Dub music
[1] Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings[2] created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section (the stripped-down drum-and-bass track is sometimes referred to as a riddim), the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
[3] Dub was pioneered by recording engineers and producers such as Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Hopeton "Scientist" Brown, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Errol Thompson and others[1] beginning in the late 1960s.
Augustus Pablo, who collaborated with many of these producers, is credited with bringing the distinct-sounding melodica to dub, and is also among the pioneers and creators of the genre.
Drummer Sly Dunbar similarly points to a usage of the related term dubwise to mean using only drums and bass.
A "version" is an alternative cut of a song made for the DJ to "toast" over (a form of Jamaican rapping), usually with some or all of the original vocal removed.
The music sometimes features other noises, such as birds singing, thunder and lightning, water flowing, and producers shouting instructions at the musicians.
In forms of sound system–based reggae, the performer using a microphone is referred to as the "DJ" or "deejay" (where in other genres, this performer might be termed the "MC", meaning "Master of Ceremonies", or alternately, the later developed slang terms: "Microphone Commander" or "Mic Control"), and the person choosing the music and operating the turntables is called the "selector" (sometimes referred to as the DJ in other genres).
The version was typically the B-side of a single, and used for experimenting and providing something for DJs to talk over, while the A-side was more often dedicated to the original vocal-oriented track.
[21] In 1968, Kingston, Jamaica sound system operator Rudolph "Ruddy" Redwood went to Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio to cut a one-off dub plate of The Paragons hit "On The Beach".
Engineer Byron Smith left the vocal track out by accident, but Redwood kept the result and played it at his next dance with his deejay Wassy toasting over the rhythm.
[23] The next day Bunny Lee who was a witness to this, told King Tubby that they needed to make some more instrumental tracks, as "them people love" them, and they dubbed out vocals from "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by Slim Smith.
Almost all reggae singles still carry an instrumental version on the B-side and these are still used by the sound systems as a blank canvas for live singers and DJs.
[27] In the 1980s, the United Kingdom became a new centre for dub production with Mikey Dread, Mad Professor and Jah Shaka being the most famous.
It was also the time when dub made its influence known in the work of harder edged, experimental producers such as Mikey Dread with UB40 and The Clash, Adrian Sherwood and the roster of artists on his On-U Sound label.
Reflected in the production of records such as The Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait", Toney Lee's "Reach Up", and artists mostly on New York City labels Prelude or West End.
[29] King Tubby, Lee Perry, Erroll Thompson, Mad Professor, Jah Shaka, Denis Bovell and Linton Kwesi Johnson influenced rock musicians.
Musicians and bands such as Culture Club,[30] Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, New Age Steppers,[31] Public Image Ltd, The Pop Group, The Police, Massive Attack, The Clash, Adrian Sherwood, Killing Joke,[32] Bauhaus and others demonstrate clear dub influences in their respective genres, and their innovations have in turn influenced the mainstream of the dub genre.
Before forming The Mars Volta, Cedric Bixler, Omar Rodriguez and other members, recorded a series of dub albums under the name De Facto since 1999.
1", while Sonic Boom Six and The King Blues take heavy influences from dub, mixing the genre with original punk ethics and attitudes.
[35][36][37] Shoegaze bands such as Ride with their song "King Bullshit" and the intro to "Time Machine" have explored and experimented with dub.
Steve Hogarth, singer with British rock band Marillion, acknowledged the influence of dub on their 2001 album Anoraknophobia.
[38] Al Cisneros, founder and bassist of Doom Metal outfit OM has gone on record regarding the influence of Reggae and Dub on his bass playing style.
Some of these artists include Dubblestandart from Vienna, Austria (who recorded the album Return from Planet Dub in collaboration with, and performing live with, Lee "Scratch" Perry); Liquid Stranger from Sweden; New York City artists, including Ticklah (also known as Victor Axelrod, Earl Maxton, Calbert Walker, and Douglass & Degraw), Victor Rice, Easy Star All-Stars, and Dub Trio—who have recorded and performed live with Mike Patton and are currently touring as the backing band for Matisyahu); Subatomic Sound System (who have remixed material by Lee "Scratch" Perry and Ari Up); Dub Is a Weapon; King Django; Dr. Israel; Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad from Rochester, New York; the Heavyweight Dub Champion from San Francisco and Colorado, Gaudi; Ott from the UK, who has released several influential albums through Twisted Records, Boom One Sound System, and Dubsmith from the Boom One Records label; Future Pigeon from Los Angeles; German artists like Disrupt and Rootah from the Jahtari label; Twilight Circus from the Netherlands; Moonlight Dub Experiment from Costa Rica; and Stand High Patrol from France.
Having emerged from Jamaica, this genre is regarded as the product of diaspora peoples, whose culture reflects the experience of dislocation, alienation and remembrance.
Through the creation of space-filling soundscapes, faded echoes, and repetition within musical tracks, Dub artists are able to tap into such Afrofuturist concepts as the nonlinearity of time and the projection of past sounds into an unknown future space.
Due to the sonic structure of echoes and reverberations, dub can create a dream-like world symbolizing the generational trauma of African diaspora as a result of slavery.
In King Tubby's dub mixes, one can hear sonic elements of screeching tires, gun fire, and police sirens.
[43] Artist Arthur Jafa said this about dub music and the diaspora in 1994 during a keynote address at the Organization of Black Designers Conference:[43] those group experiences that reconfigure who we [African Americans] are as a community.
It was called dub, a sensuous mosaic cooked from vast libraries of digitalized pop; it was worship, Molly said, and a sense of community.
At the time Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962, the culture was in flux, and the country was experiencing a form of identity crisis.
