OK I finally did it...dubstep

[coolhouse912]

CONTEMPORARY DUBSTEP SONGS and INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a MUSIC PUBLISHING/LICENSING COMPANY run by a TOP TV MUSIC SUPERVISOR. They're looking for songs and instrumentals in the vein of "Promises" by Nero, "Bangarand" Skrillex Ft. Sirah, "I Can't Stop" and "Blow the Roof Off" by Flux Pavillion. This company specializes in placing music in TV shows' "background source scenes" (e.g., bars, restaurants, clubs, coffeeshops, etc). Avoid pieces that are based in another genre and merely feature a few DUBSTEP elements. They're looking for current-sounding pieces that have a legit DUBSTEP sound throughout. Tempo should be typical of the genre. If you're submitting a song with vocals, please be sure lyrics are PG rated. If you've got what they need, this a great chance to get your material placed in Major Network and Cable Hits! They offer a non-exclusive, 50/50 split on all license fees. You keep 100% of the writer's share and 50% of publishing. Broadcast Quality is needed (excellent home recordings are fine.) As always, do NOT copy or rip off the referenced artists or their music in any way, shape, or form! NO SAMPLES of other songs or artists can be incorporated into your track. Original material only. Please submit one to three songs or instrumentals online. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS by the actual MUSIC SUPERVISOR who runs the company! No full critiques from TAXI. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS ONLY - NO CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than Friday, February 22, 2013.
TAXI # Y130222DS

I didn't have this one ready in time for review before submitting it. Got it in with about 3 minutes to spare. I gotta admit this genre had become an insurmountable barrier for me and had precipitated a crisis of confidence. This is the third attempt to finish this particular song and it was a terrible struggle to get it done. There were no real breakthrough moments, just a dog fight from start to finish. Of course, the title reflects the lyrics (yes lyrics ) but for me it will always be known as "Omaha Beach".

So last night I was still editing MIDI, tracking & moving sections while making mix decisions. It was mastered in about 20 minutes. As you can imagine, I was fried by the time it was submitted & I hated the way it sounded. After listening again this morning, I decided it didn't totally suck. There are some obvious problems: the vocals are too low, there's a last minute drum edit that jumps out at you like the boogey man from behind the door etc... & I'll be surprised if the mix doesn't deep six any chances of a forward. On the positive side, I think it is in the dubstep ballpark & I believe it has compositional merit.

So what do you think? There is still work to be done on this track so any & all comments are welcome. The keen observations & direct honesty I get from forum feedback has enabled many improvements & I value it very highly. Link's below.

https://soundcloud.com/michael-jones-101/dont-talk

Thanks,
Mike

[jazzstan]

The wobble at 1:27 is very good... but needs to come in WAAAY waaaay earlier... as as declarative statement that "...this ~is~ [expletive deleted] dub-step!!" Like almost immediately - at about 6 seconds. The stuff around 4:00 is great, too. Of course it means an even bigger build-up for the drop.

[mikeymike2000]

I think this is a great mix, broadcast quality and good structure.

I agree with Jazzstan that your bass drop needs to come in sooner. There is a Taxi TV out there from about 2-3 months ago or so maybe a little longer than that but not that far in the past where they talked about dub and I seem to remember the bass drop was pretty much always at 0:56. That had to do with number of measures and the BPM. - If you have time I would look it up and watch it. I remember it being a good talk.

For me, I would have liked to hear more bass in the bass and maybe a little more 'grit' and machine-like texture in the dub sounds.

But for sure on the right track! - Congrats on getting out of your comfort zone and trying something different.

[heckxx]

Jazzstan, In dubstep, the "drop" is not supposed to occur until about 1 minute into the song. It's supposed to build to that part, and then it's sort of like a chorus.

The actually wobble bass/synth is pretty complex and well automated here. Just curious what synth are you using for that? I think the drums need to be much louder and more fuller sounding.

The wobble part also sounds oddly chorus-y to me, or something, I can't quite put my finger on it. Possibly phased or something? But there's definitely some good stuff here to build from.

-Jeff

[richmstudios]

For what it's worth I need to let you know that I submitted a dubstep track a little over a month ago and it got a return simply because I waited 55 seconds until providing the bass drop. The screener recommended that I edit the track so that it starts with the riser (as the intro), supply the drop, and then get right down into the dubstep stuff. After kicking myself in the head for this misstep I've since edited down the piece.

And, FYI, I also find this genre a bit of a struggle. My track came out cool enough but the process of creating the darn thing was a little less than enjoyable.

Good luck,

Rich

[jazzstan]

Jeff.. I didn't say the "drop" had to occur sooner. Only that some element of "dub" was prominent as soon as possible in the piece to "declare" the genre.

[mikeymike2000]

Stan, my bad. I thought that is what you meant by wobble.

[benniknop]

Great automation on the wobble bass. Maybe change it up even more by adding some distortion on some of the changes.

As for the beat, I'd suggest you buy some new sounds/loops that are dubstep specific. Your kit needs a bit more work. It's not quite big enough.

Nice work.

[mazz]

I haven't heard the track in question yet, but I do want to chime in on the difference between writing "bonafide" tracks and tracks intended for film/TV licensing, which is what this listing is for.

For film/TV listing you absolutely need to get straight to the parts that signal the genre, pretty much immediately. The clients aren't going to get 1:00 into the piece to determine if it's a dubstep track or not. If they can't pretty much tell in the first few seconds what kind of a track it is, they will move on. They simply don't have time to ponder each track thoroughly. That's the nature of the sync business, particularly with shows that use a lot of library music. Plus they will tend to use the first or last few seconds of a piece first. If they really like the piece, they will delve further into it, but you have to grab their attention right away so they will remain interested enough to peruse the rest of the piece.

So get straight to the drop and then make what you would normally be your intro the B section or breakdown. I see writing for film/TV licensing as putting the form together in reverse: Hit them hard and then make the middle section the drop down and buildup. It can function as an intro to the final A section. Really the intro up front should be 2 to 4 bars long at the most. I'm not kidding.

Good luck,

Mazz

[coolhouse912]

First of all, thanks everyone for taking the time to listen & comment. What I'm getting back just underscores (unintentional pun) the difficulty in identifying what defines dubstep.

Yes, in retrospect, the drop comes in very late in the song. Stan says there has to be something that declares that this is dub but also says it doesn't have to be the drop. What's unclear to me is what constitutes an identifying element of "dub" if not the drop?

MikeyMike, I watched that TAXI TV episode on dubstep when it aired & the examples played that day tended to introduce the drop as a surprise. In fact, I believe the screener stated that the opening section could sound like any style of music. He also specifically stated that Skrillex has moved beyond pure dubstep & is no longer a good reference for it. So....more confusion. I've heard other TAXI folks' dub where the bass represents well in headphones as well as on speakers. Mine kill on speakers but don't really bump on phones. Do you have any suggestions?

Heckxx, the synth for all the drops was Massive. It's a beast...& yes there was some modulation built into one of the patches. Part of the early problems I experienced with this genre were directly linked to my utter inability to understand this synth, something I'd never experienced before. I tried using Lazerbass which is a dedicated Reaktor wobble synth & also listened to some examples of Omnisphere-generated wobbles. Though both are great synths, for me, nothing creates the growls that are now ingrained in bass drops like Massive.

Benniknop, guess I'll have to check out some of the dub patch libraries out there. Maybe that'll help clear up what constitutes the genre.

Finally, I didn't find much continuity in the ref tracks themselves. (except that they all got to the drop before I did )

Mazz, as always, you manage to cut through the clutter & remind us that libraries want us to get-to-the-point. Should've kept that in mind.

Thanks so much everybody. Regards.
Mike