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who actually makes dubstep with a band?

S

Step

Feb 20, 2008
402
0
Maastricht
#1
Just out of curiosity, there seems to be a great deal of interest in the "dubstep" pedal by Conical johnson (big brother of xerograph), but who here is actually making dubstep-like music with a band?

if you do, post soundclips or myspace, I'm very very curious how it sounds and how you achieve those sounds

maybe we could turn this into some sort of tips thread on what effects you use to achieve wobble or something

Cheers,
Step

P.S: while I am mainly interested in dubstep, if you have a DnB or jungle project feel free to chime in!
 
#2
my band, Shes On Drugs, does somewhat of a hybrid. we are a 4 piece, with a drummer bass and a guitar, and then a Miko workstation that basically does all the dub/dnb/world type stuff. it works out nicely because i dont have to force myself to try and emulate the wobble, which is extremely hard to do. he wobbles and i play a distorted or otherwise effected line over his bass lines, creating a wobble but also a true bass tone that sounds more live band appropriate. although i do use a lot of octave in conjunction with tremelo and line6 fm4 to get some dubby funky weirdness that comes close. no full band demo yet, its in the works, so no clips :(
 
#4
my friends band does. well at times anyways its a mix of hardcore and poppunk in a similar vein to both four year strong and motion city soundtrack but with more of a dance element. the songs on there myspace arent dubstep, though they have done some songs for compilation cd's that are. the majority of their dance stuff is done with a synth. though they probably just programmed the songs on a macor whatever as it was just studio work

oh yea heres a link

Link Removed
 
#5
Deluge Of Sound said:
Do. A. Search.

Here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560398

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=502873
Click to expand...

Well, in some fair spirit for the OP, the previous threads on Wobble Bass or Dubstep haven't particularly focused on how people are actually doing this in a live band. I've wondered a lot about how the few guys that have achieved some of these tones are actually amplifying them live, and with what competing instruments in a band mix. Often these tones are so low and complex that once you bring more than a drummer they can easily be lost in the mix without a very focused live rig and sound person.

I really would like to see some of the dnb/synth/dubstep dudes on this forum chime in on how they actually bring this all together live.
 
#6
I'll chime in on my own limited experience experimenting with wobble and tones I've been totally obssessed with that can be found in dubstep/dnb and related genres. For me it's been especially tough because I'm trying to bring these sounds into a more traditional band setup of bass, guitar, and drums. In my opinion, in order to really nail these sounds in a convincing manner, it really helps if you base your entire pedlaboard, rig, and approach to tone around them. For me it's a blessing and a curse - my band is rooted more in heavy psych, gaze, and doom/drone. While both families share a low of extreme lows, it takes a really tricky hand to be able to go from metling tube amp overdriven thunder to steamy slick clean synthy bass, while trying not to blow speakers in the process, on a budget, but I love a good FX challenge. Guys like John Davis have most of their focus centered around electronic music.

The hardest part for me has been live amplification - fighting heavily distorted guitar and a drummer with a Simmons electronic drum brain pumping out synthy tones on its own leaves not much room for synthy bass sometimes. Thankfully my band mates are reasonable guys who all hunger for the same harmonious sonic spectrum.
 
#7
I remember that there was a member on TB who play synth bass in a jazz/dnb hybrid band. He sent me their EP once and it's awesome, I'm pretty sure they play live shows as well. They're called Mixed Method I believe.
 
#9
Engine Earz. I have a thought. Midi conversion with a bass into massive, so at least you can play the notes. Massive is 3 oscillators, two filters, two effects and faders for all of those, not to mention you can attach the lfo wobble to the filters and then fade between the two...understand these cats are using some pretty heavy technique to achieve the true sound. And that is just scratching the surface of the potential of massive.
 
#11
I'm already getting a xerograph-clone build.
Directly in a expression pedal with all of the extra options and cheaper.
Should be ready end of june.
Besides that I'm running a part of my effects through one channel of my Markbass LMK and the other ones through the other channel.
Plus I've got some effects in my FX-loop.
I'll be studying at the ICMP in London next year and have already put an ad on their forum for starting a live DnB/Dubstep band. What better city is there for this music than London:)
 
#13
Haha, I just happened to have a friend who's also building pedals.
When I showed him your site, he said he had already build something like that, but for keyboard/synthesizer use.:)
He would make the adjustments for bass with all your options directly in an expression pedal at a price I couldn't refuse.
I am looking forward for your "bigger brother though"!
The Xero was more some kind of MF-101 copy, but the other one looks like a really new pedal?
When can we expect some clips?:D
 
#15
Deluge Of Sound said:
Do. A. Search.

Here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560398

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=502873
Click to expand...

I've read those threads, a few times already actually, but you'll note that none of those threads really have dubstep bands or anything
and since the iron ether, the wobble thread and other dubstep/dnb threads seem to get some attention, I just wanted to see how it worked out for other people, how it sounds with a full band etc. etc. etc.
anyway, thanks for the responses about other bands, I'll check them out

if you have sound clips with a band or anything, post them, I'm very curious
 
#17
Hey folks,

I am from a live dubstep band from Melbourne Australia called Men Imitating Machines. We use MIDI bass, MIDI drums, two laptops and Ableton. Clips below (audio recorded live) and happy to answer all your questions!

Cheers,

Matty from Men Imitating Machines



Search us on Facebook to see more, thanks!
 
#18
edit:

Engine Earz. I have a thought. Midi conversion with a bass into massive, so at least you can play the notes. Massive is 3 oscillators, two filters, two effects and faders for all of those, not to mention you can attach the lfo wobble to the filters and then fade between the two...understand these cats are using some pretty heavy technique to achieve the true sound. And that is just scratching the surface of the potential of massive.
Click to expand...

Lurker79, your spot on, thats what we are doing!
 

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