New Dub Side Project

Alright, change of plans regarding side projects.

So today, I was going through a dub playlist I created and thought about how interesting it would be to make dub tracks. I've always been a huge fan of the dub genre since I was young and have always wanted to produce some one day.

Then I thought, "...Why don't I make a bloody dub tune as a side project?!

And then a new side project idea was born.

I've always wanted to produce dub and also play dub at clubs so by making this a side project, it'd really motivate me to start getting on to it.

For those reading this who have no idea what I've been talking about so far and do not know what dub is, I'll give you a breakdown.

What is Dub?

So, Dub is a sub-genre of reggae originating from Jamaica in the 60s and it "refers to rearranging elements within an existing recording through the isolation of individual instrumental tracks with the addition of various effects to create a new work." (Meschino, 2017). The term "dub" comes from the fact that vocals were "dubbed" out.

On the B sides of most Jamaican 45s, it will say "Version", and it's "a simple instrumental remix of the A-side that may include a few scraps of the vocals." (Davis and Simon, 1982). Versions were made to test for sound levels and later, it became popular and Jamaicans developed a taste for these instrumentals. DJs then would take these recordings to rap over the rhythms, (Davis and Simon, 1982) and many people credit dub as being one of the foundations for early rap music, (Cercone, 2017). Without dub, rap wouldn't have been a world leading form of popular culture and many other genres such as jungle, house, garage, and grime would have never taken off, (Katz, 2014).

One of the masters of dub production, King Tubby, then turned versions into what we know as today as "dub". His technique consists of stripping a track to its core, then bringing it back together and using parts of the vocal tracks. Then all sorts of effects are applied such as reverb, phaser, delays and echo, which are the elements that makes a dub track identifiable. An example of King Tubby taking tracks and turning them into dub tracks are found in the The Sound Of Channel One: King Tubby Connection album.

Influences & Reference Tracks

Some of my main inspirations in dub are King Tubby and Augustus Pablo. Reggae artists such Barrington Levy, Johnny Osbourne, Ini Kamoze, Gregory Isaacs, and Billy Boyo are influences as well as they have a lot of dub elements in their productions.

Some of the reference tracks that I've collected so far are linked below. These songs are the type of stuff I'd loveee to produce in this genre so as soon as I start this project, I'll be doing a lot of research into what makes a proper dub track and will be analysing these tracks as well.

King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown - Augustus Pablo

555 Crown Street - Augustus Pablo

Cool Down Version - King Tubby

Zim Zim - Billy Boyo

Yeah I'm reallllly keen to start on this side project, not sure which DAW I'll be using though. I've been learning a lot of stuff on Ableton and I feel like I'd be able to produce better using it but I'm more proficient with Pro Tools so I might have to switch between the two if I need to. I already have tons of ideas going through my head and am thinking of writing a pre-production plan very soon as I want to make a start ASAP.

For the previous side projects I wrote about earlier (besides the podcast), I think I might have to change them up a bit. I definitely still want to get my friend's band in one day to record but filming won't be part of it, and the Brainfeeder EP project hasn't really been confirmed yet but I'm eager to start on it though. But right now, my focus is going to be on this project.

Really don't know why I didn't think of this as a project idea before!

References

Cercone, S. (2017). 3]. What is "Dub" music anyway? (Reggae). Retrieved from http://stason.org/TULARC/music-genres/reggae-dub/3-What-is-Dub-music-anyway-Reggae.html

Davis, S. and Simon, P. (1982). Reggae International. New York: Rogner & Bernhard ; [Oslo. Retrieved from http://stason.org/TULARC/music-genres/reggae-dub/3-What-is-Dub-music-anyway-Reggae.html

Katz, D. (2014). Dubbing Is A Must: A Beginner's Guide To Jamaica's Most Influential Genre. Retrieved from http://www.factmag.com/2014/04/16/dubbing-is-a-must-a-beginners-guide-to-jamaicas-most-influential-genre/

Meschino, P. (2017). Dub Music: A History of Jamaica's Criminally Underappreciated Musical Artform. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/dance/7857092/jamaica-dub-music-reggae-electronic-music