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Subscape: exponent of a more 'musical' dubstep sound.

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Like many in electronic music, dubstep is a genre that's constantly evolving. So although there are already plenty of dubstep tutorials on MusicRadar, there's always room for another one that reflects the scene as it stands today.

So we present 17 tips for anyone who's making dubstep right now. For a comprehensive guide to dubstep production in 2011, check out the November issue of Computer Music (CM171) which is on sale now.

Pick the notes first

If you're having trouble writing riffs and basslines, make the writing process easier by carefully picking notes on the scale to restrict yourself to. You don't have to be Mozart to know which notes to go for; just test which sound good together. Once you've done that, all you really need to do is come up with an order and a rhythm for them.

Ask the synth

Don't bang your head against the wall trying to come up with musical ideas. Dubstep is largely about mood and texture, so you can draw inspiration from the sounds you're writing for. Which notes sound best? What happens when you automate different parameters? Find out what sounds the most interesting on a given synth part, then let that synth's natural qualities guide you towards a killer riff or bassline.

Roll with simplicity

If you're desperately stuck with terrible writers' block and you need to move on before you give up on the track completely, throw something simple in. Give yourself permission to be less picky (temporarily). Even if your initial idea is boring or not too original, it can serve as the foundation upon which you build your other ideas, and there's no reason you can't remove or rewrite the boring bit later.

You could even elaborate on those boring beginnings by approaching your track like a remix. Experiment with modifying those ideas until something sparks your creativity.

Clear mud to create filth

Dirty, grimy, filthy bass sounds require a lot of energy in the lower mid-range area, otherwise they don't sound hard or fat enough - but you should avoid boosting excessively here with an EQ. Instead, make modest cuts in the range from approximately 300-500Hz on any sounds that play simultaneously with your ugliest bass timbres.

The common error is to high-pass everything, but this will cause the mix to sound thin and disjointed in no time.

Cleaning envelopes

Even in a dubstep mixdown, a bit of subtle filter movement can be crucial for cleaning out unwanted frequencies and freeing up space and headroom in the mix. Experiment with filter envelopes on all sounds. A gentle high-pass on an envelope can clean up the body of a snare sample (leaving the attack nice and weighty, mind). A gentle low-pass can rid its tail of harsh, scraping frequencies that you don't want to build up in the mix.

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