiltrated Emo, Hardcore, House, Heavy Metal and Pop (Britney Spears is famed to be the first 'Pop Star' to 'go there' voluntarily, using “wobble bass' in her 2007 song 'Freakshow'). Now, it seems that anything and everything [Yes, I mean nearly every recorded and remotely audible (or visual) “anything” uploaded onto the net!] has been infected or is being assimilated into the genre itself. Everything is being reframed by the process of remixing ― with or without permission or expertise. Heavy Metal, Rock, Classical and Jazz music, Disney soundtracks and an awesome array of popular non-musical material, including news headlines, film and TV excerpts and celebrity interviews (most notably an interview with Charlie Sheen) have been, or soon will be, remixed to suit the ears of the 'bass-heavy' inclined ― even Angus & Julia Stone haven't remained immune.

So, what exactly is “Dubstep”? [I must confess that the title allowed me to convince myself that it was some revived sub-genre of Jazz, closely associated with “Be-bop” or “Ragtime”, that I was once familiar with but had filed away in some unconscious part of my mind at present, explaining why it seemed so 'fresh']. Is it some funky-sounding audio virus? Is it just a growing music genre or a new form of information processing? What is promoting its growth and how on earth has it extended so far outside of the scope of conventional music? Is it a good or a bad phenomenon? Lets see if we can work it out, [dub]step by [dub]step.

[Step] 1: What the [dub] is it?

'Dubstep' is many things: a title, a music genre, a product, a trend, a craft, an outlet, a movement and a community. In essence, it is a hybrid and essentially experimental form of contemporary (distinctively British) garage electronica music that has come to obscure and dissolve virtually all boundaries in music and sound, assimilating anything into its scope. It started out underground, originating in the suburb of Croydon in South London, but has become increasingly global and more mainstream in the last decade or so. It is typically dark, brooding and instrumental combining key elements from a range of musical styles, including 70's reggae, 'dub', jungle, grime, 'two-step' and electronica, among others. It has a heavy, raw and synthesized type of sound, utilizing intricate beats, syncopated rhythms, minor keys and dissonant (often tritone) harmonies. Infiltrating the mainstream has caused it to lighten up and become a bit more uptempo in parts. In a way, it has become an obscuring sort of pile-up: genre upon genre, text upon text, version upon version. Really anything upon anything, but essentially, upon bass.

Dubstep is all about bass. Thats what makes it so hypnotic, almost “deafening” and ultimately physical if experienced via a substantial speaker system. The stuff typically runs at about 140bpm and is characterised by rewinds or reloads of clipped samples, but a heavy bass and drum basis is the vital component and most distinguishing element. Dubstep boasts its own form of jargon or slang as a result: “sub-bass” is the only consistent thing that “throbs” throughout, “wobble-bass” defines extended bass notes that are rhythmically manipulated and a “bass-drop” is a pause in percussion that resumes soon after with more intensity.

[Step] 2: What the [dub] is it doing?

Dubstep is spreading (quite like a plague) and revolutionising music (and conversations) worldwide. Well, that claim might be a bit ambitious but, its elements are infecting more and more commercial and popular music genres. Britney Spears, Rihanna and Kesha are just a few popular artists that have actively incorporated its elements into their chart-topping music. But, the way in which people are unofficially assimilating any sound or spectacle into the Dubstep genre itself is much more interesting. Online websites like youtube.com, blogs, forums, and, to a lesser extent, radio, dedicated club nights and tv-shows (e.g. Skins) have promoted the growth of the scene. Finding unofficial Dubstep versions of usual candidates, like “Wonderwall”, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Where is my Mind” on Youtube doesn't make for much surprise but appropriations of Angus & Julia Stone's “Big Jet Plane”, Adele's “Someone Like You” and transformed news headlines, interviews with celebrities, like Charlie Sheen, and a parody of the Royal Wedding give much more cause for wonder. How far is this thing going to go and, more importantly, is this stuff actually legit?

[Step] 3: The [dub]atable Drop.

Do the basic elements of Dubstep give anyone with the right equipment a chance to take a bad song and make it better? Well, that is just one idea. You could argue that its the newest way to take a nice song or event and turn it into crap, and that it is ruining music and its meaning, worldwide. Furthermore, is an emphasis upon bass and very manufactured accompaniments really enough to classify something as 'Dubstep'? That distinction seems pretty vague. You could argue that sticking 'dirty bass-shit' behind something doesn't take much dexterity, that it all sounds the same and it's useless, not to mention lame. It's really a matter of opinion that depends on what you're into. Even if it is 'pseudo-sonic' (by that I mean illegitimate), popularised Dubstep certainly is encouraging more people to experiment with song structure, mood and what constitutes music but really, though its come to incorporate a rather extreme array of material which should enable it to resonate with many people, it still turns out to have a very characteristic sound that only appeals to certain people, namely young adults who want to hear something different.

Dubstep is an outlet. Like any music, listening to it is a form of escapism but, it could also be thought of as a creative means of self-expression and an increasingly popular way to make a (usually anti-establishment) point of anything, in composition. Looking at the array of popular sound clippings that are used, and the way in which they often become the subject of heavy repetition and have their original mood and connotations warped demonstrates that Dubstep is about much more than simply pointing out and emphasising 'the bass' in music. More than a mode of listening, its increasingly wide-ranging subject-matter is, in a way, enabling it to become a new means of communication and understanding. It's really a rather daring interpretive movement that is subversive, political and, in some ways, rather sordid in its intent. Yet again, that is just one perspective.

Dubstep is definitively dark and brooding, encouraging contemplation, but does it put ideas into peoples heads? Maybe, especially if you consider the fact that most people find it rather hypnotic, even sensual, alongside comments like “Dubstep is my drug and Youtube is my dealer” and “It's only good if you're off your nut”. Sure, Dubstep's heavy and disembodied sound makes for an interesting aural, visual, psychological and possibly physical experience, but the nature of that experience depends on who you are, where you're coming from, what you want out of it and, [I suppose] in some cases, what you're on.

Does the growth of Dubstep imply that sense was just a phase? You could argue that its elements confuse or eliminate meaning, since the words and narrative progression contained in any material are subsumed by bass activity and definite structure is secondary to repetition and remixing. Sure, it often takes the important (though often seemingly unimportant) fragments of a song, conversation or event and transforms them into nonsense, but it does so to make a point, in fact, its come to be a popular form of musical parody. As with anything, some products seem more plausible or appropriate than others. But, if anything, unleashing (or creating) darker undertones and reinterpreting the structures of popular texts, like Disney films and Pop songs, might encourage people to think (and experience) things differently and give them a second thought. That seems like a good thing.

[Step] 4: Get your [dub] on.

In a positive light, Dubstep is all-embracing, reflecting diversity, creativity, individuality and, (sometimes harsh) realities that stem from the underground culture which spawned it. So, its only polite for you to give it a go – if you haven't done so already!

Type www.youtube.com into your browser. Type the name of any popular song, artist, film, celebrity, news headline or event into the search bar, followed by the word “dub-” (youtube is likely to assist you at this point, suggesting that you add the word “step” to your search, so that you're searching for “dubstep” - take this suggestion)...Now, listen up!

*[I recommend Terabyte Frenzy - Harry Potter (Dubstep Remix). It is propulsive and almost hypnotic. The Harry Potter theme lends itself to Dubstep, since it is originally dark and this version is quite addictive. You can't help but bob your head and tap your feet to the beat. Close your eyes mid-way through and you'll feel like you're spinning upside down on a roller-coaster! Well, thats an innocuous take].

[Step] 5: Fade Out.

Dubstep reckons with expectations and formulas, opening up conceptual and emotional spaces to be explored. I can't guarantee that you'll like the sound or its connotations but, its interesting and certainly something that you should experience at least once! :D