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To
know how to build a standard instrumental
Reggae track using Midi, to know how to set
up your studio for a Dub session and to then
know how to make a Dub: is there anything
else you should know?
Of
course there is.
There
is so much to know, but without the
foundation that has been laid in the
preceding chapters of this tutorial that
knowledge can lead you into the wrong
direction and you'll end up being just
another Techno producer. Nothing wrong with
that, just naming things the way they
are. This tutorial is named
"Making DUB With Computers", so
that's what we want to achieve.
Throughout
this tutorial you can read how I touch on
that essential aspect of Reggae Music, being
a means of communicating from one soul to
another. In spite of all the prejudice from
every thinkable side, it is quite possible
to make that music that touches the hearts
just using a computer and software.
Remember, both analogue and digital
techniques are just that, techniques.
Techniques don't do a thing until they are
utilized deliberately out of a motivation
that is not technical, but rather artistic.
You can teach "everybody" to
paint, but only those that have that urge
and desire and potential ability (aka
talent) will actually be able to utilize the
technology in order to create that artistic
product.
You
can learn how to use which kind of
technology on what kind of place and time in
a mix, you can learn how to make incredible
compositions with complex chordical
structures and what have you, it's nothing
without that drive. I assume you have that
drive, if only because we've entered the
32nd chapter and we're about to dive quite a
bit deeper into the production and mixing
techniques. I assume you sometimes hear that
Dub in your head, that Dub you want to
create but just don't know how to.
With
all the possibilities in the field of audio
(loops, for example) and incredible
innovations DAW's like Propellerhead's
Reason and Ableton's Live have introduced to
the studio's, several new genres and
techniques have come into existence. Just
think about Dubstep. I mentioned before how
this is considered to be a genre that is
actually mostly created by producers using
only a computer. It's important to
realize the fact that the mere existence of
the computer is a decisive factor for new
styles and genres, where the music we deal
with in this tutorial was there long before
computers like we have today.
With
these new styles come new techniques, and
that's why they are relevant for us. It is
very interesting and a learning experience
to dive into Dubstep websites, Sample
Boutiques and magazines dealing with
Computer Music. They give tips, tricks,
sounds: a lot can be
integrated in the DUB production process. However, it should not be the
other way around. As soon as you adjust your
sound and production processes to the way
"every" music producer using DAW's
goes, you've compromised and this will
eventually turn up unapologetically in your
tunes. This is what happened to many Reggae
producers when they wanted to adjust their
Roots style to the Branch that had come into
existence (Hip Hop) and subsequently created
"Dancehall". Dancehall, today, is
a form of American R&B and has nothing
to do with Reggae. This is what happens to
DUB producers when they turn their
Reggae-driven DUB into loop-driven Music.
Their music will become another form of
Techno.
Music
like Techno, House, Dubstep: all loop-driven.
Reggae makes use of what
an uneducated person would call loops. Remember
how we created our first Reggae
instrumental? First two bars, then copy and
paste and make changes like breaks and
thing. Yes, you could mistake that for
making loops. This is why some approach the music as a loop based
music. However, there are differences.
In Techno, they will use a loop and
change the sound of that loop, or the rhythm
using midi pattern changes, or both. In
Reggae (and therefore in DUB), there is a
lot of repetiveness in drums, bass and
skanks which could easily be mistaken for
loops, especially because in the creation of
a riddim, loop technology can be utilized.
The
devil is in the details, they say, well this
difference is one such detail. One such detail why I
stress the importance of the fact that DUB
pre-dates the computer.
What
we do is use the
computer to re-create that Dub situation of
old times and make thoughtful use of the
possibilities the digital machine gives us
without cutting ourselves from the Roots,
not the other way around. Just like we first
create a Reggae track, before we can remix
it into a Dub. You can't (un)mute when there
is nothing to (un)mute!
You
can record a complete Reggae track with a
band using a multi-track audio DAW (that
would be any DAW basically), you can make
your own track using MIDI technology like we
did in previous chapters, or you can use
loops.
Whatever
(combination of) modern techniques you use,
use it to create an instrumental Reggae
track (or add vocals) first.
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