Dubbing (Mad Professor Video and article)

[Elephantitan]

While I've spent the biggest part of my music days learning how to create and manipulate, recently all I've been obsessed with is taken sound that has already been there and bringing out the beauty. Through the use of sampling and remixing, I've learnt to appreciate older artists all the way back to the Original Dub scene. This is the first time in my life that I truly understand the nature of manipulating sound in and out of contexts and learning to read in different languages rather than working on my own.

I feel This should be taught by music producer's everywhere as the beginning- as I feel it is truly so. So I would like a thread in which we go deeper into the philosophy of Dub, it's influence, it's techniques, what makes it special and what we've yet to see from it.

I'll start by posting this link to something I've put together:

http://www.villainian.com/2012/03/vid-mad-professor-whats-going-on-live.html

Usually, Dub artists get a multitrack recording of the track wished to be explored (such as in DAT form). The track is inputted into a multi-channel mixer and right after the tracks are optimised, the creative side kicks in.

[ebbdeezy]

gorgeous sounds man, thanks for sharing. I really respect modern producers that approach music this way, with their gear all live and teasing apart the tracks, it's a beautiful sound.

[Stealth Elf]

Mad Professor is a true legend.

[ebbdeezy]

So, can anyone here shed some light on Dub processes, techniques, traditional studio setup, things like that? I would like to know because my approach thus far is quite the opposite... I typically sit down at my small studio rig with a good idea of what I'm trying to accomplish, and experimenting usually leaves me lost and unfocused (especially when blazing the herb which is also central to Dub right? ) Reverb and delay are some of my least familiar areas, my mixes tend to be dry. I should mention I am a hardware user, I would imagine multitrack recording is easier on a computer (as is everything)?

[Elephantitan]

You are right, Everything is easier on a computer. However when it comes to analogue equipment there are limits since we're not exactly dealing with binary codes, thus a 4 channel mixer can actually take you quite a long way. Dubbing on a computer has its benefits, since it's easier to control, you can take the skills to a next level.

The idea of old school dubbing is to have a multitrack recording of whatever it is you want to dub (whether it is of yours or someone else's work) then to optimise the sound levels. You need a mulitrack player that can play the recording you want such as the TEAC or the Tascam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitrack_recording), which has seperate outputs that you input into your mixer. Or you can lead them through into different effects and then into your mixers, it's up to how you want to handle the separate tracks. Each track will have an individual line of sound, for example, one track could have the drums, one could have the vocals, one could have the bass etc etc. However, it is really a mixture of how the all-over sounds were recorded and how you chose to distribute the sounds into the mixer.

Once you have everything setup and optimised, then the fun begins and you can play the mulitrack and live mix the different levels. For example, you could lower the guitars and louden the vocals, cut them off at certain points and add reverb and echo effects in order to give it a ping-pongy trippy trail. You could give the bass more power by upping the lower frequencies on that individual track. You can get rid of some of the upper sound frequencies on the drums to give it a more thumpy feel since all that's left is pretty much the kicks and the snares- this is more of a Hip Hop tactic but it's quite powerful when you want people to feel the rhythm and bass. Also, stripping tracks off certain frequencies makes the overall sound more sparse and more leeway for you to bring out certain aspects of what you love into the gap that you've created- this is where people will focus and fall into a blissful spiral.

This is the technical essence of dub.

[Elephantitan]

And yes, smoking da 'erb is very central to making dub if you must know the truth, it's either that or you have a really enlightened state of mind and have a thick amount of appreciation for the life behind sounds. What you're doing is basically just listening and tripping yourself and others out with the effects that you're using, if you don't experiment with Delay and Reverb already, now would be a good time to start. Just get some vocal samples, a bassline and some drums and just play around with the effects as the tracks are looping.

[ebbdeezy]

Great info and it sounds like a blast, I may try to emulate a dub setup in the future. I also found this article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul07/a ... mixing.htm
it's good reading, and entirely applicable to Garage- as are some of the notes on reggae rhythm:

The chop

The chop is usually played by the piano and/or the guitar and it's placed off the beat. In a reggae arrangement it is always there, and it acts like the piston of a steam engine pushing and pulling against the other instruments. In dub the chop is equally important, but it is not used at all times, as we will see later.

The shuffle or bubble

The job of the keyboard player isn't just to play the chop. Often he or she will also perform a shuffled organ pattern, which is sometimes called the 'bubble'. This is usually a double-time element and changes our perception of the rhythm. The screenshot, right, shows a programmed arrangement with a typical chop (in red) and shuffle (in green).