What is Dubstep?

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, United Kingdom. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals.

Rhythm

Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating tuplets. The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar.In its early stages, dubstep was often more percussive, with more influences from 2-step drum patterns. A lot of producers were also experimenting with tribal drum samples, an example being Loefah's early release "Truly Dread".

Wobble bass

One characteristic of certain strands of dubstep is the wobble bass, where an extended bass note is manipulated rhythmically. This style of bass is typically produced by using a low frequency oscillator to manipulate certain parameters of a synthesizer such as volume, distortion orfilter cutoff. The resulting sound is a timbre that is punctuated by rhythmic variations in volume, filter cutoff, or distortion. This style of bass is a driving factor in some variations of dubstep, particularly at the more club-friendly end of the spectrum.