Dub styles

M

MattkerbJunkie

Guest
I'm interested in finding out how those dub sounds are created, the sounds i mean are the types used by electronic dub artists like pole & Marko Furstenberg, & i guess they are the sound that in original dub replaces the geetar or organ.It sounds to me like the sound has been put through a lowpass and then a delay,but i'm sure thats not all. Just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.
Thanks
Matt
 
The sound should be a guitar chord, through delay, than through bypass filter with good amount of resonance (witch makes it sound like organ) and LFO on filter frequency (CUT OFF).
 
Thanks All,

Very helpfull,essp the dub site.I've been playing about with filters,delays,lfo's and reverbs.Great fun.
Thanks again
Matt
 
What seems to be really crucial to me is feedback paths.

What? Let me explain:

(I'll use the analog mixer as an area for exploration, but you can accomplish the same thing (almost - but that's another story) with a digital/software mixer.)

For example, you set up a delay on one channel. You set up an Aux Send that sends to this delay channel. Now, on the delay channel, you insert a bit of hi-frequency filtering and maybe a touch of overdrive (mda combo[/b[] is nice for this, as a free VST plugin). Rather than turning up the feedback control on the delay, turn up the Aux Send on the delay's return channel. This way, the delay passes through the filter/overdrive on each repeat, so gets duller and more distorted with each repeat. Sounds much more organic than a straight delay (which sounds pretty sterile in comparison).

Use other stuff on the delay channel - phaser is nice, or a flanger without much feedback. The idea is to change the sound with every repeat.

For more complexity, set up a spring reverb on one channel and a delay on another. Set up Aux Sends going to each. Send the output of the delay into the reverb, and the output pof the reverb into the delay. Use a mono delay and a mono reverb, and pan them differently. Nice evolution and organic goodness.

Automate your send levels or (better yet) play them by hand while recording. If you want, you can cut 'n paste the best pieces from this experimentation, and use 'em again within your tune.

If you're using a digital mixer, make sure your mix controls are at 100% wet. (No time to go into this now, but suffice to say that it'll keep you free of comb-filtering thinness.)

Just a few ideas I've found useful.

-Hoax
 
Thanks.

I'll have a play with that later,thanks alot hoax
Matt
 
Cruel Hoax said:
If you're using a digital mixer, make sure your mix controls are at 100% wet. (No time to go into this now, but suffice to say that it'll keep you free of comb-filtering thinness.)

-Hoax
Click to expand...

great tips, esp this one! mixing the original signal with a micro-delayed version coming back from digital fx can cause all sorts of headaches, phase distortion and muddiness, etc.
 
I have a anologue mixer,but don't use it much as i only have 1 output(Headphones) on my computer. So i guess i come under the software mixer part.
so 100% wet signals is the way forward.

I use audiomulch software to write music in which is a bit different to the normal software studio setup. So i have set up separate signal paths for signals that are processed and then directed them back into the mixer with the dry sound,kind of like an aux send i guess.or even just running the wet signal alongside the dry one and into the next channel on the mixer.

If any of you use vst, or direct x plugins and have found one's that perticularly are suited to dub,reverbs,filters ect. I'd be interested to know which ones?

At the moment i use some delays from www.theinterruptor.ch. davebrown plugins do a nice delay,and mda have a pack with awhole load of nice plugins.

thanks again
Matt
 
Audiomulch seemed decent when I checked it out, but it started complaining to be registered very soon after I started playing, which got its digital arse deleted.

If You've got an analog mixer, I'd suggest using it to your advantage, because it can do things no digital mixer can do. Yes, even the lowly B***inger is capable of these tricks:

Bring your drums up- on separate channels. Bring up a reverb-style channel, too. (This can be drums sent to a digital reverb if you have nothing better. But for added grime and funk, send the drum signal to a speaker (spare guitar amp?) and put a mic in the same room picking it up.) Anyway, use an Aux Send pon your analog mixer to do this: Send the kick and snare, maybe the overhead mics a bit, and the "ambience/reverb" track out one Aux Send. Patch this Aux Send into a compressor. Squish the signal like crazy: short or medium-short atttack, short release, silly ratio (4:1 or 8:1 or higher) and a low enough threshold that it thoroughly mangles the sound. Bring the output of this compressor back on one channel of your analog mixer and blend it in with the drums. If you're using realistic-sounding drums (as opposes to 808/909 drums), this adds both rudeness and focus to the drum track. It's one of my favorite tricks.

But...

You can't do it with a digital mixer (hardware or software). Every conversion from analog to digital, or vice versa results in a tiny delay. This isn't always noticeable by itself, but when combined with an undelayed signal, you'll hear it thin out and get wack-sounding quickly.

Thus the theory: Analog mixing will never die!

Har har har.

-Hoax
 
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