What makes a good dub album?

[sean]

plenty vocal snippets, a la scientist and jammy strike back or slum dub by gregory isaacs

[rnld]

:X:):D
Not that I dis-agree with you people, not at all.
Jee, how difficult to discribe a feeling in music, also depends on the mood one has
What makes a good mixer/producer attractive imo, for example,
is letting the listener enjoy the so important skanking, or better say, when to leave it,
the backbeat-accent, or the accent on the 2 and 4 of the beat, on his own terms.
When let it come to the surface and then let it fade away again,
or even soft in the background. Or tracks where it's on front the whole time.
And doesn't a good drummer nearly always gives that HighHat-accent, how soft even.
A good dub gives you a story, takes you on a little journey, with/without a likkle herb.
Next is just an opinion of the moment, cause there are much more dubs & instrumentals that I appreciate.
eg http://www.members.shaw.ca/dublp/concrete.html (Riley All Stars), Revolutionairies (Sly & Robbie), Chalawa (Exodus-dub), Studio One, Dennis Bovell (LKJ), Mad professor, Keith Hudson! 'so on 'so on .. the Cry Tuff Dub Encounter albums from Prince Far I, the mentioned album Leggo Dub (Leggo Beast & The Ossie All Stars) eg track B is a fav, an instrumental called ‘Bubble Up Style’ (I suspect the Heptones had made a song on the music) and this seems to be film-background; Creation Rebel - Starship Africa (1980) dub, http://www.roots-archives.com/release/3528

Ites (tu)

[dubaddikt]

I find almost all i need in a dub in most Roots radics backed dub albums.
1.slow but sure
2.Heavy bass and highly concentrated drums
3.The rhythm is not that overplayed.
4.It diffuses deep into your mind that you have no time to stand and rock.
5.The sound from every instrument is pure natural sound.

Examples:
Most eek a mouse albums backed by roots radics.
Scientist and Chemist-1999 Dub
I roy Cancer-Revolutionaries
Most of Prince far I dubs

dubaddikt

[cloudy]

I have to approach this by way of one particular dub track that I listen to again and again - a dub of Gregory Isaacs 'The Border' to be found on the Heartbeat CD 'Dub A De Number One' and which is titled 'On The Edge'(an Alvin Ranglin produced track - IMO the producer of Isaac's best work - and engineered by either Ernest Hoo Kim or Maxie or Sylvan Morris or Errol Thompson - anyone know which of them is at the controls for this one?). The album combines a number of dub styles, as you might expect given it's the work of four different engineers, but this dub stands out as an awesome example of the craft. It isn't a radical deconstruction of the original but it manages to include most of the effects we associate with dub but it never feels like its just doing it for the sake of it. Like Leggo I have no technical musical knowledge but I know whoever did this dub just has the feel/ear for what is right/belongs at every point. The track starts by establishing the riddim (which is so sweet)and then 17 seconds in it stops completely - one of those totally arresting moments - then when it restarts the only thing we hear is Gregory's beautiful voice lamenting 'if I could reach the border' - then as soon as these words have been sung the music fades back in/up before he delivers the next line 'then I would step across' over the music. The music remains for the next line 'so please take me to the border' but the final word 'border' just dissolves in echo - out of which comes , echoing, a snatch of the DJ who featured on the original. No vocals feature in the next section during which the instruments are dubbed up perfectly, that is none of the musicality of the original is lost, the dub is creative without being reductive if that makes sense. I'll jump now (or I'll be writing all night)to the point just over four minutes in when something magical happens, which I can't really describe, just that one element of the music is suddenly concentrated on and it just works and makes the hairs on my arms stand up. Love it.

[James]

I like that one a lot too. It does have all the right elements, doesn't it?

Here's the page:

http://www.roots-archives.com/release/2586

[Red Eyes]

I agree that the drums are crucial. I don't like too much vocals in the dub.

[sean]

slick effects as on scientist the peoples choice

[sean]

africa dub michael rose..heavy bass

[rnld]

Scientist & Barnabas & Maxie - Three The Hard Way
http://www.roots-archives.com/release/1250#rel1139
one of a kind, and hard to find song-versions from it
Ites

[kevin]

good ? many producers have master tapes & my have to rely on the studio in there area at that time so that is the sound u get from that engineer is that ' mixing into dub is a human feeling its impossle to mix a track today & mix it exactly the same tomrrow its just how you feel at that time'[ect] three blind mice [lee perry] &i.roy version same master tape but 2 studio black ark tubbys which is the best mix?