I don’t mean dubstep, or dub techno, or derivatives thereof - no offense. I like some of that stuff too, but I keep getting feedback from people who are surprised that I use Elektron gear for this stuff. Some examples:
Tribute to Robbie Shakespeare, 1953 - 2021, who passed away recently:
How Sweet It Is (Tyrone Evans):
Machinedrum X.04 dub, showing off the new tonal mode with polyphony:
I tried doing a dub of the Pixies’ “Monkey Gone to Heaven” on my DT before I sold it. I believe I may have done some tweaking in my DAW. But yea, defo used some Elektrons to do some actual Dub before. Surely most of those files are lost now, I’m not good at archiving unfinished/unsatisfying work of my own lol
I did some dub-inspired stuff on the Digitakt a long time ago. Probably will do some more on the new SP-404mkii that just showed up, hopefully with live instruments.
I dig the tanks (and your setup). I currently only have an old Fender one (90s reissue). This is my second Fender. One of the few pieces of gear I’ve bought back after selling it. Wish I kept my original as it was in a bit better shape. I could have bought a black tolex one from the 60s and a Space Echo for good prices here in Japan about 10-15 years ago, but the prices have gone up quite a bit and you don’t see them around much in the shops anymore, unfortunately.
There are some pretty crazy sound systems here in Tokyo as well. Unfortunately, the guy with one of the best in the area (Small Axe) passed away a few years back. I’m hoping to be able to hit more reggae/sound system events in Japan after the pandemic. One of my goals, lol.
Thanks! Funny, my RE-101 Space Echo is one I rescued from Tokyo from my trip there a while back - I brought it back to Brooklyn and have been happily abusing it ever since. The prices have definitely gone up for all of the Space Echo models, and here they’re just insane. Japan has an excellent reggae scene from what I can tell. Look out for a guy called Scratch Famous, he used to run Deadly Dragon Sound here in NYC and moved to Japan a few years ago. He also runs a great restaurant with his wife called Freeman-Shokudo in Shibuya, you’re guaranteed to hear great tunes in there.
Cool to see your 414 as well, that’s the machine I learned on (and I still have it).
Thanks for the tip! I’ll go check that restaurant out at some point. I’m actually not far at all from Shibuya on the train.
I used to live in NYC before I moved to Japan, but that was back in the mid-to-late 90s. I get back on trips home though, of course. Would love to talk to the guy about New York and find out what the good events to check out in Japan are these days.
Those tracks I posted are just a couple of things I did for a weekly Stones Throw beat battle, and I was still learning the Digitakt at that point. Looking forward to trying some more stuff to learn my way around the SP!
The 414 is actually a new addition for me. I’m really looking forward to trying some stuff out with it. The EQ is quite nice and you can overdrive stuff quite nicely with the preamps. Bass sounds great through it.
I’m thinking I’ll probably run the final mix of the SP404 through it stereo on two tracks for some tape compression and EQ, and maybe use the other two tracks for overdubs.
I also want to just do some straight up recording with it as well, guitar, bass, percussion. Maybe run my Strymon Volante and Flint through the effects channels for some live dubbing, and could even put the Deco on the main outs before I record it down to a stereo track. Lots to experiment with!
An old (few months) jam I did, Digitakt involved in sequencing a Nord Drum 3P, playing other drums, skunk and other sounds. Companions are Sub37 on bass duties, a koassilator mini for melody, Space for spring reverb, DoctorA for dubbing and things I can’t remember.
I recently did a bit of a dub track as a first track on my new SP404MKII. No samples from records (other than the intro), just instruments and VSTs (and even my own voice to try out the effects, haha). Ran it through the PortaStudio and the Strymon Volante. Still learning how to use the SP so the guitar sucked, but I was happy how the organ came out. Sort of a proof-of-concept prototype. Haha.
I don’t personally make any of that but I used to live with a bunch of cats who made and spun dub and dancehall. I got a bit overexposed for a while and had to take a long break but my appreciation eventually returned. I’m weirdly well versed.
While I don’t make that style I absolutely use a lot of the mixing and processing techniques that I gleaned from my time with them. Plus I’ve always loved making my own reverbs and other gear.
One of my favorite pieces I own is my modded mt-40 (sleng teng riddim machine).
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before @soon_come but I really like your stuff. Great flow and cool to hear someone doing that sound with that kind of gear, it’s been a while. Big ups!
That’s really nice of you to say. I try to mix the old and new, and your point about learning techniques from different musical disciplines is a great one. I really think that growing up on dub changed the way I think about all music for the better. 90s dancehall is a huge influence as welI, and we’re lucky to have a healthy group of artists, producers, engineers and selectors in Brooklyn.
I have an MT-40 as well, but stock… what did you do to yours?
Kinda half modded/ half circuit bent.
Various filters, a couple different feedback controls, distortion, expanded tuning range, clock speed hacking stuff, extra outputs, changed outs to 1/4” jacks, fine tuned some internal trimmers to my liking, etc. I have plans for more mods in the future, this is actually the second round of mods on this one.
I absolutely agree with you. There’s something to be learned from every type of music. No boundaries with knowledge.
While I’m a huge fan of dub, Lee Scratch Perry (the original upsetter!) being in the top 3 of my musical idols, the type of music I make has rarely sounded like this. Your tunes sound GOOD! Keep it up!
