Reggae cuts

Larz48 · #1 02-14-2009, 10:47 PM

I've always been a big fan and would love to start playing this type os music. I've been listening to many many Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Hepcat and others trying to pick up lines but it's a bit frustrating at times. Does anyone know of certain books or sites that might help me? Thanks in advance.

bigblondeafro87 · #2 02-14-2009, 11:32 PM

Check out Lee 'Scratch' Perry for some old school dubness. Also you will probably appreciate dub and dub step, which are more modern evolutions of reggae. They both tend to feel darker than traditional reggae with basslines that are equally amazing with such a unique feel.

I'd suggest listening to as much reggae/ dub as you can find and listen for common phrasing in the rhythym section. Listen for how the bass fits in the mix. Drums in reggae are completely different from jazz, rock, etc because drumsets were brought into the caribbean and there were no previous notion of how to play them.

Learn to use space to your advantage, make a distinct differences between stacato notes and fat notes, and play with intention.

Good luck!

DreadyDiggs · #3 02-15-2009, 02:49 AM

I'm your man.

Youtube is what you need. Listening to a lot. Here are some great lines for starters.

Junior Murvin-Police and Thieves(live)
Clinton Fear-Chatty Chatty Mouth(live)
Black Slate-Amigo
The Melody Makers-Sugar Pie(live) The Wailers are backing here.
UB40-Present Arms(live)

I'm learning a lot by ear now, but started with tabs from here. Now I submit them when I learn by ear. I can't help you as far as theory or anything, but if you need music, send me a PM or just keep asking for more here haha.

sleeplessknight · #4 02-15-2009, 09:02 AM

Ed Friedland has an excellent book on reggae basslines. Check it out, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of my copy:
http://www.amazon.com/Reggae-Bass-Bu...4713719&sr=8-1

--Lee

psychotiger · #5 02-15-2009, 09:13 AM

+1 on Ed Friedland's book. It explains the origins of reggae and its line of development from jazz and R&B influences. It has plenty of transcribed bass lines and an excellent CD.

An excellent tool that has helped me pick out and transcribe bass lines for my self is the Tascam MP-BT1. Plays mp3's. You can slow them down and loop parts which helps a bunch.

bass12 · #6 02-15-2009, 12:39 PM

Quoted - "Also you will probably appreciate dub and dub step, which are more modern evolutions of reggae. They both tend to feel darker than traditional reggae with basslines that are equally amazing with such a unique feel."

Quoted - "I'd suggest listening to as much reggae/ dub as you can find and listen for common phrasing in the rhythym section. Listen for how the bass fits in the mix. Drums in reggae are completely different from jazz, rock, etc because drumsets were brought into the caribbean and there were no previous notion of how to play them."

Just to clear a couple of things up with the above quotes. Dub IS traditional reggae - having come into existence fairly soon after the transition was made from rocksteady to reggae. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a "dub bass line", since dub is simply a remix of an existing track (the bass line itself doesn't change). Drums in reggae are not different because there was "no previous notion of how to play them"! The guys who developed ska, then rocksteady and reggae mostly grew up playing big-band jazz and calypso, and they were all heavily exposed to jump and R&B.

If you want to learn to play reggae, you're going to have to use your ears. Forget the books. Buy as many Studio One recordings as you can find (there are a bunch of compilations and rereleases on labels such as Heartbeat and Soul Jazz). A good artist to begin with is Jackie Mittoo. He was an organist who wrote a lot of the bass lines still being recycled today ("Darker Shade Of Black" is one of many classics). Most of the releases under his name are instrumentals, so you might have an easier time picking out the bass lines if you start here. Another excellent place to look is the late 70s and early 80s productions of Henry "Junjo" Lawes. Albums such as Yellowman's "Mr. Yellowman", Barrington Levy's "Prison Oval Rock" and Cocoa Tea's "Rocking Dolly" showcase the playing of Jamaica's hottest studio band of the era (Roots Radics) and make use of a lot of classic bass lines. Also, because the production on these records is fairly "clean" compared to many earlier recordings, it is easier to hear what the bass is doing. If you want any other suggestions, PM me.

bigblondeafro87 · #7 02-15-2009, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Just to clear a couple of things up with the above quotes. Dub IS traditional reggae - having come into existence fairly soon after the transition was made from rocksteady to reggae. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a "dub bass line", since dub is simply a remix of an existing track (the bass line itself doesn't change). Drums in reggae are not different because there was "no previous notion of how to play them"! The guys who developed ska, then rocksteady and reggae mostly grew up playing big-band jazz and calypso, and they were all heavily exposed to jump and R&B.

There really is no need to be aggressive, I'm just passing on the knowledge that I have. About the drums, I may be wrong but I got my info from a music professor at my university. Don't try to say that dub/ dub step isn't a unique genre with a different feel than reggae. Check out Kali Live Dub if you honestly don't know what I'm talking about. And yes, a typical bass line in this genre tends to be different than a traditional reggae line.

Badbear79 · #8 02-15-2009, 04:45 PM

modern dub bass lines sound like whale farts to me, usually just software synths probably. Another great source of the standard dancehall riddim basslines can be found On Trojan's Dancehall boxset. Alot of the recycled standard lines can be heard from modern artists to this day.

DreadyDiggs · #9 02-15-2009, 05:12 PM

Dub vs. Reggae

Okay, well the ORIGINAL dubs were basically the instrumental versions of the actually song with added echo (and other efx) with more emphasis on the drum and bass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7xZNtnNlM
The Upsetters Holiday Dub

Perfect example of an early dub cut.

While you may believe that dub and reggae are different, if you go ask any reggae artists that's been around since Studio 1 days, dub to them is the instrumental track with added production and little to no vocals. If you're at a reggae concert and the singer yells "Dub it", he stops singing and the band plays, and the sound man or keyboardist starts added echo-like sounds and other efx.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP2ne-wiKi0
Misty in Roots - Music Suite (live) Reggae with a Rickenbacker haha

An example of what I'm talking about here at this show.

Dub has changed over time, become more out of this world in the sounds you can hear, but it's roots are what I've described above.

bigblondeafro87 · #10 02-15-2009, 05:58 PM

Yes I already knew that dub is basically rhythym and bass emphasised in reggae with some added effects, but thats not what I was trying to say. Dub, in the vernacular, now is a genre of its own.

DreadyDiggs · #11 02-15-2009, 06:48 PM

Well. Yes dub is a genre of it's own. But that genre is composed of traditional dub and new dub if you wanna call it that.

Linton Kwesi Johnson released 3 dub albums, LKJ in Dub Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Burning Spear has released Dub Versions of some of his albums and call them Living Dub Volume whatever.

I just checked Kali Live Dub on youtube. I hear traces of reggae no doubt, but I'd definitely called that something else haha. It's transcended traditional reggae and reggae dub....definitely. It's definitely not my style (traditionalist here) but it's groovy no doubt.

bass12 · #12 02-15-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigblondeafro87

There really is no need to be aggressive, I'm just passing on the knowledge that I have. About the drums, I may be wrong but I got my info from a music professor at my university. Don't try to say that dub/ dub step isn't a unique genre with a different feel than reggae. Check out Kali Live Dub if you honestly don't know what I'm talking about. And yes, a typical bass line in this genre tends to be different than a traditional reggae line.

I'm not being aggressive, I'm just correcting you on a couple of things. You are mistaken about dub, and dubstep is an entirely different style of music which developed three decades after dub! There is simply no such thing as a "dub bass line", despite what you might have seen printed in Bass Player magazine. Dub is a form of remixing, not a style of composition. There are bands who play "live dub", but this is nothing more than an appropriation of a studio-made aesthetic.

Some sources (print) for you to check out:

"Cut 'N' Mix" by Dick Hebdige

"Bass Culture" by Lloyd Bradley

"Solid Foundation" by David Katz

"The Rough Guide To Reggae" by Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton

"Dubwise" by Klive Walker

The sleeve notes to any of the dub releases on Blood & Fire records, written by Steve Barrow - a U.K. authority on Jamaican music (Barrow also wrote the sleeve notes for the Island Records box set "Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music").

The sleeve notes to any of the Soul Jazz Studio One compilations.

I can also offer you a comparative transcription of Jacob Miller and Augustus Pablo's "Baby I Love You So" vs "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" (the dub version of "Baby I Love You So") which was part of a 45 page analysis I wrote last year.

xaxxat · #13 02-15-2009, 09:04 PM

This guy is fun to listen to: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...SS&view=videos

Larz48 · #14 02-15-2009, 10:51 PM

Thanks for all the info fellas, it's going to take some time to sort through it all. One at a time. I'm just having trouble with the timing most of all. It just feels off as far as what the other instruments are doing with the exception of the drums.
Thanks again. Great info!

pbass2 · #15 02-15-2009, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larz48

I'm just having trouble with the timing most of all. It just feels off as far as what the other instruments are doing

Hey, don't sweat it--it can be MUCH trickier than it sounds. I've been playing reggae for ages and as far as I'm concerned I'm still a student of reggae bass! There's a great documentary about Bob and The Wailers---I forget what it's called, and it's been a while since I saw it, but they talk about how when they took the band to England for the first time to record--early 70's I guess(?)---and a few very established British session cats were recording with them---guitarists I think, and even they were struggling to latch onto the groove and play it right---they kept losing the "1"!

bigblondeafro87 · #16 02-15-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

...despite what you might have seen printed in Bass Player magazine.

Is that called for?? (you assume I read some magazine because of my post?

) I am NOT saying you are wrong. Obviously you are most knowledgable in the ways of the reggae music. The appropriation of the aesthetic called dub has, in itself, become a genre to many, many people. Despite what elitists may want, if the masses say it is a genre, it is a genre.

Now I don't want this to take up anymore room in this poor guys thread, so please just drop it.

Oh and I just checked out Present Arms by UB40, that is a killin tune! Being in that audience must have been something else!

If you are having trouble with the syncopations, I'd suggest practicing with a metronome on two and four so you start to feel the beat as opposed to hearing it.

DreadyDiggs · #17 02-15-2009, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbass2

Hey, don't sweat it--it can be MUCH trickier than it sounds. I've been playing reggae for ages and as far as I'm concerned I'm still a student of reggae bass! There's a great documentary about Bob and The Wailers---I forget what it's called, and it's been a while since I saw it, but they talk about how when they took the band to England for the first time to record--early 70's I guess(?)---and a few very established British session cats were recording with them---guitarists I think, and even they were struggling to latch onto the groove and play it right---they kept losing the "1"!

I think the documentary you're talking about is Catch A Fire, named after the band's first album with Chris Blackwell.

nonfatmatt · #18 02-16-2009, 12:43 AM

Just to chime in here...Hepcat really does first wave Ska more than reggae... Dave (RIP btw) played more jazz style basslines than anything...I'd listen to older stuff like the Skatalites/Prince Buster/Lord Creator if you're trying to capture that vibe. Also Marcus Geard of the Slackers is up that alley.

Mazatleco17 · #19 02-16-2009, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadyDiggs

I think the documentary you're talking about is Catch A Fire, named after the band's first album with Chris Blackwell.

Isn't the one where they talk about the song "concrete jungle" and how producers made it sound more like rock.

DreadyDiggs · #20 02-16-2009, 04:36 AM

Well they're discussing the entire album and how they (Blackwell and crew) used overdubs to make it more appealing to the rock audience. Wayne Perkins did the rock guitar intro to the albums opening song, which is of course Concrete Jungle. But yea, they talk about Perkins and he's on the documentary doing the intro. Family Man and Robbie Shakespeare talk about their contributions as well, among others.

So yes that's the one haha.