We all know that if you are wondering how to produce Dubstep or Drum and Bass like the big name DJ’s, it all comes down to a sequencing platform on your Mac or PC. Though which is the best software to use? It is a fact that the biggest Dubstep DJs like Benga, Skream, Plastician and Digital Mystiks all use inexpensive sequencing programs in: Logic Pro and Reason. If you are still learning, you need Dubturbo. Here is a quick overview of these programs:

DUBTURBO

Dubturbo is an instant software download for those who want to get started in Dubstep production and do not have any prior experience with sequencing software. Although the price tag is small, the software is amazing. This program is great for learning the fundamentals of beat programming and can be used for all styles. The samples are all of great quality and you can still bounce out high quality tracks. It works same as the other, professional applications, though is a little more user friendly. The real beauty of this is you can download it NOW and start making beats immediately.

• PRICE: $29.95 US

• Instant Software Download

• Very User Friendly

• Plug-ins available

• Mac and PC Compatable

• No Expensive Hardware Required

LOGIC STUDIO

Logic Studio for Mac is the professional application that is employed by all professional electronic and conventional producers. It is a highly capable program that comes with a huge selection of pre-loaded sounds, samples, instruments and loops. Logic enables you to write, record, mix and master without costly hardware, though is compatible with all popular hardware, particularly any midi controller. To learn more about how to ma ke Dubstep with Logic Studio, please check out THESE VIDEOS.

• PRICE: $399.00 US or £339.00 UK

• Software Package Shipped From Amazon.com

• Professional Mac Only Studio

• Write, Record, Mix & Master In One Package

• Numerous Live Instruments, Effects, Sounds & Plugins Included

GO TO YOUR LOCAL AMAZON STORE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON LOGIC

REASON 5

PC and Mac compatible, Propellerhead Reason is the alternative to Logic, though is more electronic music specific, in that it is not as compatible with instruments and hardware. That being said, Reason has been the number one choice for Dubstep producers for years, until the new Logic was released, which is better for mixing and mastering a radio ready track. Reason is still employed by the big name producers to work on particular elements and comes jam packed with great synths, vocoders, compressors and drum samples. Reason still a very capable platform to produce Dubstep and Techno. Have a look at SOME VIDEOS.

• PRICE: $299.00 US or £249.00 UK

• Software Package Shipped From Amazon.com

• PC and MAC Compatible

• Amazing Synths and Drum Samples Included

• Additional Plugins Available

GO TO YOUR LOCAL AMAZON STORE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON REASON

It’s a perpetual puzzle trying to find new music. There are always the mainstream paths, through places like Beatport or Juno, when you’re looking for label releases. But where do you go when you are looking for music that is truly new, and potentially more experimental than something that a label would release?

One good place is SoundCloud, and with a little bit of knowledge on how to search through tags and groups, you’re on your way to finding some really interesting material.

A Little Bit About SoundCloud:

If you haven’t run across it yet, SoundCloud is a website that allows you to upload, share, and browse through music other people have uploaded and shared. It is a free service for a basic account, and you can pay a monthly or yearly fee for more storage space or premium features. SoundCloud launched in October of 2008 and now has more than 10 million users.

SoundCloud has become an important service in the music community because of its integration with various social networking services and it’s extreme ease of use and practicality. Every musical artist can use SoundCloud to their advantage, whether it’s by promoting their own music or by searching through new material out there.

Organizationally, you can have single tracks or put them in groups as sets, and you can include information about them as descriptions and tags

Looking for Dubstep:

After you log on to SoundCloud, there will be a bar in the upper right corner that says “Search SoundCloud.” Type in “dubstep” and you’ll be send to a screen with a few different categories – “tracks”, “people”, and “groups”.

“Tracks” references songs with “dubstep” in the title of the song, “people” references artists with “dubstep” in their name, and “groups” references groups that reference dubstep in their descriptions. After clicking on any of these categories, there will also be a list of tags, or descriptive words, that you can further filter your search results into. There is also a check box that you can hit for even more advanced filtering options.

The whole point of this search mechanism is that you can quickly look for songs using descriptive words. The better that artists describe their music, the better the chance that you will find what you are looking for, and the better the chance that those artists will be heard by people looking for those specific qualities. It’s a simple but extremely effective method of matching producers and listeners together.

Once you’ve nailed down what you’re looking for, you can then play the songs and scan through them to different points before committing to listening to the whole song. Be creative with your search strings as well, looking for things like “dark dubstep”, “fast dubstep”, or “new dubstep” will yield different results.

Be aware that SoundCloud is a musical Wild West. Since there are no filters here, anyone can upload anything, and a lot of the music is made by amateurs and people who haven’t passed the quality threshold yet, but there are some real gems in the mix, and you won’t find anywhere else that has as much of an experimental and fringe vibe.