Poll: Dubstep. Music or not music?

[JWAN]

Makes my head hurt and people blare it so loudly I can feel it in my chonies.
Still music though.
I like when it goes wub wub wub though

 

[Burst6]

I won't say that dubstep isn't music. I'll just say that it isn't good (<opinion)

I have actually listened to some of the ones people are linking me on youtube and they all have the problems. Sometimes the bass overpowers any feeling the original song was trying to give, and other times the song is very random and has no decent beat.

for example.

I've seen this one linked plenty of times around the forum (perhaps by you Mr. Horrendus) and i feel like critiquing it. I do not see the beauty in that. The only dubstep i see in that song is the wub wub going on in the background (or is it supposed to be the foreground? i can't tell) and it's not helping. It has good parts, but the heavy bass usually ruins them.

That's the thing about bass. It penetrates. If you don't keep it in check it overpowers everything. When your bass is a simple repetition it's a better idea to keep it in the background. Sometimes the wub wub overpowers even the singer.

I enjoyed the song until about the 1:08 mark. It wasn't calming, but the deep bass in the background gave it a nice unsettling alien feeling, and the bass stopped before it got too overbearing. Matched with the background it was nice. When the high notes came at around 1:11 i thought i would like it but then my hope was dashed at 1:12 when the bass broke out of the back tried to match the rest of the instruments (for lack of a better word) in volume with the wub wub i hear from every other dubstep piece.


If i want electronic fast paced loud songs i'll stick to touhou themes thank you very much.

Spoiler: like so

 

[Yoshemo]

Of course its music. Its just bad music

 

[AlexWinter]

D-D-D-D-D-Drop the hates.

OT: Of course it is. Why would you even ask that?

Every sound is music, maaan.

 

[Olas]

Dubstep definitely fulfills the basic criteria for music, it seems to follow a set rhythmic pattern with some degree of tonality too.

Listening to this with in-ear headphones and it's making my eardrums feel weird. I'd still call it music though, even if it is on the very fringe. One could define anything that's intended to be listened to for it's sound and not for a carried message as music. Here's my contribution to the just barely music collection.

 

[thirion1850]

Yes it's music. It's sound tuned to rythim and/or beat, identical to DnB in some aspects. What part of that doesn't make it music, I don't understand. Now, if you wanna be hipster and go all "Oh, it's not music because it's totes mainstream and dumb people listen to it", then the entire argument is pointless. Just because it's shitty music in your (or my) opinion doesn't make it any less of a musical genre.

 

[Yopaz]

No, it's music. I dislike it, but I'm not so narcissistic as to believe that the only things that are music are the things that I like.

You know I thought this was a great way of saying it.

As the guy over me I have to say that it's not something I like, if it was up to me I'd never have to listen to a single second, but it's still music by its definition.

 

[Darren716]

It's music it's just not what I'd call good music by any stretch but that's just my opinion.

 

[Redryhno]

yeah, it's music...technically. Do I consider it ACTUAL music? No, not in a million years. Not if when you tap out random notes on a piano with a consistent tempo and organic beat, and it gets called "playing at playing", and then this stuff comes along and is called "da bestest musiks evars!"(direct quote from a friend). No I won't consider it real music. So technically I don't consider it(most of it, as in 99.9999999% of it, same goes for rap) music.

But then again, I'm an asshole that doesn't know anything about music despite playing three different saxes for about ten years now.(sorry about that, again a quote from a friend, I'm still a bit ticked about it.)

 

[Rule Britannia]

I like dubstep . I find it fun to listen to, dubstep remixes are my favourite

 

[AngloDoom]

Dubstep is music, and good Dubstep is good music. However, as with anything popular, people will try to imitate it poorly and give the genre or medium as a whole bad name.

While I don't actively listen to Dubstep personally, there are some damn good trailers, AMV's, and other videos and other such things which use Dubstep very well.

 

[Nazulu]

It has melody, there for it is music. And that goes for rap as well.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard any thing really amazing from these newer genre's though.

 

[Andropov4]

yes, it's music. Is it good music? Well, that's a matter of personal taste, but if you say "yes" to that question, your taste is bad. Next topic!

 

[Servus]

I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard dubstep. I thought (and still think) it is a lot more exciting than most electronic music I came across.

 

[Emperor Nat]

Dubstep is the sound of Slenderman's heartbeat.

Seriously though, it's music. It may not be a type of music you enjoy, but it is by defnition music.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

It depends on what style of dubstep you are talking about.

If it's the original Two-Step British style then I would say yes. I do love me some Burial.

If it's the mainstream American Brostep, then that's debatable depending on the person.

I agree! Burial, Phaeleh, Distance, Kryptic Minds etc are all great, but the mass produced 'remix' genre is very hit or miss... But it is all still music!

Music is just organised sounds... or an organised lack of sound too. It is definitely that!

 

[Maleval]

Well, they do call rap music, so I guess wubstep is music too.

 

[pearcinator]

Yes, it is music but it is not good music.

That's why I avoid nightclubs cos all they play is this shit...I don't know how the hell you can dance to it!

This seems pretty accurate...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yowsa7d_MLY[/youtube]

 

[Phisi]

On topic. When I was at school we were taught about musical instruments, among which was not the decks or the computer! It takes absolutely fuck all skill to make dubstep, all it requires is money for the equipment and a taste similar to everybody else's (or a majority at least).

You could spend 1,000 hours perfecting the "song" then all you have to do at a live performance is press play.

But doesn't this also describe game development? You are just sitting at a computer putting all the vertices in the right place using a variety of methods or changing the colour of pixels using a variety of methods. And when you have put many hours perfecting it all you have to do is press play. There is no difference between digital artistry and that of real life. You still are just operating a tool whether made by software engineers or craftsmen and it not how you operate this tool, whether it requires fine muscle control and dexterity or understanding of the techniques in creating assets for games. Music made on a computer is as valid as music made with the vocal chords or brass. Whether you like it is irrelevant.

 

[Galletea]

Of course it's music. Any mashing together of sounds can be called music, doesn't mean there's much of it I actually like but I can't say it isn't music. That would be a silly thing to say.
If Nickelback and Rhianna songs count, then so does any other mashing together of noise.