A few years ago, if you asked people about dubstep or DnB, most people would give you a raised eyebrow and think you were making up words. Now, you can hear it being referred to whenever someone makes a half-time beat.
Many people still don’t realize the difference between dubstep and “bro-step.” This small confusion causes much controversy within the EDM community and leads to all-out YouTube wars through the comments sections.
Dubstep is a type of garage music that originated in Southern London, England, during the late 1990’s. Dubstep, or 2-step garage, comprises of a drum kick on beats one and three instead of the typical four-on-the-floor beat of electronic music. It also included triplets and syncopated beats that created a different feel from the house and techno being produced in those days. Keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, and female vocals are among some of the instruments used by dubstep artists, including Distance.
Drum and bass (also known as D&B, D+B, or most commonly DnB) incorporates fast breakbeats with deep and heavy bass and sub-bass lines. Emerging from the dance clubs in the early 1990’s, this type of music is very fast, usually 160-180 bpm, and is generally harder than most other types of techno from the 1990s.
The deep and powerful basslines of this genre shake any dancefloor that you are on (if you have speakers that are capable of doing that). A very popular DnB artist, or in this case, group, is Pendulum. Some of their more recent songs have more drumstep influence than their older songs.
Drumstep is the hybrid of these two genres, incorporating the half-time dubstep kicks with the intense bass and breakbeat rythms of DnB. This subgenre of EDM is fairly new, but becoming extremely popular in clubs and dancefloors across the world.
An exceptional song of choice for drumstep is More Blast by Daenine. At the beginning of the song, you can hear the half-time beat typically used in dubstep. But, at about 3:16, the insane rhythm of breakbeat is used to build up intensity even more than the first drop.
Many people confuse drumstep with dubstep because they mistake the half-time kick as purely dubstep instead of a hybrid between dubstep and DnB. While most people don’t care about the difference, some hardcore fans will point out the differences in style, production technique, and BPM in the song.
Also, since I am not as educated in these subgenres as I am in trance, I am leaving the editing of this post up to you, the reader. If I have left out any information or put up wrong/controversial information, let me know in the comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
