MESSIAN DREAD - REEL TO REAL DUBWISE
DUBROOM NET LABEL RELEASE
It's very difficult to say where Mad Professor's work ends and my work start in these three mixes without getting technical. All three tracks are obviously Ariwa sounds but in the same time my own styles and techniques can easily be recognized as well. I took drums, bass, keyboards and horns and made them fit. Sometimes this would work "instantly", other times I sliced loops and completely re-arranged them. Sometimes, I changed pitch of a loop to make it match the chords and the bassline. But never did I add an instrument or even soundscape from my own library. I did with vocals, though...
Actually, this is part of a larger project that I found myself drawn into after I purchased Mad Professor's Reel To Reel Reggae Volume Two and wrote the first review on it, only a day after it was released. I found the material so inspiring, that I started to construct some riddims and before I knew it I had fourteen different riddims plus a lot of ideas in my head. Let me just say: album.
At the moment this is written (July 15th, 2014) the riddims are still under construction. There will obviously extra elements like instruments and soundscapes, but since I am so enthusiastic about Reel to Reel Reggae I thought it would be a good idea to release three extended Dub tracks carrying only the musical/instrumental sounds from the two volumes. I promote Reel To Reel Reggae without apology and the best way I can do that is to do release this music. This is the kind of music that can be constructed from the sample packs with a little bit of effort and work.
Since I'm currently still working on the riddims, I can -and will- only give some personal impressions and feelings about working with Ariwa material. I remember as a teenager in the early 1980's I bought Mad Professor's Dub and phoned the number that was on the sleeve of the albums. I have spoken with Mad Professor just as a teenager who wanted express my happiness with his music and he did take the time for me even though I wasn't a business man or manager, just a teenager with love for the music. This remains is a precious memory for me, and now when my body approaches it's 50th year I know how decisive that half hour or so was for my later years as online (DUB) Reggae producer.
Of course I thought about this moment a couple of times while I was working on the material that now gave birth to this EP and -JAH Willing- later to an album (or more). It gave a special vibe as I was getting the different instruments to match each other, creating my own personal touch. Putting my soul to the music, if you will. Using elements of tracks that I love or well-known riddims like "Africa Must Be Free By 1983", which you can hear back in "Dub Weh Senseless Killahs", and make my own patterns of them.
A deep sense of respect rises, when you have a little ear for the richness of the sounds. Working with this material is like a DIY seminar from Mad Professor. Where for example I pay great attention to my bass lines musically, I am working now with bass lines that musically I would never even consider. But simply because of the sound of the bass, these lines become crucial in themselves. This is a lesson that all Dub producers have to learn, especially when they have a little musical background and want to put a lot of effort in the music. In the end it is about the sound and a boring bassline can become a bomb, where a musically interesting bassline can become like a toy-sound when stuff is not done correctly.
There, I said it before: I had to get into the tech-know a little bit.
Now, back to the music.
Three extended Dub mixes, especially created for this EP. Three different riddims that -JAH Willing- will also be used for an upcoming Dub album that will have extra content other than "just" the vocals and also eleven other riddims as well. I sincerely hope you like Reel to Real Dubwise! CLICK HERE for the official release notes at the Dubroom's Net Label pages.
TRACKS1. Dub Weh Blasphemer (6:17)
2. Dubhorse Lane (5:33)
3. Dub Weh Senseless Killahs (6:16)
Please do not re-publish the actual music, because unlike Dubroom releases before 2014, this EP is © Messian Dread/Dubroom. Available for free: 128 Kbps/320 Kbps MP3 Files, CD Quality Wave Audio.
