| So,
the computer is the studio. The DUB
studio. It gives us instruments, effects,
plus mixing and recording devices. In the
old days, you would need at least several
computers because these ancient machines
could not do everything at once. Today,
that's no longer an issue. I've mentioned
Propellerhead's Reason and Ableton's Live as
main examples of software that turns your
computer into a full blown studio with more
possibilities then the average 1980's
analogue counterpart.
Just having
a studio doesn't bring you the Dub on a
silver platter, obviously. The studio is the
kitchen where you turn ingredients into a
meal, the factory where ground products are
turned into usable items. Yes, you need a
studio but you need ingredients, too.
Time to
take a look into what Dub is, and what it's
not.
The
shortest definition I can come up with, is
this:
"DUB
is a specific art and technique of
remixing Reggae tracks."
That's
right. You'll need to have a Reggae track
before you can make (a) Dub. An instrumental
Reggae track, or a Reggae track with
singers. You'll need to have that track in
multi-track format, too. When you're mixing
a Dub with your mixing board, the input
channels must have different instruments on
different tracks and what you do is (un)mute
these channels. Bottom line: When you don't
have anything to (un)mute, you can't make a
Dub.
Now, many
people know that Dub is a very specific
studio-related kind of music. Not so many
people know, that the same goes for Reggae
Music as a whole. Today, you have Reggae
bands all over the world doing live
performances but the music came into
existence in Jamaica where that was just too
expensive. In the 1960's, early 1970's
Reggae would be played in studios like
Studio One and Channel One by the studio's
"house bands". Producers would
hire the studio band, vocalists, Dub
engineers and what have you. The recordings
would be used as vinyl releases and played
on Sound Systems, where an MC would do live
performances. Special Dub mixes would be
made for Sound Systems, too. They're called
Dub Plates.
This
explains why you will hear different
vocalists singing over the very same
instrumental recordings, it explains why you
will have different versions like Discomixes
and Dub mixes on the very same track. Very,
very rarely would a Reggae act make their
own "songs" and compositions in
the way western bands like the Rolling
Stones or U2 would do. That's
why I am reluctant to speak about
"Reggae Songs". I associate the
word "song" with a composition,
with music being composed to go with a
specific lyric and vocalist and band. I
would rather speak about a "Reggae
Riddim" and not completely
coincidentally this is the exact Jamaican
term for a Reggae track as well.
A riddim is defined by it's bass line and
it's theme. They're given names, and some
riddims have reached classic status. A lot
of riddims were originally created in Studio
One in the 1960's, but they are still being
used today by producers world-wide. There's
a website called the "Jamaican
Riddim Directory" where you can
research and listen to the countless of
riddims as they are used throughout the
decades.
Bands play
a riddim into the multi-track recorder of
the studio, vocalists and Dub engineers will
further work on that material before it's
released to the public. When you want to
make Dub with computers, you will have to
not just simulate the Studio, you will have
to simulate this whole process. You will
have to make a riddim, add vocals (or
don't), then remix this on your mixing board
into a real and authentic Dub.
Riddims can
be played by a band, they can be programmed,
or they can be constructed using (purchased
or downloaded) audio loops. A combination of
two or three is not just possible, but often
applicated as well. Whatever the case,
though, a riddim must be made and a good
riddim has certain obligatory elements or
ingredients. Here they are:
- Bass
Line
- Drum
Line
- Riddim
or Skanks
- Theme
- Accompanying
Instruments
Arguably, you can forget the last two,
but a drum and bass line with the right
chords played by a riddim section is the
very, very least.
Traditionally, the bass and drums are
played by a bass guitarist and a drummer.
The skanks or riddim section will usually be
played by a combination of a piano, guitar
and organ. The theme, usually a horn section
and there's extra instruments like a
clavinet and muted ("pucking")
guitar. There are digital genres in DUB,
especially UK Dub and Eurodub where the
skanks are played by a more synthesized
sound, there are obvious Drum computers and
Bass synthesizers, themes can be played by a
synth too, but the ingredients remain to be necessary
for the construction of that Reggae track
you need to have before you can Dub it.
Throughout the next chapters of this
tutorial, we'll dive in-depth into the
different patterns and ways to build a Reggae
track. You will discover an easy formula you
can apply to create literally thousands of
different tracks. That is, before we'll make
a track from scratch and turn it into a Dub
mix in a chapter far away from this one.
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