Dubwise
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The sound-system-oriented, mix-heavy side of dub, "in the dub way," where a riddim is cut into its most stripped, echo-laden and bass-dominant form for the dance and the selector. Vocals are reduced to spectral fragments, drums crack through with tape delay, and the bassline carries the tune while the engineer rides reverb and faders. It is dub optimised for the sound system's weight and for a deejay to toast over, spare and immersive. The dancefloor, not the living room, is its natural home.
History
"Dubwise" describes the practice as much as a sound, rooted in King Tubby's Waterhouse mixes and the version-side culture that fed the sound systems of the 1970s; Tubby, Scientist, Augustus Pablo, the Upsetters and Prince Jammy supplied the definitive dubwise cuts, many built on Bunny Lee's Aggrovators rhythms and Channel One's Roots Radics tracks. Selectors would carry exclusive dubplate versions, and the aesthetic, minimal, echoing, bass-forward, became the blueprint UK sound systems and producers adopted wholesale. Dubwise endures as the working ethos of dub in the dance, from Kingston yards to European steppers sessions.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Iyahta(1974) — King TubbySpotifyYouTube
- Your Teeth in My Neck(1981) — ScientistSpotifyYouTube
- King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown(1976) — Augustus PabloSpotifyYouTube
- Croaking Lizard(1976) — The UpsettersSpotifyYouTube
- Saturn Bombardment(1982) — Prince JammySpotifyYouTube
- Pick a Dub(1974) — Keith HudsonSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Michael E. Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae (2007)
- Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (2000)
- Joe Muggs & Brian David Stevens, Bass, Mids, Tops: An Oral History of Sound System Culture (2019)