MAKING DUB WITH COMPUTERS - CHAPTER 12: MIDI (3) - RECORDING A RIDDIM - Tutorials - Studio Dubroom - Promoting (Dub ) Reggae and Consciousness

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In this section you can find things that will assist you in your own computer-based musical productions. There's a lot of original Dubroom material which you can use, but also third party material. There's much more than "just" sampled material, as you can find some little pieces of software, presets and other things as well. Everything in this section is, like all stuff in the Dubroom by the way, legal and -a lot of times- absolutely free of charge. Definitely worth a visit, for novice to veteran.
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ABOUT CHAPTER 11
We've seen, why we have to make a riddim or a basic instrumental Reggae track before we can create some crucial DUB.

MAKING DUB WITH COMPUTERS - CHAPTER 12: MIDI (3) - RECORDING A RIDDIM

Of course, you can make an instrumental track as simple or complex as you feel. You can use a maximum amount of instruments, or you can choose a more minimalistic approach.

Now that we will create our first riddim, we won't make it too complex.

It's the best, to imagine that your Midi Sequence is in fact a recording of a studio band. This means, you have to discern different sections just as you would do with a real band.

Let's take a look at the several main sections of a Reggae band.

DRUMS

When a basic track is called "Riddim" or Rhythm, it's obvious that the drums take a dominant position. More often then not, several percussion instruments accompany the drums.

BASS

A Reggae track is identified by it's bassline. When in most other forms of music, the bassline only functions as a foundation, in Reggae it's the decisive factor. For those -like us- who want to make DUB, it's even more important as we shall see later.

RIDDIM SECTION

This can get a little bit confusing: for a basic track is called a riddim, But in the band there is also a riddim section. This section makes that sound which many feel is so characteristic for Reggae Music: I call it "the skanks". A Riddim section has a guitar, a piano and an organ (or any other combination in that idea).

THEMES

Usually, a riddim is recognized by it's bassline. But there is also another section of the band that places it's mark on a riddim and that is the "theme section". In the 1970's, the horns took a predominant place in Reggae Music. Partly, they could be seen as a factor in the Riddim Section. But horns can also play themes: short harmonic melodies. Themes can also be played by keyboards or other instruments.

ACCOMPANYING ELEMENTS

A guitar that plays a muted version of the bassline, a clavinet which emphasizes certain parts of the bassline, these elements can be heard on many Roots Reggae recordings. In some way, you could see it as the "percussion" for the bassline.

Now, in our example we will make use of all these sections in order to make a basic track with midi. We will have a chapter on each section. But before we can do that, we have to set up our sequencer for it.

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This tutorial is in an unfinished stage, but it does contain the basics to get yourself equipped to use just about any DAW or even hardware studio in order to make DUB from Reggae Music in the authentic and original way. When you have a question or comment you'd like to see addressed, feel free to use the Dubroom Contact pages or post your words publicly on our Forum. Click here to read about the latest updates to this tutorial.

JAH

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