Dubstep and VGM... Why?

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Music in every genre sounds the same to me.

Yeah. At its core, it is all the same when you really look at it from a music theory standpoint. The most influence genre really has is more in instruments used, rhythm style and types of harmony used. Jazz tends to use extended chords, the average rock song usually doesn't. A guitar in a country song typically strums the chords, metal implies the chords with dyads (power "chords") and single notes. Funk rhythms are often a steady stream of muted and un-muted sixteenth notes, trance basses often hit an eight note every off-beat.

That's why you can take any song you want and turn it into whatever other genre you want and it should sound just as good or better than the original (if you know what you're doing).

Style or genre is simply a matter of preference and personal taste. I don't like country music that much. I don't care for its choice of instruments, lyrical themes and general style, but I can still listen to country music and say "I don't really like the genre choice, but the song is very well composed and therefore it IS a good song."

[SonicThHedgog]

Yeah. At its core, it is all the same when you really look at it from a music theory standpoint. The most influence genre really has is more in instruments used, rhythm style and types of harmony used. Jazz tends to use extended chords, the average rock song usually doesn't. A guitar in a country song typically strums the chords, metal implies the chords with dyads (power "chords") and single notes. Funk rhythms are often a steady stream of muted and un-muted sixteenth notes, trance basses often hit an eight note every off-beat.

That's why you can take any song you want and turn it into whatever other genre you want and it should sound just as good or better than the original (if you know what you're doing).

Style or genre is simply a matter of preference and personal taste. I don't like country music that much. I don't care for its choice of instruments, lyrical themes and general style, but I can still listen to country music and say "I don't really like the genre choice, but the song is very well composed and therefore it IS a good song."

If ocr had a one up system, I would +1 you

[AngelCityOutlaw]

If ocr had a one up system, I would +1 you

[Bleck]

everything is bad but polka

[Flexstyle]

You said it's an aquired taste, then saying anyone who dismisses it as a whole acts out of ignorance.

You don't have to like any genre. I don't have to like dubstep because you like it. Saying someone should is ignorant as well.

I do believe I've been misread. I never said that you should enjoy it--did I not say it was an acquired taste, thereby insinuating that you (and others) may or may not have acquired it? Outright dismissal is offensive to me, though, because it means you haven't taken the time to understand what makes it enjoyable to so many people.

I don't enjoy most black metal, for instance, but I appreciate the skill and energy inherent in so much of it. It's an avenue for passion, and for some feelings that just don't fit in other genres. I'd never be able to listen to more than half a song's worth of black metal, though, just as a personal thing.

I also dislike country music, just because I'm not comfortable with the level of sentiment present in most country lyrics. But hey, the musicianship and wordsmithing is definitely there in so much of it, so I'd be foolish to dismiss it as a genre.

Also, as a side note, I'm using the term "dubstep" in this context as loosely as most people use the term "techno," as I'm referring to anything between about 128-150 BPM with some sort of halftime or 4/4 beat + large bass section.

[Bleck]

guys I totally like this new fad entirely via its own merit it has absolutely nothing to do with how much of a new fad it is

[lazygecko]

I don't see how it's any worse or better than the kind of token breakbeat remix with the occasional glitch/chip elements.

[Mustin]

I believe this accurately addresses every single concern in this thread.

[PriZm]

I believe this accurately addresses every single concern in this thread.

Holy shit that was awesome, thank you!

I've never understood why you would need to validate your tastes by trying to find objective metrics by which a song, or a genre, would be good. To me, it's as simple as: "do I like it?".

Who cares whether a song was hard to make, whether it uses presets, whether it's complex, whether it's only popular because it's a fad?

[Esperado]

i honestly think people hate on dubstep just to hate dubstep. why do we always have these kinda bias threads? music is music man. just chill and open your ears and enjoy it. if you dont like it, move to the next remix.

edit: just gonna leave this here

Edited August 12, 2013 by Esperado

[Gollgagh]

PrototypeRaptor. </thread>

he's told me himself that he considers his music more Electro-House

[timaeus222]

Who cares whether a song was hard to make, whether it uses presets, whether it's complex, whether it's only popular because it's a fad?

I actually do, because the harder it was to make, the more respect I have for the person's efforts, even if I don't like the song. And if I like it anyway, I still respect them.

he's told me himself that he considers his music more Electro-House

Except Electro House is similar to Dubstep in that it uses wobble basses anyways. You know, like this.

[Argle]

I've never understood why you would need to validate your tastes by trying to find objective metrics by which a song, or a genre, would be good. To me, it's as simple as: "do I like it?".

to me the concept of a "guilty pleasure" is pretty sad. if you like something you shouldn't have to justify it to others.

[Garpocalypse]

I actually do, because the harder it was to make, the more respect I have for the person's efforts, even if I don't like the song. And if I like it anyway, I still respect them.

I hate to give broad statements like these but good art is good art. Proof of good art is something that gets better each time you experience it and never gets old. A lot of work by Susumu Hirasawa isn't that complex and is often extremely poppy sounding but I haven't gotten tired of anything the guy has done after years of repeated listening.

My only beefage with the whole dubstep thing, and this extends into alot of music that is popular today, is that it is often an extremely mechanical form of expression.

[timaeus222]

I hate to give broad statements like these but good art is good art. Proof of good art is something that gets better each time you experience it and never gets old. A lot of work by Susumu Hirasawa isn't that complex and is often extremely poppy sounding but I haven't gotten tired of anything the guy has done after years of repeated listening.

Yes, that's why I said that I still respect the song and person if I like it, whether it was hard to make or not. Hard efforts to make something just make me respect them even more.

[Mustin]

to me the concept of a "guilty pleasure" is pretty sad. if you like something you shouldn't have to justify it to others.

Fucking.

A.

Men.

Here you go:

[Rockos]

I had my expirience with dubstep. I was not a hater but

3 years ago, I was fleeing dubstep like the pest. I didn't like it at all. But like any other genre, I learned to like it (especially when I heard Skrillex. The song sounded like vgm but in dubstep.) and then I listened to my 5-6 years old mix and there was already influence of it in it. Today, I really like to work the dubstep with all the kind of synth and subgenre you can go with it. It is specially versatile. Sure it turn around bass, but you can be melodic, jazzy, rocky. And not all producer use melody. I still dislike some dubstep song and only because we can't love all.

I would like to introduce every dubsteper to savant. He is imo the best creator of dubstep since he use all influence.

And one last note: music is music. It has place in every person life. Just differently.

(sorry if I offend anyone. Don't take it too serious)

[Flexstyle]

I would like to introduce every dubsteper to savant. He is imo the best creator of dubstep since he use all influence.

Frack yes.

[Esperado]

I think stating who is best is generally pretty silly , its all opinion at the end of the day. state talent is fine, but there is no such thing as the best. even fame isnt an indicator of skill, for all we know there could be a dubstep genius out there who just never shares his craft because its extremely personal for him/her and they dont want to share.

i agree with timaeus and garpocalypse though, sometimes complexity adds to the respect of a song, but on the other hand, sometimes you just like the way a song plays out, and no reasoning can or needs to explain why.

[Flexstyle]

Well yeah, duh, of course there isn't one "best" producer of anything. Savant is really excellent, though, check him out.

[Gollgagh]

Except Electro House is similar to Dubstep in that it uses wobble basses anyways. You know, like this.

I did not mean to imply that electro-house and dubstep were dichotomously separated; but surely you would agree that even though they share elements they are, indeed, different?

Edited August 12, 2013 by Gollgagh

[Nabeel Ansari]

If you treat VGM like it's a style, you've lost your credibility to me.

Dubstep and VGM are opposites? Explains why some video game music is dubstep, doesn't it?

People should stop talking about VGM like it's a special style of music. VGM is characterized by music that is written for video games. It has no stylistic characteristics whatsoever. There's as much bland film score cinematic filler and modern pop music style stuff in VGM as there are melodic NES jingles.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Neblix

[AngelCityOutlaw]

If you treat VGM like it's a style, you've lost your credibility to me.

Dubstep and VGM are opposites? Explains why some video game music is dubstep, doesn't it?

People should stop talking about VGM like it's a special style of music. VGM is characterized by music that is written for video games. It has no stylistic characteristics whatsoever. There's as much bland film score cinematic filler and modern pop music style stuff in VGM as there are melodic NES jingles.

Yeah, VGM isn't a genre.

It's kind of like I never understood how "glam metal" is supposedly a genre of music. I love those bands and the music they made, but the only thing that they had in common was a gender bending image. Motley Crue and Winger are supposedly "glam", but they still both just sound like different bands playing rock music to me.

EDIT: I mean, I guess the bands I mentioned kinda had an overall sound that was a bit different from other metal bands. It was a bit more melodic, lots of pentatonics and blues influence, pop-ish choruses, lots of big reverb on the drums and lyrical themes about sex and stuff, but I'd say that was more a trend in rock music at the time rather than a genre characteristic.

Edited August 12, 2013 by AngelCityOutlaw

[Radiowar]

context. vgm is a style in the same sense that music for film is a style, which is that it has more to do with formal/contextual characteristics (ie. the idea of music which is meant to loop infinitely, or reflect/comment on indeterminate action on-screen) than specific ideas of instrumentation or "genre". 8 bit era vgm is not so much a style as defined by its timbral characteristics but by its form determined by limitations of hardware and its intended function. in that sense it is no different stylistically from current gen vgm.

[Sir_NutS]

I make vgm dubstep because its one of the most fun things to work on if you're the kind of guy that builds his own sounds.