Why do people like dubstep?

Ed Wain

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Oct 30, 2011
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I'm not a huge fan of dubstep, but there are a few tracks I enjoy, and my personal theory on why it's popular comes down to the mathematics of the bars and where the notes are placed to induce surprise in the listener.

The idea is that you get a sixteenth note slightly earlier or slightly later than expected, and it creates a sense of pleasure in some people. If it doesn't get you off, that's fine, but you don't really have the right to claim that "it's not music" just because you can't hear what makes it enjoyable.
 

Ghostkai

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Why do people like <insert OP's favourite music type>?

I have no idea... Perhaps it's down to people having different tastes.
 

Alssadar

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Sep 19, 2010
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It's basically a club beat, with extensions on the bass so it's all just a dance/rave tune.
But it can go nowhere beyond the club beat, as all dub step is is whub-whub-whub-whub.

It can fit rather nice with any time of dance (except ballroom), as well as non-dances, like flicking your wrist.
 

Sniperyeti

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Mar 28, 2010
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Well I dunno about you guys but I like it when it goes WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBDARRRRRRRDUNNNNNNWUBWUBWUWBUWBUWB
 

ScoobyDizzle

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Jun 20, 2011
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dubstep now is too much womp womp wub wub, its a decent genre but like all ya just gotta know where to look, try Digital Mystikz or Skream for dubstep which actually has a vibe to it.
 

Gloomsta

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Oct 27, 2011
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Because. Because Burial.


I dunno much else of dubstep, the wub wub wub is very popular though, i find it fun lol.
 

kaioxs

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Sep 17, 2008
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Personally i am not a massive dubstep fan i do like it though. The main problem is that its risen in popularity to the point that any wanker with a music program now gets a song puts in loads of random bass and calls it a remix. That isnt to say their arent some banging dubstep tunes (not quite sure why all the love for scrillex though, always thought he was kinda shit). Anyway for the most part at the end of the day its drug music. drug music for the most part needs drugs. hearing the bass drop hard after a good build up while rushing on mandy or tripping on acid is most definately awesome.

Friend of my brothers (technically fidget house but fuck it)

Bit of that chilled kinda dubstep

and if you fancy having your brains blown out by bass Rusko is usually a good call.
Anyways its not a genre for everyone. Sometimes its a genre for kids who think their cool and sometimes its for people who do lots of drugs. but their are definitely some very good artists doing some cool and original tings( note the guy above me who posted burial )
 

phazaar

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Oct 21, 2011
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Zombie_Fish said:
How about it being taught on the A Level Music Technology syllabus? Whilst I'm willing to accept that its definitive origins weren't there, it's known that Jazz was played by bands in red light districts before the success of big band music.
Oh deary me... Unfortunately that's another of those things you'll have to unlearn when you get to university (like unlearning that the sun is stationary, or that electrons are particles)... If you want some serious extra marks in your exam, pick up the Cambridge Guide to Jazz. It was about £8 on Amazon when I picked it up (decided I needed my own copy having left uni ;) ).

Jazz was probably played by bands in the red light district, but so was classical; they simply played the music of the day, much like strip clubs now :) In a dozen essays on it, I've never once read anyone suggest it was even slightly influencial.
 

SodaDew

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I don't know why or how people can like it, it gives me head aches and when it doesn't all I hear is sounds my old computer used to make when the fan was jamming. And what ever happened to rock music?
 

Vault101

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Sep 26, 2010
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Crazycat690 said:
Vault101 said:
for.....fuck.....sake

just because somone can enjoy somthing you deem to be "less of quality" does not automatically make them a brainless dumbass...I can enjoy dubstep, I can also enjoy other types of music, (and BTW everyone has been saying this about pop-music and other popular mass apeal stuff for ageis, its nothing new)

am I saying "OMG dubstep is the best type of music EVAR!!!"? no, I enjoy it when Im in the mood for it, it may seem incomprehensible to somone with (obviously) suprior taste in music, but for some reason alot of people...both stupid and smart do

just like as much as I hate twilight I'm not about to assume everyone who likes it is a completle dumbass
First, I want to introduce to you the fact that people exaggerate for effect. I don't literally think that just because a otherwise pleasant individual as yourself can enjoy dubstep, doesn't mean you are dumb.
Second, my point was also that I don't want to hear it everywhere, it's become so popular that they cram it into where it don't belong, like AC and Uncharted trailers.
Third, I still want it to disappear.

And finally, I didn't mean to insult anyone, well, execpt those who worship dubstep I suppose, although this thread fueled old hate for dubstep that came into play here. So I was myself kinda pissed off when I wrote that, which appearently pissed you off a bit, so I suppose it's my duty as a good citizen to apologize if you were offended.
yeah, I may have over reacted

In the end I think discusson on music just pisses people off, because at least with movies, you can come to some kind of general consensus as to its overall quality, but music just seems to be VERY subjective

that said I dont know if dubstep is just a fad, but its a fad I might as well enjoy
 

Zombie_Fish

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Mar 20, 2009
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phazaar said:
Oh deary me... Unfortunately that's another of those things you'll have to unlearn when you get to university (like unlearning that the sun is stationary, or that electrons are particles)... If you want some serious extra marks in your exam, pick up the Cambridge Guide to Jazz. It was about £8 on Amazon when I picked it up (decided I needed my own copy having left uni ;) ).

Jazz was probably played by bands in the red light district, but so was classical; they simply played the music of the day, much like strip clubs now :) In a dozen essays on it, I've never once read anyone suggest it was even slightly influencial.
Ah, my bad. Also makes it a good thing I'm currently studying Computer Science and not Music at Uni in that case.

I've tried looking for that jazz guide you've been talking about but I can't find anything (won't need it but it could just be an interesting read anyway). There's the Cambridge Companion to Jazz [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Jazz-Companions-Music/dp/0521663202], is that the one you mean? Since if it's worthwhile I may buy -- not yet since it's £12 at the very cheapest and I have more than enough books already to read, but if it's worth it I may put it down on my reading list.
 

12GaugeLobotomy

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It's really kinda situational music. I am partial to some good, thumping dubstep at parties or nightclubs. It's good to just rock the fuck out to and dance like a retard to, but I don't really understand how some people can appreciate it sober / as background music while going about daily activities.

Oh, and if you're pinging on ecstasy, a decent bass drop is a fucking religious experience.
 

SD-Fiend

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kittii-chan 300 said:
EternalFacepalm said:
Shark Wrangler said:
The music sucks and it will go away very soon. Hate this kind of crap with a passion and its not music. Everybody knows that this crap is just club music. Go out and dance to this garbage while getting very drunk. You go home with some random person and and hate yourself in the morning. Very much like to think this stuff plays in hell when you first enter.
I stopped reading at "it's not music", as that phrase is pretty much only uttered by morons.

People listen to it because they like it. You might not like it, but they do.
but it isnt actualy 'music'. it is an assortment of special computerized effects and electric beats. my personal definition of music is: an assortment of notes played by instruments. maybe if all the effects were done by guitars with chaos pedals or something it would be deemed as music by me but it is a digitally created sound.

OT: some of it is ok at a stretch. but most dubstep i have heard is just the title repeated over and over again in different pitched distorted voices with the electric effects going on in the background. all of the ones i have seen on youtube have the same video too. a circle with "UKF" or something that spins around sometimes.

I dont think many of the people that listen to it actually like it much. i have never seen someone actually listen to a full dubstep song without switching too another one every minute.

on the brighter side of these dubstep videos: no justin beiber comments!

PS: it's not nice to call other people morons T_T
sorry but your definition of music is way to limited. what about chiptune?
 

Gmans uncle

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Oct 17, 2011
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Because there's so much more energy going into it, more than any other form of electronic music, you feel the force of the bass through your whole body, when Skrillex drops the bass YOU FEEL IT, and it's a feeling like nothing else out there. There are dubstep songs I simply can not listen to without getting up and dancing. I understand you not liking it at first, NO ONE likes it the first time they hear it, the first time I heard it I didn't like it either, but it grew on me. Maybe it's not what your into, and if that's the case, than to each his own.
 

Laurie Barnes

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May 19, 2010
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To figure out why people like Dubstep, you have to consider why people like music at all.

Music is all about timing, and allows the listener to categorize time in real time. It basically gives people a tangible way to perceive time, which when played to a large crowd gets everyone's brains working in a similar fashion. Humans, being social creatures find this pleasurable, to be in tune with such a large group.

The second reason people enjoy music is because it is predictable, music starts with a base rhythm, and gives you enough time to learn the pattern before introducing a new pattern over top, and so on and so forth. Slowly the patterns get more complex. People enjoy this because their brains automatically attempt to predict the progression, and actually release reward chemicals when the prediction is correct. It quite literally produces a high. The more complex the pattern the more complete the high. Some frequencies even stimulate the areas of the brain that perform this function, allowing the listener to "sync" themselves with the music. Combining this with point one makes good music a highly pleasurable and spiritual experience.

This is why bad music, or music that does not appeal to someone's tastes can actually generate feelings of frustration and hostility, because the brain finds itself unable to compute the info, or simply overwhelmed with stimuli and gets frustrated.

Familiarity also plays a factor, for some reason the more a person knows about the music, the more they enjoy it, which is why some pop artists have such a huge fanbase in spite of their scandals, because the more the audience thinks they know about the artist the more likely they are to enjoy it, though this is a double edged sword because people who find their morals in conflict with the artists are more likely to avoid their music entirely.

With all that in mind, I can conclude that people(myself included), enjoy dubstep because it is designed to appeal on the structural level. The timing while often bizarre is predictable, but quickly becomes more complex, and generates frequencies which actually affect brain function. The noise is often new and strange and gives a sense of discovery every time the music is heard. Additionally familiarity comes into play because anything(and I mean anything) can be dubstepped, video-game soundtracks, movie soundtracks, quotes, voices, anything, thus allowing it to appeal to a wide range of listeners.

The biggest problem is that dubstep can be too predictable, and the noise can overwhelm the listener and exhaust their mind to the point of frustration.