Genre

Dubstep: BPM, drum pattern and how to make it

Dubstep is heavy, bass-led electronic music at about 138–142 BPM with a half-time feel: one big snare per bar on beat 3, sparse kicks and a bass that wobbles as its filter opens and closes. It came out of South London in the early 2000s, and its louder, wobble-heavy form filled festivals in the 2010s.

One big snare per bar and a bass that wobbles. Tempo 140 BPM in the loop below, no swing. Part of the EDM family.

The loop

140bpm

Tempo Swing 50% 4 bars

Kicksparse

Snare

Clap

Hats

Wobble, eighthswobble

Wobble, triplets

Chordsdark pad

Bar 1Am
Bar 2F
Bar 3C
Bar 4G

Four bars over Am, F, C, G. Mute a track or solo it to hear what each part does; tap any box to change it.

Make dubstep yourself

The course starts with the beat under every genre and builds up from there. Unit 1 is free with a Google sign-in, in your browser.

Pick up where you left off

Carry on with Unit 1; the parts of dubstep come one chapter at a time.

Start Lesson 1 free Continue learning

How to make dubstep

Start from an empty grid at 140 BPM and add the patterns in this order. Each step names the pattern, says where it falls in the sixteen steps of a bar, and lights its lanes on the loop above when you point at it or tap Show. The same loop is in the beat maker, if you would rather start from the finished beat and take things away.

Step 1 Half-time snare
One snare and clap per bar, on beat 3. On the grid: snare on step 9 of 16; clap on step 9 of 16.
Step 2 Triplet hat rolls
Quiet eighth-note hats with a roll into the next bar. On the grid: hats on steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 16; a roll of three on 15 of 16.
Step 3 Wobble bass
One bass note per half bar, wobbling in eighths, then in triplets. On the grid: wobble, eighths on step 1 of 16, each held for 8 steps; wobble, triplets on step 9 of 16, each held for 8 steps.
Step 4 Tempo and feel
Set the tempo to 140 BPM, no swing. The usual range for dubstep is 138–142 BPM.
Metronome

Also in the loop: a sparse kick on 1 and the “and” of 3; a dark pad holding each chord.

Dubstep drum pattern

The drums on their own: one bar of kick, snare and hats at 140 BPM. This is the part people mean by “the dubstep beat”.

140bpm

Tempo 1 bar on repeat

Kicksparse

Snare

Clap

Hats

Part	Steps, 1 to 16	Plays on
Kick	x·········x·····	steps 1 and 11 of 16
Snare	········x·······	step 9 of 16
Clap	········x·······	step 9 of 16
Hats	x·x·x·x·x·x·x·3x	steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 16; a roll of three on 15 of 16

x a hit, o a quiet hit, 3 a roll of three inside one step, · nothing. The named patterns: Half-time snare, Triplet hat rolls.

How it fits together

The drums leave a lot of space. At 140 BPM a half-time snare lands once per bar, so the beat feels like 70, and the gaps belong to the bass.

The wobble is the bass note itself changing: a filter opens and closes in time with the beat, here in eighths for half a bar and in triplets for the other half, so one held note becomes a rhythm. Change the speed of the wobble and the same note becomes a new part.

The loop in words

Kick: steps 1 and 11 of 16.
Snare and clap: Snare on step 9 of 16; Clap on step 9 of 16.
Hats: steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 16; a roll of three on 15 of 16.
Bass: Wobble, eighths on step 1 of 16, each held for 8 steps; Wobble, triplets on step 9 of 16, each held for 8 steps.
Chords: step 1 of 16, each held for 16 steps.
Chords: Am, F, C, G, one bar each, in A minor.
Tempo: 140 BPM, no swing.

Ask an AI for it

Text-to-music tools such as Suno, Udio and Stable Audio respond to the words producers use, so naming the patterns gets you closer than the genre name alone. The loop above is what this description means; press play, mute a track, and drop its words from the description to hear what each one changes.

“dubstep, 140 BPM, half-time drums, snare on 3, wobble bass, LFO wobble, sub bass, dark pads, sparse drums, build-up and drop”

Say	It means
half-time drums, snare on 3	one snare per bar, so it feels half as fast
wobble bass, LFO wobble	a bass whose filter opens and closes in rhythm
sub bass	the deep, clean low end under the wobble
dark pads, sparse drums	space around a few heavy hits
build-up and drop	tension, then the bass comes in
138–142 BPM (feels like 70)	the tempo, and how it feels