A Brief History of Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music. The most basic characterization of what Dubstep is, is heavy bass reliant synthesis with build ups and drops, all centered around a 2-step drum pattern of hard-hitting kicks and powerful snares. All of this happens at a tempo of 130-150 beats per minute (in most cases).
Some sub genres of Dubstep include Drumstep, Chillstep, Deathstep, Riddim, and more. In some cases, all it takes is a change of tempo and drum pattern for songs with relatively similar sound design styles to be considered entirely different genres. For example, changing a Dubstep track’s BPM to 128 and giving it a 4-to-the-floor drum pattern, would classify it as Electro House and/or Bass House instead of any Dubstep subgenres (even though it is safe to assume that derivatives like this all originate from Dubstep). All of this classifies as Modern Dubstep (or what some may refer to as Brostep).
Modern Dubstep and Classic Dubstep are very different from one another. Modern Dubstep is much more aggressive and intense, and in most cases, it can be argued that the main purpose of these tracks is for producers to show off their sound design skills. Classic Dubstep is much more laid back with emphasis on the sub bass to set the mood, and more closely resembles traditional UK EDM genres of the prior era (primarily 2-step Garage music). One can explore further back past Classic Dubstep to the genres that initially lead to all forms of Dubstep.
Starting with Garage music, which was a variation of older House music that became popular in the 1990s. The difference between Garage and House was that Garage producers aimed to create House styled music without the generic 4-to-the-floor drum patterns and broke away from other rhythmic stereotypes. But even before this, Dub emerged in the 1960s. This was an electronic subgenre of reggae. The remixing style of Dub had a lot of influence on the UK culture that originally pioneered Garage music.
Above is An Example of Dub Music
Above is An Example of Garage Music
Eventually, producers began experimenting with making the bassline the core focus of their Garage. The combination of 2-step drum patterns and the first dark/grimy bass progressions, wobbles, and wubs, led to the earliest form of Classic Dubstep.
Above is An Example of Early Classic Dubstep
In the 2010s, Dubstep began to adopt more aggressive tones. Mixing elements of Classic Dubstep with elements of Punk and Metal. Lead basslines were designed in ways that resembled a distorted electric guitar. This was around the time that the term ‘Brostep’ and other subgenre titles became prevalent in order to classify this new style of Dubstep, because it was becoming very different from its roots. However, today the term ‘Classic Dubstep’ can be re-applied to the tracks of this time, as Modern Dubstep has evolved even further past this point.
Above is An Example of 2010 Dubstep
Skrillex is often miscredited as the inventor of Dubstep. He is surely one of the most popular and innovative Dubstep artists. He is largely responsible for the genre’s breakout into mainstream media.
The early 2010s were the highest point of popularity in Dubstep’s lifespan. However, shortly after its peak, it began to decline. This did not stop it from evolving though. As production quality improved and the importance of experimentation with sound design stayed relevant (which it always will), Dubstep today (at the time of this article’s publication), while still resembling its roots, sounds pretty different than it did almost ten years ago. Hear for yourself:
Above is An Example of Riddim Dubstep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5wbV2opwBg
Above is An Example of Melodic Dubstep
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