A Brief History of Dubstep

With influences from the Jamaican culture and DnB, dubstep has become its own unique form of music. As put by Christoph Harter "...dubstep music does not simply apply forms of sound system culture, but transforms the aesthetics of the sound system with the sound system's own narrative means." In general tracks have a darker feel, and deep bass that is often coupled with minor keys and dissonant harmonies. It is also common for a wide variety of music samples to be mixed into the tracks. The tempo is normally around 140 bpm; and rhythmically uses a 2-step drum beat. 2-step is used to describe the irregular rhythms used, most commonly a drum kick sounds on every first and third beat. The rhythms in dubstep are different than those used in other electronic music such as techno and house. Those styles use what is known as four to the floor and feature a 4/4 time signature with a bass drum thump on each beat. Gradually the use of a 2-step rhythm declined, in favor of a half-step rhythm and hip hop styled beats. Losing the jerky rhythms made the music and rhythm easier to feel. In dubstep the percussion is also on a longer loop to achieve a double time feeling. To keep the song from sounding too slow the piece is often driven by a faster bass line. Early on DJ's used their available means to alter the music, and because dubstep had fewer layers and textures than DnB other sounds could be added without making the music too complex. Now there are an abundance of computer programs and other hardware that allow a producer to modify the sound in many new ways that weren't previously possible. Even for dubstep remixes to be made of other non-dubstep songs, by taking key parts of the song and adding dubstep bass lines and rhythms. Before computer technology spinning the record backward to rewind a portion was a common technique particularly useful and popular in performances. Dubstep has become mainstream in recent years, and where it goes and what it becomes is limited only by the artist's innovation.

Dubstep was created not too long ago. Although the sounds are somewhat different, the early origins and inspirations of dubstep can be traced to the Jamaican dancehall. The fusion of reggae rhythms and pounding bass with forms of DnB made dubstep. The attraction to a deep wobbling bass is apparent across cultures and present in numerous musical styles. Dubstep is not the first to feature such a persistent bass line and it certainly won't be the last.