Dub is an electronic music style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Today, it has a globally influence on music production and electronic instrument design. Similar in many respects to electroacoustic music , dub consists of sonic transformations through the utilization of custom-designed loudspeakers and studio technologies. 

Thought Universe EMS was recently asked to produce a traditional dub version of the song Riders on the Storm by The Doors. Dub music is characterized by a ‘version’ or ‘double’ of an existing song, often instrumental, initially almost always pressed on the B-side of 45 RPM records and typically emphasizing the drum and bass for sound popular in local sound systems. We were provided with a vocal stem of the song sung by the Jamaican singer and songwriter Horace Andy. Andy singing style mixes melodic phrases with extended techniques. He found mainstream success singing for the UK trip hop band Massive Attack. He vocals often imitate the sound of studio instruments used in the past production of reggae music. This crossover of natural and electronic sound creates an otherworldly environment that mixes together real and virtual entities. By listening to the musical structure of the vocal stem an electronic underscore was composed, consisting of instrumental parts, rhythms and textures. In homage to the dub aesthetic the final mix was mixed directly to DAT tape using an analogue mixing desk and SFX units. These sonic machines, when played by the hand of an artist, imprinted their own schizophrenic characteristics directly into the sounding material. 

Riders (Thought Universe Dub)

 

Riders (2024)

The process spatially abstracts the semiotic chain, through the dynamism of sound, an ever changing propagation with infinite physical and sensorial possibilities.