In electronic music, dubstep has carved out a unique space with its powerful basslines, intricate rhythms, and aggressive sound design – almost to a fault. Producing this genre requires not only creativity and skill but also the right gear to bring those heavy-hitting tracks to life, but the majority of producers these days make this genre rely on the same presets and the same soft synths.
Is it that big of a flex anymore to say, “Oh damn, producer X used the Cymatics Preset #252 better than producer Y!”? Absolutely not…
Bass music has the potential to be some of the most creatively driven forms of dance music, and hardware can be a fantastic way to step outside of the competition and inject even more of your soul, sound, and movement into the music you’re making.
To help you navigate this landscape, we’ve compiled a list of six great synthesizers and modules perfect for creating those signature dubstep sounds. Each product has been carefully chosen for its unique features and capabilities that cater specifically to the needs of dubstep producers. In this article, we’ll provide detailed descriptions of these six pieces of gear, highlighting their various features and explaining why they’re great for producing dubstep. Whether you’re a seasoned producer or just starting your journey into dubstep, these synths and modules will help you unlock your full potential and create powerful, innovative tracks.
ASM HYDRASYNTH EXPLORER
The ASM Hydrasynth Explorer is a powerful choice for dubstep producers, featuring a versatile 8-voice polyphonic digital synthesizer engine. Its wave morphing oscillators, deep modulation capabilities, and polyphonic aftertouch make it perfect for creating those warm subs and heavily modulated mid-range synth sounds crucial for dubstep. Furthermore, its 32-slot modulation matrix ensures producers can craft complex and evolving mid-range basses that rip out of the speakers (in a good way).
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The Hydrasynth Explorer also boasts a powerful arpeggiator and ribbon controller, making adding movement and texture to your tracks easy. While this can be used as a melodic element, oftentimes, you can get exciting and complex sound design results but using arps more like a sequencer and then using parameters like glide to make fast-paced pitch bend synths. The ribbon controller allows for expressive pitch bends and sound manipulation, while the arpeggiator offers various proper sequencing modes.
These features, combined with powerful onboard effects like reverb, delay, and chorus, make creating immersive, high-energy bass tracks easy.
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YAMAHA REFACE DX FM
The Yamaha Reface DX is a compact and budget-friendly FM synthesizer with much to offer for dubstep producers. Its 4-operator FM engine can generate warm, powerful sub-bass sounds and heavily modulated mid-range tones that sound squelchy and massive. The 8-note polyphony ensures you can layer multiple voices for thick, textured sounds, perfect for that signature dubstep sound.
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The Reface DX is equipped with an onboard multi-effects processor, offering a range of effects like distortion, chorus, flanger, and delay that get you designing sounds and shaping your patches outside of the box (which can easily be an F-Factor when so many other producers are using Serum and Synthplant). These effects allow you to add depth, space, and character to your dubstep tracks, enhancing the overall production quality. Additionally, the Reface DX features a built-in looper, making it easy to create and experiment with evolving patterns and sequences.
Compact and portable, the Yamaha Reface DX is an ideal choice for producers on the go without sacrificing powerful sound design capabilities. With its intuitive interface and extensive FM synthesis options, this synthesizer is an excellent tool for creating distinctive dubstep tracks.
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ACCESS VIRUS TI2
The Access Virus TI2 Desktop synthesizer, revered in the music production community, is famed for producing warm, powerful sounds. Its virtual analog engine, augmented by wavetable synthesis and extensive modulation options, is ideal for creating the warm subs and complex mid-range sounds critical in dubstep production. Despite its higher price tag, it’s considered a gold standard in dubstep and beyond, often chosen as the go-to hardware for many producers regardless of genre.
Agents of Time, known for their distinct sound, attest to the synthesizer’s capabilities: “During the sound design in the studio… the interaction between the 3 oscillators… with the addition of the sub-oscillator and the noise modulation, gives us a very rich and defined sound.” The TI2’s robust effects section, boasting reverb, delay, chorus, and phaser, enriches tracks with depth and texture. Its 16-part multi-timbral architecture allows for layering multiple patches, creating intricate soundscapes tailored for dubstep.
Moreover, the TI2’s Total Integration technology ensures seamless DAW integration, streamlining the recording and editing process. This feature bridges in-the-box and out-of-the-box production styles, making it a breeze to transition between them. For more insights into how the Access Virus TI2 Desktop elevates music production, dive into the complete interview with Agents of Time and explore tracks where this synthesizer shines.
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WALDORF IRIDIUM
The Waldorf Iridium is a powerful 49-key synthesizer with an expansive sound engine perfect for creating dubstep records that perfectly aligns between digital precision and analog randomness. Its wavetable, granular, and virtual analog synthesis combination provides a broad sonic palette for crafting warm subs and heavily modulated mid-range synths. The Iridium’s 16-voice polyphony ensures you can layer multiple voices to create lush, evolving soundscapes essential for dubstep production.
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The Iridium also features a versatile modulation matrix with six LFOs, six loopable envelopes, and various performance controls, allowing for complex sound manipulation. This level of modulation depth enables dubstep producers to craft intricate textures and evolving sonic landscapes.
The Waldorf Iridium is an excellent choice for dubstep producers looking for a versatile and powerful synthesizer. Its synthesis techniques, intuitive interface, extensive modulation, and digital analog nature make it essential to create unique and powerful dubstep tracks.
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NOVATION MININOVA
The Novation MiniNova is a compact 37-key synthesizer with a powerful sound engine perfect for producing dubstep. Its virtual analog engine, capable of producing warm subs and modulated mid-range tones, combined with its wavetable synthesis capabilities, makes it an ideal choice for crafting those signature dubstep sounds that push beyond the boundaries of conventional waveforms. The MiniNova’s 18-voice polyphony ensures you can layer multiple voices for rich, textured synth patches that few other synths on this list can offer.
The MiniNova also features an impressive array of modulation options, including 20 modulation slots, six envelope generators, and 3 LFOs (rare in the hardware world). These options allow you to create heavily modulated sounds that can be quickly recorded and edited in your DAW. The MiniNova includes a built-in vocoder and vocal tune effects, enabling you to process and manipulate vocals for a unique dubstep production.
Compact and portable, the Novation MiniNova is a fantastic choice for dubstep producers looking for powerful sound design capabilities in a small package. Its extensive synthesis options and modulation capabilities make it an invaluable tool for creating distinctive and innovative dubstep tracks.
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ROSSUM ELECTRO-MUSIC ASSIMIL8OR SAMPLER
If you are into modular, the Rossum Electro-Music Assimil8or is a Eurorack multi-timbral sampler module that offers dubstep producers a unique approach to sound design. Its ability to sample and manipulate audio allows you to create warm subs and heavily modulated mid-range synths using a wide range of source material. The Assimil8or’s eight independent sampler channels provide extensive layering options for creating complex and evolving textures.
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The Assimil8or also features a powerful modulation matrix, with each channel offering extensive modulation options, including pitch, amplitude, and filter modulation. This level of control enables you to create intricate, evolving sounds perfect for dubstep production. Furthermore, the Assimil8or’s CV inputs and outputs allow seamless integration with other Eurorack modules, giving you even greater control over your sound.
While Eurorack has its cult following in the dubstep production community, it can be your X-Factor with music production. What started as the Cymatics plague on bass music has now evolved into a more generic and more dangerous Serum plague where it would seem as if 90% of tracks are being produced with this one synth. Modular is the complete opposite of that and can easily be the defining thing that makes you stand out from the crowd, and this sampler is a powerful tool to help you do it.
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Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
