A friend at work has challanged me to make a dubstep album. I just need some tips. I know it’s 140bpm half time but any tips on changing the fundimental bpm? the feel of it at say 70bpm. Does it help you with workflow or is the space of a full 128lines 140bpm better? I can’t get the sound of dubstep right, it sort of needs to be minimal but full sounding at the same time.
Of course it’s possible Squatski. The LFO device possibly makes it even more suitable than many other DAWs. The Vivace demo song is maybe a starting place to get an idea, although not quite your typical dubstep. Signal Follower can open things up nicely too.
If you have trouble visualizing, programming your music in 128 line patterns on 140 bpm, why not start in 64 line patterns / 70 bpm for the basics and expand when you need double the resolution?
This process can be repeated if even more resolution is needed for intricate hats and percussion rhythms. If you want to stick with 64/70 bpm try fiddling around with the delay column for the programming and the lfo device as Kazakore already mentioned for faster wobbles and what not 
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ok thanks guys
I’ve been making dubstep in Renoise for about 2 months now and I have to say that it is very well suited for this genre. I personally really like having the patterns set to 64, the BPM at 140, and the LPB at 8. With this setting it is very easy to stay in halftime by putting the snare hits on lines 16 and 48 of the pattern. Plus this allows you to have more space for laying out the hi-hats and other cymbals. Use the lfo device to modulate the filter or scream filter device on wobble basses that don’t already have a built in lfo and filter or on one that is based off of a sample as apposed to a synth. You can also use the lfo device to modulate many other things to give your music more pazazz. The snares definately need to be layered from atleast 2-3 snare samples, and I would suggest applying some light reverb to one of them for some added space. Also layer up the basses. I would also suggest using an equalizer on all of the layered drums to make there frequencies fit together well in the mix.
No, it’s impossible to make dubstep in Renoise, because Renoise has no pianoroll. It is mandatory for dubstep, just search in google and you’ll see… every real dubstep tune is made in pianoroll.
hmmm… that explains alot! now i know why i´m not able to make dubstep, thanks 
I’m not a dubstep producer but it seems to me that (being able to automate the LFO so easily) + (Renoise’s great-sounding filter) = dubstep easy mode.
Google search:
sdc44 Knetter “sprongy dub” XRNS
Here, lemme help.
Dude, I don’t know about that. I have been able to do it quite easily in Renoise. I do agree with you that most dubstep videos I’ve seen on the net all involve some DAW with a piano roll, but I really don’t think that it is necessary. I understand that many piano rolls allow you to place samples on offbeats that are not rigidly placed on the sequencer which does help with creating a shuffled feel, however Renoise is capable of the same thing with delay commands and groove settings. You just have to fiddle around with this stuff. Not to mention a piano roll is still just a type of sequencer just as is a tracker. I would say that a piano roll would most likely be a quicker and easier method to build up a dubstep beat but it is still possible to do well in Renoise.
oooh shi! (((=
Unfortunately, dubstep is NOT possible in Renoise!!
We have been waiting quite some time for Dubstep Compatibility…too no avail.
You need a special Dubstep enabled sequencer with a piano roll.
In fact, only certain kinds of music are possible with Renoise atm, until the developers implement the compatibility modules.
You are right, sorry for trolling I’ve made some dubstep tunes using Renoise. Jong Belegen demo song for example, and the tracks in the set Connor mentioned are mine or collaborations.
OKAY ONTOPIC:
Dubstep is minimal, with a maximum sonic impact. Personally, I even think the sounddesign of your beats and bass are as important as the composition of your beats and bass. However, as with most minimal music, the composition is vital for the track to sound ‘effective’. Accenting hits, neglecting others, put emphasis on transitions… The hardest part to me is pushing a good-working groove to a next level: turn it into a song. A minimal approach helps here often too. Don’t make it too complicated for yourself, if that groove/sounddesign you made is what ‘makes’ the track, let it speak for itself. Arrangements of my dubstep tunes are simple and actually quite boring:
- intro of beat or atmosphere
- introduce beat or atmosphere
- bridge; fall into ‘open space’, perhaps let the bass ‘grow’ here
- drop! bam! the groove you’re dying for!
- rinse and repeat, with slight cutups/variations/drama
- bridge; fall back into open space, adding a twisted touch
- drop! bam! the groove with extra power/variation, the part where I try to surprise the listener
- let the tune slowely build down
- ind
This is probably how most dance tracks are lined out, anyway. It’s DJ-friendly too, as you know what to expect. Making dubstep is the same as making drum&bass, or making hiphop, or making breakcore: it’s a set of tricks anybody can learn, it’ll only be a matter of time before one can wrap his mind around it. It’s a matter of how one USES the tricks that defines the uniqueness of the music, obviously. But for starters, just grab a tune you consider dubstep and you enjoy, and try to recreate it. First just the arrangements and composition, to try to get the feel of it, know what settings work best for you, etc. Than perhaps sonically, if by then you’re not distracted by a new dubstep tune you just started…
Good luck, it’s good fun and the world needs this ‘genre’ to develop further!
EDIT: forget what I said, I agree with Tarek
whut? 
hahahah
jokly…
Of course as Dubstep Compatibility will enable you to bypass all those steps, whilst letting you use special dubstep vst synths and effects neccesary for dubstep which are only possible in such a sequencer!!
Dubstep Compatibility also allows you to enable dubstep groove, a feature only reserved for the finest of sequencers!!
I completely agree with you here.
Hardy…har…har
Somehow, this reminds me of an astoundingly large amount of programs, but Renoise, thankfully, is not one of them.
I am working on some dubstep 140BPM/128, but yesterday I wanted to expand my old track (70BPM/64) to 140/128, but I failed.
Is there any shortcut to expand patter, like every second line? I used to do it on old Protracker 2.3b, should be possible here as well