Reggae and Dub Primer

[kesslari]

Given that I spent a lotta years playing in traditional reggae bands, and opening for folks like The Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, et. al., and seeing the periodic questions that come up about reggae and dub, I thought I'd do a bit of writing.

Mods, if there's a better forum for this, please drop it in there.

Obviously, all generalizations are to some degree wrong and this one is no exception. But if they provide a basis for better understanding and further study, then they serve their purpose...

Reggae is essentially simple music, in which the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. Each instrument has a pretty specific part. Although reggae is not polyrhythmic, it has some of its roots in cultures where polyrhythm is common, and as with polyrhthms, simpler is better. Taking a part and adding complexity does not generally add to the whole - it generally makes for mud.

Instruments and Parts:

Drums:
The drums are the foundation, and typically have a pretty specific role.
They either play accents on "1" and "3" (kick on 1, kick and snare on 3) for a typical "roots" groove, or "one drop" (the "1" has dropped out) with no accent on "1", and kick and snare on "3". Carlton Barrett of the Wailers plays a lot of One Drop, he's a great source for that.
This "accents on 1 and 3" is sometimes why reggae was called "inside out rock and roll" as in rock the accents are typically on 2 and 4.

Guitars:
The "Chop" - strong staccato chord on "2" and 4". The tension between this (the "chop") and the drums on 1 and 3 are the hallmark of reggae. Often American guitards want to complicate things and play more complex groovy strumming patterns (like the "Bubble", see below) but that only screws up the groove and announces to all and sundry that, regardless of your racial background, you are Wholly Lacking in Groove.

Second guitar - may double the bass line, or may "Chop", or may play a different single note line (typically short and repetitive and slightly muted/staccato). A great example of the latter is in Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved".

Keyboard:
The "Bubble" - the keyboard sometimes expands the "chop" to play on either side of the main beat (the 2 and 4) by playing "and-2-and" "and-4-and". This is known as the "bubble".

Bass:
Sadly (and ironicaly, as a bass player) I can come up with no hard and fast rules for reggae bass. Bass is the instrument in reggae that has the most freedom from rules. Some basslines avoid the "1". Some land heavily on it. Some create tension by alternating between bars that accentuate "1" and bars that avoid it.
Many lines are chord-tone based. Many use primarily roots and fifths. Some are more scale based, or use scale tones prominently. Some are sparse, some are fairly full.
Listening and learning basslines from a variety of bassists is key. A lot of sessions were done by the same bands, so a handful of bassists gets you a ton of great listening. Recommended listening:
"Family Man" Barrett - The Wailers
Robbie Shakespeare - Black Uhuru, many others
Flabba Holt - Roots Radics (backed many reggae singers, including Gregory Issacs)
Richard Daley - Third World
there are others, no offense to those who I didn't mention...

Reggae bass sound is traditional, "old-school" and full. Neck pickup, picking near the neck, whatever works for you to get a full sound. P-Bass with flatwounds is a safe bet, but a more modern bass with rounds will work if you are good at working your gear and your touch to get that full sound.

Dub
Dub music was originally a studio phenomenon. The story is that a producer (I think it was Lee "Scratch" Perry, but I could be remembering wrong) was listening back to a track and solo'd the vocals (to hear the quality of the vocal track). When he dropped the instruments back into the mix, the people in the studio responded in a positive way, and he felt he was on to something.
Dub originally meant to drop instruments in and out of the mix, and to add heavy delay or other effects to key tracks. Played live, "Dub" is almost "anti-soloing", as they instruments simply drop their rhythm parts in or out of the music. A classic, simple dub effect is for the guitars and keyboards to drop out for 2 bars, leaving only bass and drums, then come back in, or the reverse (bass and drums drop out, leaving only guitars and keys), or to switch (guitars and keys out, then when they drop in, bass and drums drop out). Obviously it can get more complex than that, but playing with those effects will give you a good idea of the potential. And again, this is a case where "less is more"...

Burning Spear's album "Garvey's Ghost" is a classic of Dub. It's now available on CD together with the album on which it was based (the album "Marcus Garvey") which gives you a great look at both the original versions of the songs and the dub versions.
Augustus Pablo made some beautiful dub albums.
Numerous producers made their own dub records (look for guys like Mad Scientist, King Tubby, Lee "Scratch Perry).
If you can find it, "Raiders of the Lost Dub" is another hidden gem.

Hope this was helpful. Keep the groove, brothers and sisters.

[Shroom]

Wow! This is a great thread! I've been waiting for a good explanation of what reggae is made up of, because I have no idea. To be honest, the only "reggae" I listen to often is that which is made by 311, Pepper, and Sublime, so I'm not that great at getting into that proper reggae groove

I'd love to show the "bubble" thing to the guitar player and drummer in my ska band too. We have a "reggae" break down or two in a couple of our songs and "the bubble" is the guitardist's idea of correct guitar playing for it, and it never sounded right to me

[four2oh]

nice little primer, thanks!

[Infernal Affair]

Excellent! I swear that a reggae/dub questions pops up at least every week in this forum. Now I could just copy and paste this url. Hope this one becomes a sticky.

[Saturday]

some other tips for playing reggae.
- play less and less and less. lots of spaces.
- play QUIETLY. i mean, barely touching the strings. this makes the notes 'boom' more. just turn the bass on the amp all the way up. the tone on your bass all the way down. you don't need those highs.
- yes, play neear the neck, almost in the fretboard.
- there's a certain section in the neck that works better for dub / reggae, the fundamentals sound just better and more prominent. this is in the zone between the 7th and 12th fret.
- equipment is almost non-important. yes, flatwounds work great. most reggae bassit played jazz basses, but if not, they just played anything that they could lay their hands on.

[jumbosilverette]

Great post, kresslari. And you too, Saturday.

[Toastfuzz]

Excellent thread.

[Joe Gress]

This thread would go great with some clips as well.

Thanks kesslari.

[One Drop]

Nice post, kesslari.

[Nyarlathotep]

+1 to space. Let the music breath.

[Libertad]

Great thread! Thanks for the useful information.

[Guy from Idaho]

thanks much. GFI

[MakiSupaStar]

Great thread kesslari. I play dub reggae. We play our own songs as well as covers of some great dub classics. Here's one that we play, by Gregory Isaacs. It's Style Scott on Drums and Errol Flabba Holt on bass. This is the rhythm section for the Roots Radics, as well as Dub Syndicate. These guys are probably my favorite rhythm section in reggae, although I'm a big fan of all those Kesslari mentioned.

This is a fun bassline. Pretty simple, but grooves nicely. Four notes. I'm kind drawing a blank right now without my bass in front of me but I believe it's B, F, C E(flat). I play it 2nd fret on the A string for the B. 3rd fret on the D string for the F. 3rd fret on the A string and 6th fret on the Astring. Enjoy.

Cool Down The Pace Dub

[kesslari]

MAki - Gregory + Radics - excellent stuff.
We used to do a very dub version of "Soon Forward" that was one of my favorite ever songs to play. A band that can play dub well, live, is a band that listens to one another, has dynamics, and most likely cares more about the music than about their individual egos.
I wish I had a copy of the recording we did of that. Gone like so much else... just out there in the great void of music-that-has-been-played.

[lunarpollen]

I've found that a lot of stuff labelled "dub" seems to have way too much off-tempo delay tacked on to random parts, often to the point of oscillation feedback.

[brivello]

Originally Posted by kesslari

in rock the accents are typically on 2 and 4.

Really???????

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by kesslari

MAki - Gregory + Radics - excellent stuff.
We used to do a very dub version of "Soon Forward" that was one of my favorite ever songs to play. A band that can play dub well, live, is a band that listens to one another, has dynamics, and most likely cares more about the music than about their individual egos.
I wish I had a copy of the recording we did of that. Gone like so much else... just out there in the great void of music-that-has-been-played.

Yep. Ah Soon Forward. That song is great. My DJ has samples of that scratchy-percussion thing ( I can't think of the name of it). We also play Night Nurse, and Confirm Reservation. Flabba bass lines are just fat and solid. Love playing them.

[baba]

Nice work kesslari!!!

[Nyarlathotep]

I gotta get back into the reggae. Awesome sounds.

EDIT: I totally forgot I had the Reggae Bass book by Ed Friedland. I hadn't actually broken the CD pocket until just now, and I've had it since last X-mas I did give my index finger a papercut in the process. Serves me right I guess lol Seems like a good book to learn some riddims

[Drifta]

Reggae is awesome. love it.

Here is a VERY FUN bassline me and my roomates were jamming to this song recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygMTCv7_2Vo