1/8/2024 0 Comments Dubplate one dance![]() ![]() ![]() Like so many innovations, dubplate culture and the excitement and fascination that surrounds it was largely born out of necessity. “One of the best things I find in a dance is when you hear something you know isn’t released and only the people in the room will be experiencing. “There’s a bit of mystery to it all, which I think is appealing to people,” says Kahn, a Bristol-based DJ and producer whose music – spanning dancehall, dub reggae, grime and dubstep – is firmly rooted in soundsystem culture. “Many soundsystems pride themselves on the number of exclusive cuts they have,” says Bainbridge, “and they use them to compete with other soundsystems, either informally through their dances or more formally in competitions known as sound clashes.” With the outcome of sound clashes typically based on crowd reaction, being able to elicit a wild response from the participating audience is key.Ī pretty simple way to achieve this is to enrol the element of surprise by playing a special version of a recognisable track – “re-workings of existing tracks for specific soundsystems to use,” according to Bainbridge – or something entirely new that is bound to move the room. The fact that a typical acetate dubplate will only survive around fifty plays furthers this sense of exclusivity. In the same way that bands will typically road test new material to live audiences when on tour, DJs using dubplates were able to bring a sense of exclusivity and individuality to each performance at a dance. Many soundsystems pride themselves on the number of exclusive cuts they have… “Dubplate culture originated from reggae soundsystems in the ‘70s,” explains Goz, “kudos was given to soundsystems who had special versions of new and previously unreleased songs, sometimes with the system’s name sung by the original artist as an intro to the ‘version.’” This sense of exclusivity forms the real basis of dubplate culture. “As a concept, a dub is just an exclusive track (regardless of the format), that’s not yet in general circulation,” says Bainbridge. Not to be outdone, the results were then sent back to Scientist's Dub Music Productions Studio for a live dub pass by the legendary man himself, presenting here as a Digi Bonus.That’s not to say that they can’t be used for playback though, and in fact it’s arguably the culture that has grown up around their use by DJs that has most contributed to the fascination around the practice of cutting dubplates. Partnering with up-and-coming producer Aki Vierboom (Phaserboys / Candomble), the Digi-Dance MixX is bass-quaking histrionics, a steppers meets rave culture overdose that will be heard from festivals to dancehalls, a righteous dub-breaks riddim y’all. Working on the license from the outset, Tim Schumacher aka DJN4, waited in the wings to dive in the desk for a modern-day remix. As often with Reggae’s history, much is disputed, however, this unmistakable Scientist production showcases Brown’s high pass filters in effect, the trademark riding 4/4 – 4 track – mixing desk, a joyous bounce. Step It Up precedes, taken from the period of seminal Tubby’s work with Bunny Lee’s house band, The Aggrovators. His productions, first as an apprentice at Studio One, then breaking through whilst teamed at King Tubby’s studio, led to Channel One and a series of seminal Dub masterpieces throughout the 1980s, mixing engineer Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes’ productions with the Roots Radics, alongside vocalists Barrington Levy, Jonny Osbourne and Jah Thomas. The fact that Hopeton Overton Brown aka Scientist is one of the true pioneers of Dub music is undisputed. His unique studio techniques and understanding of rhythm are exalted and present on Step It Up, a enlightening example of his genius and matched with a widescreen remix by label associate DJ Normal 4 aka DJN4, teaming up with fellow Dusseldorf producer AKI AKI, to offer a dreamland breaks-steppers anthem. Mysticisms keeps the Dubplate series moving, welcoming one of the seminal Dub producers of all time in Scientist. ![]()
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