Introducing The Wub Machine, A New App That Turns Any Track Into Dubstep, D&B, Electro, or Trap

Have you ever wondered what a Tommy James & The Shondells “Crimson and Clover” dubstep remix would sound like? Neither have we, (actually I secretly do, so get at it producers) but thanks to the super powers of the internet, a new app has surfaced that can do just that. The Wub Machine is an application built around a MixedinKey-like algorithm that analyzes a song’s tempo and key and then chops the track up to fit a predetermined beat made by the Wub engineers.

Designed by Peter Sobot at Appstruments, the Wub Machine has a fairly simple design:

Technically, I’m not really doing anything too complicated:

• I used Logic Pro and Native Instruments’ new Reaktor synth to make some dirty, dirty wub basslines at the proper dubstep tempo (140 bpm) and mangled my own kick and snare samples. I then rendered 8 bars of this pattern, in two different variants, in every key of one octave.
• Using Python and the Echo Nest Remix API, I get an analysis of each track’s bars, beats, pitches, timbres and more. I still need to make some better use of this information, as right now, a lot of songs end up being detected and used improperly. (an 8th or 16th note off, ruining the beat)
• Using the Echo Nest Remix API’s Dirac time-stretching abilities, I take the input song, bar-by-bar, and alter the tempo to be exactly 140bpm. Then, for each “section” of the song (as defined by, again, the API’s analysis) I do 16 bars of dubstep with a repeating 8-bar pattern of either beats, bars or tatums (notes) from the original song.
• For the dubstep backing, I take whatever key the API tells me the song is in, and just choose the corresponding backing file from the ones I’ve prerendered.
• For the intro, I have a pre-rendered intro with some noise sweeps. I then use a bit of brute-force audio manipulation to play a build-up pattern before the initial “drop” after 8 bars.

You can remix the track to fit dubstep, drum & bass, electro or trap and the results will range any where from surprisingly entertaining to God awful, with most falling in the latter category. The Wub Machine is meant for entertainment purposes only, as the results and original tracks are deleted from the site’s server after 24 hrs, but there is an option to download the remixed track if needed.

We fully anticipate this becoming the next in a long list of nerdy distractions that will supplement your procrastination, so check out the Wub Machine here and get remixing.

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