Brostep
Bass · 2008 · 138 to 145 BPM · also known as Bro Step, American Dubstep
The American mutation of dubstep around 2010: the bass moved out of the subwoofer and into the midrange, metallic growls, rollercoaster drops, video game aggression. Rusko started it, Skrillex made it global and became the lightning rod for the debate that followed. Despised by Croydon purists, it nonetheless trained an entire generation of producers in aggressive, detailed sound design work.
8 reference tracks
- Rusko: Cockney Thug (2008)
- Skrillex: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (2010)
- Doctor P: Sweet Shop (2010)
- Flux Pavilion: Bass Cannon (2011)
- Excision: Robo Kitty (2011)
- Zomboy: Nuclear Hands Up (2012)
- Excision & Wooli: Lockdown (2020)
- Subtronics & GRiZ: Griztronics (2019)
At a glance
- Tempo: 138 to 145 BPM
- First appeared: around 2008
- Machines: Native Instruments Massive, Xfer Serum
- The sound: Growls FM et wavetables, Massive et Serum, Drops en call and response, Compression maximale
- Labels: Never Say Die, Mau5trap Recordings, OWSLA, Disciple, Bassrush Records
- Key artists: Skrillex, Rusko, Excision, Flux Pavilion, Zomboy
Producing Brostep
Hold 140 BPM as in the dubstep it comes from, snare on beat three, but the half time feel becomes a pretext: the drop fills up with sixteenths, triplets and sudden silences in the bass, swing all but disappears, and everything quantizes tight for fills. Layer the kick with a 909 click and a short sub, and the snare with a clap, white noise and an acoustic snare, with syncopated ghost kicks answering the bass in between. Build snare rolls that move from eighths to sixteenths to triplets over sixteen bars with a riser before the drop. The growl is the heart of the genre: a rich wavetable in Serum or Massive, light FM from a second oscillator, a formant filter, and several LFOs synced to shifting rates modulating cutoff and wavetable position, with the sub a separate mono sine.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Brostep?
The American mutation of dubstep around 2010: the bass moved out of the subwoofer and into the midrange, metallic growls, rollercoaster drops, video game aggression. Rusko started it, Skrillex made it global and became the lightning rod for the debate that followed. Despised by Croydon purists, it…
What tempo is Brostep played at?
Between 138 and 145 BPM.
Who are the key Brostep artists?
Skrillex, Rusko, Excision, Flux Pavilion, Zomboy.
