Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Concepts: ‘keep them guessing’ (Scientist, quoted by Veal 79); ‘a dub mix works upon a listener’s desire for completion, a desire based on their memory of a preexisting song’ (Veal 79); ‘a dynamic of surprise and delayed gratification. The engineer continuously tantalizes the listener with glimpses of what they are familiar with, only to keep them out of reach, out of completion’ (Veal 78).

Audio: ‘New Dawn’ (8:15, Beat Pharmacy)

Allusions, comparisons: ‘Watergate Rock’ (2:50, King Tubby, 1974*); ‘Psalms of Dub’ (3:00, King Tubby, 1974*) *According to xraymusic.co.uk.

Playback architecture: I call it Desk-A-Phonic™ and it consists of a small 4’ wide desk, simple squared arc of wood with no frills, and inside the leg space on the carpet are two robust computer speakers in the far-most corners (good bass, ‘dem). Playing dub vibrates the desk, vibrates my hands on the mouse, and gives me the hint of a dub party – even if my puny bass-a-rockin’ is merely functioning as an audio symbol (nevertheless it reminds me of the dub context).

Beat Pharmacy’s ‘New Dawn’ flirts with the listener for 1:11 until the anticipated beat, a house beat, drops into the sound image; for that minute or so, the dubby guitar licks and bass harmony, and echo effects, are all calling out to us, it seems – or else they call out to the missing beat. At 1:11 the anticipated beat pummels the listener.

At 1:53 the beat forgets itself again in a dub oblivion until 2:23 (30 seconds). 2:55 – 3:02, another break-down. And at 4:00 a break. 4:32, a break which really gets down to bear bones. At around 4:50 the beat disintegrates noticeably before the break. In the fifth minute we hear effects, and more echo washing out and slapping around the beat, and a prominent bass harmony which is rather low and dark. The middle is the densest sound image. From about 6:40 to the end at 8:15, there is no beat.

The dub production strategy, if not theme, of sonic differance, if we may apply this Derridean term to the dub ‘surprise’, and to dub’s deferring the satisfaction of hearing resolutions to one’s aural expectations (namely, the bass line, beat, or vocals), has figured into house music albeit in a distilled and formalized way.

Dance musics like house (which grew largely out of club settings, and underground) have the dub differance usually toward the middle, where the track’s layers decompose, often revealing a spacious inner chamber, if you will. The dancers are enticed into this space (or must earn it by dancing), and after the break-down there is a moment to dub-out, a mini-oblivion, a clearing of the aural slate. When the party is hovering in that place of differance, perhaps not even dancing anymore, but simply swaying and tripping out, there is a level of expectation that arises about when and how the beat will flood the floor again.

Classic dubplates like ‘Watergate Rock’ (2:50, King Tubby, 1974) or ‘Psalms of Dub’ (3:00, King Tubby, 1974) – I have a theory that these two tracks are using the same riddim, but inversed – are not only using differance within the song’s own elements, but also playing with the listener’s expectations toward completing sound pictures from shards of previous songs. With dub differance the anticipatory climate is upheld or is completely freestyle throughout.

The Beat Pharmacy song complicates the expectation for the familiar house track’s middle break-down into oblivion. It does not occur. In keeping with the track’s dub inflections, ‘New Dawn’ instead goes the route of continuous differance melded with the stylings of house, and in this way it achieves a sonorous fusion whilst indicating the genetic ties between house and dub.

Joy Division Movie

Hey guys,
heres a trailer I just saw of a movie about the band Joy Division.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/control/trailer1/

Enjoy

Building Dub

In discussing the absence of literally preserved or documented institutions in Jamaica, Michael Veal highlights the complication of the merging of cultures that willfully neglect their creations with those that place a high value on works as completed artifacts and privilege the archive over the process. Veal quotes Chinua Achebe's observations on the Igbo mbari houses in Nigeria: "Process is motion while product is rest. When the product is preserved or venerated, the impulse to repeat the process is compromised." (Veal 92) Building these houses through the available material "samples" in the environment has an analogy in dub, where the producers are sampling the available recordings to construct a variation on their original structure. Mikey Dread's "Pre-dawn Dub" and King Tubby's "Psalm of Dubs" work from apparently the same recorded tracks with substantially different results. The signature of Dread's version is the production of animal and human noises layered on top of the sometimes subtracted dub mix in a treble yell. We hear a consistent drum and bass loop, while the wavering keyboard and guitar move in and out of the mix (always on that reggae offbeat). Tubby's version is sonically heavier with deep, resonating bass and chunky guitar; it also features the guitar and keyboard moving in and out of the mix (there's that offbeat again). Here are two different constructions from a similar, but always changing, sample base. Richard Pinhas uses a similar technique in his Dextro track, but unlike the Dub producers, the samples come from the studio and from the live performance of his work. Returning to the mbari houses, one might want to know: who owns the materials from which they were built?

Monday, October 22, 2007

transformation through reverb and equalization

The cultural and technological influences on dub music are centered in the Jamaican culture and political turmoil of the 70’s and 80’s. One use of technology that stands out is the use of reverb and the use of equalization and filtering devices. In King Tubby’s “Black Lash” The light and upbeat sounds of the horns playing drastically transform to a more desperate and even spooky feeling to the song as the use of reverb is applied to the horns. With the sound of the box reverb in the back transformed into a bubbling almost flapping sound I can feel the heat of the Jamaican sun. In contrast to the low tones of the horns Tubby uses equalization to bring out the higher and sharper tones of the symbols and guitar. “Equalization could also be used to help craft the ambient aspects of a performance. In particular, the interplay of echo and equalization enabled engineers to make simulated sound spaces sound as if they were continually morphing in dimension and texture. Lee “Scratch” Perry’s song “Upsetting Dub” is very similar in the way it uses reverb and equalization. The songs feels so heavy and drawn out. I can feel the tension and despair in the heat of the Jamaican ghetto.

Tubby Dub

As I listen to "Tubby's Dubs", I cannot help but notice the repetitive nature of all of the works. Using both the repetitive beat of reggae, as well as the consistent use of echo's; the Dub style manages to create an enjoyable tune with the use of only a few sounds. I believe that this style is successful because of the meaningful use of these techniques. The echos, pitch changes, volume changes, and added sounds made dub something to be listened to half a century ago as well as something to listen to today. By turning the reggae genre electronic, dub became the popular type of music to enjoy in Jamaica. When I listen to some of these tracks I can still see the ghost of Stockhausen, as well as other artists from the first unit. In Lee Perry's "The Tackro", Perry has all of the classic characteristics of dub music, but he incorporates screams of different pitches. Not quite as random as the work we listened to during the first unit, but still incorporating different sounds and noises of life into his work. The feeling of reggae has always been a very upbeat feeling, the use of the echo as well as some of the other electronic techniques can completely change the feeling of the original song. I believe that dub was effective because of the way it could influence such a straight forward genre.

Control in a Constructing Reality

The music emerging from Kingston not only dabbled in experimentation it reflected its surroundings. Through sound alteration artists like Lee “Scratch’ Perry and King Tubby could create a reality on their own terms. “They created a music as roughly textured as the physical reality of the place, but with the power to transport their listeners to dance floor nirvana as well as the far reaches of the cultural and political imagaination: Africa, outer space, inner space, nature, and political/economic liberation.” Just as in reggae a “slower tempo resulted in a brooding mood to discuss heavier topics” which was evident in early dub works. In Lee Perry’s “Guiding Star’, the slower tempo sets up a darker, ominous mood. The echoes and reverbs in the piece create an eerie sense of the past. However it simultaneously serves as a dance beat, and the lyrics suggest a rub-a-dub element to the piece in which couples can dance slowly and closely with one another in the dance halls. King Tubby captures this environment as well by bringing the harsh sounds of the streets directly into his track “A Ruffer Version.” A dance beat is paired with the firing of bullets and sirens. The sounds layered together make them inseparable. Just like Lee Perry track, heavy tones are set to beats that bring the community closer together. It was impossible to escape the violence and turmoil but they were able to harness and control it through sound while still incorporating cultural influences. The ability to place the sounds to their liking brought forth a sense of control and power during a time of instability and despair.

Domestication and Reclamation of Space in Dub

The rise of commodity scientism in the 1950's, as Timothy Taylor points out in Strange Sounds, began to confuse domesticated space and authority. While women were consuming space age kitchen appliances, men took on the hi-fi as a tool "to reclaim some domestic space and authority in the home". (Taylor 79) What would this domestication and reclamation sound like in Dub, a genre in which much of its music production took place in domesticated space (such as Lee Perry's Black Ark) with high technologies?

The home as the domestic space is a place of familiarity, where goings-on can be controlled. Riddims in dub music inhibit similar feelings as they are generic progressions that form the basis of these songs. The bass and saxophone lull in King Tubby's "Bag a Wire Dub" forming a space of familiarity and safety, allowing the listener over the the 3 minutes to become intimate with the riddim. The reclamation of this domesticated space takes place when (often) arrthymically, we hear a reverberated clang, which is probably King Tubby abusing his spring reverb unit. The domesticated space is disintegrated; it becomes fragmented and interrupted challenging the established safety within the riddim. "Bag a Wire Dub" is a constant flux of riddim-domesticated space and clang-reclaimed space. Scientist's "Beam Down" inhibits this flux in a slightly different way. A bass line creates a smooth, regular riddim with slight variations of reverb added. However, throughout the track, similar clangs and drum hits fragment the space created by the riddims, gradually growing in intensity throughout the track. The volume of these clangs grows throughout the track, reminiscent of of the hifi's volume level causing "spatial/spousal conflict" within the home. (Taylor 80) Much like how the hifi emerged as a reclaimer of domestic space, the abused spring reverb unit reclaims songs from the riddim.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Reverb is the Unifying Factor

The various technological, social and political factors that affect DUB, result in many different styles and definitions of this movement. However, one technique that remains consistent is the heavy use of reverberation or delay. Michael Veal states, “If fragmentation created dynamic tension in the mix, reverb was the cohering agent that held the disparate sounds together; as individual parts appear and disappear from the mix, reverberating trails of their presences provide continuity between one sound and the next.” Songs that are drastically different in mood, technique and tone still share a heavy reverb. King Tubby’s “A Ruffer Version” reflects the times of dark politics and war in Kingston when the recording studio served as a sanctuary and DUB was a powerful form of socio-political expression. Gun shots and sirens ring out though the mix while the reverb remains strong. King Jammy’s “Dub It in the Dancehall Dub” is nearly the opposite in every way but the consistent echo of the reverb. “Dancehall Dub” has a chill rhythm and upbeat melody that reflects the freedom and the high one feels in a Kingston dancehall surrounded by friends, rhythm and subwoofers.
When King Tubby first revealed delay on an amplifier he became one of the most sought out technicians in the region and soon everyone was trying to replicate his sound. Veal quotes Philip Smart, “The first time any other sound man ever heard delay, was when U-Roy came and take up the mic and say, “Your now entertained by the number one sound in the land, land, land, land, …”

Energy Fools the Magician

For this Blog Post, I looked though the material given though class and found this title called : Energy Fools the Magician.” After listening to this I had come to the conclusion that Timothy Taylor’s ideas on the Technoscientific Imaginary seemed to be the best way to describe this piece. This is a piece that carried a natural beat in through out but seems to bring in some kind of synthesizer at periods of the song. Through out the chapter, Taylor explained how electronic started to be incorporated within music after the Post War. This piece seems to emulate the Spooky Tooth: Ceremony area. Yes the piece doesn’t have any religious undertones with a rock twist, but the pieces seem to relate in bring in one thing to be over layered with another. With a natural sound which to me seemed to be an abstract beat, a synthesizer was placed over it with a more musical tone. There is a consistent ringing with a guitar playing various notes through out but the other sound seems to have something more to it. It sounds as though time was slowed to give it more of a chorus and make it stand out more.

Monks on Youtube



A friend of mine sent this by my way when he saw I was listening to the Monks. Totally wish I could have been dancing with those hip cats. They look a little more tame here than I thought they would have looked from our class discussion.

Beam Down

In Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae Michael Veal writes, “In the sonic culture of humans, the sensation of echo is closely associated with the cognitive function of memory and the evocation of the chronological past; at the same time, it can also evoke the vastness of outer space and hence (by association), the chronological future.”(p.198) This idea of dub as evocative of various (outer) spacial constructs existing within a chronological arrangement can be heard in “Beam Down” from Scientist. First of all, there is the clearly spacial element of reverberation applied to each snare hit. This is a common dub technique found in many songs such as King Tubby’s “No No No” and Prince Jammy’s “Jammin’ For Survival”. Additionally, the sonic manipulation of the bass through the use of EQ gives the repeating bass pattern the feel of a changing environment. The listener hears the quality of the bass sound change the “scenery” as the bassline walks through the space of the piece. Lastly, “Beam Down” makes use of sparse overlaid sounds that evoke a sense of outer space and technicality. An example of this can be found early in the piece (18 seconds) when an artificial-sounding “bleep” occurs and reverberates into the distance. Though these artificial sounds are heard only occasionally in the piece, they suggest a sense of otherworldliness that colors the entire mix. In these ways “Beam Down” by Scientist makes use of echo to evoke a sense of spatiality that gives the listener a sense of physical space (through the use of reverberation) as experienced through time (as measured by the walking of the bassline).

Having not listened to dub before, I have gathered several “first impression” observations about the genre; some of which are justly highlighted in Veal’s book, DUB. I thought it was interesting to look at the characteristics of dub that define the genre. In the second chapter of Veal’s book, he discusses several of these production strategies that make dub what it is. These include: spatial effects due to the use of reverb and echo, the use of equalization to create differences in the textures of sounds, and the inclusion of extraneous material. The best utilization of all three of these seems to come about in King Tubby’s Fittest of the Fittest Dub. Although, with perhaps the exception of the inclusion of extraneous material, it seems to me that every Jamaican dub in the class material utilizes the exact same techniques to the extent that I would argue that most Jamaican dub sounds the same. To me, the only real distinctive factor between these dub songs is the amount of inclusion or exclusion of vocal tracks. Although, perhaps it is merely the trends that certain producers have that I am hearing.

Back on track, one technique that became particularly apparent to me upon listening to dub tracks, such as Fittest of the Fittest Dub, was the use of echo, reverb, and EQ sweeps all at the same time in order to transition between certain sections of the song. It seems that this transition is comprised of an echo effect that not only fades out as time progresses, but also drops out the low frequencies gradually, until all that are left are the high frequencies before it fades out to nothing, creating a phenomenal alteration in space and texture. One section of Tubby’s track in particular starts at 0:28 when the vocal track of the singer follows this progression. The effect arises several other times throughout the duration of the track. Veal describes this use of equalization best when he states, “Using the equalization and filtering controls, overtones of an instrument can be manipulated until it sounds full, warm, and robust, or until it sounds thin, shrill, and eviscerated. Applied to an entire ensemble, a group can sound as if it is expanding or diminishing in size.” I would argue that the effects transition I described previously follows Veal’s description linearly, going from “warm and robust” to “thin and shrill” as the echo fades. This is no doubt a defining characteristic of dub mixes as it arises in other dub mixes from artists other than King Tubby, including Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Lee Perry Upsetting Dub, King Jammy’s Black and White Dub, Sly & Robbie’s Burial Dub, as well as many others by these dub legends.

Producing Dub

For this blog post, I decided to use Veal’s concept of how a producer is an artist with Lee Perry’s “Special Dub”. The Special dub is a piece that shows how much creative control the producer has in a song. Unlike times when the producer was just an engineer to get sound on a “recordable medium”, here Lee Perry uses his board as an instrument and it clearly shows through the amount of effects placed on the piece and the incorporated sonorous objects. From this, I have to ask the question: who is more responsible for works nowadays? Is it the producer or the musician? Or are they the same person? This concept is also seen in King Tubby’s Black Lash. Here he uses, trumpets from Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” and manipulates them over a consistent drum and bass loop to change his song and here the producer is certainly the musician. Here he transforms a song about drug addiction into a upbeat, positive island groove.


“More then any other engineering mixing dub, Perry’s Black Ark suggests the mood of an engineer completely absorbed in the world he is fashioning; this is estatic music created at the mixing board. “

Alchemists of Sound



I recently discovered this great documentary about the BBC's Radiophonic workshop on youtube (in 7 parts). part 1. part 2. part 3. part 4. part 5. part 6. part 7.

from the BBC's website:

The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop was set up in 1958, born out of a desire to create 'new kinds of sounds'. Alchemists of Sound looks at this creative group from its inception, through its golden age when it was supplying music and effects for cult classics like Doctor Who, Blake's Seven and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and charts its fading away in 1995 when, due to budget cuts, it was no longer able to survive.

There are interviews with composers from the Workshop, as well as musicians and writers who have been inspired by the output. Great archive footage of the Workshop and its machinery is accompanied by excerpts of the, now cult, TV programmes that featured these sounds.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Tools for your dub texts



Here are links to the Cut'n'Mix site and the Language Is a Virus resources.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

w00t: a collage of computer game sound and image



Bob Ostertag, sound artist and professor of technocultural studies at UC Davis, just released "w00t" on his website.

w00t consists of a 50-minute sound collage, a 4.5 minute sound “trailer,” and associated “cover art.” There is, however, no cover. w00t is a free, internet-only release. w00t was composed entirely from fragments of music from these computer games:

Balloon Fight • Congo Bongo • Contra • Earthbound • Halo: Combat Evolved • Ico • Katamari Damacy • Killer Instinct • The Legend of Zelda • Massive Assault • Myst
• Star Fox • Super Metroid • Super Smash Bros.: Melee • Viewtiful Joe • WarioWare, Inc: Mega Party Game$ • World of Warcraft

Images from these same games were included in the w00t art work. The w00t music began as the sound for Special Forces, a live cinematic performance by Living Cinema (Pierre Hébert and Bob Ostertag), which addressed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006.

Download "wOOt".

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Space and Human Destiny (FREE!)

The final installment of our "Beyond Earth: Ethical and Political Choices in Space" Series
In this ongoing discussion moderated by David Grinspoon, PhD, the Museum invites you to consider with scientists, astronauts, ethicists, and policy makers the ethical and political implications of human space activities. Co-sponsored by the Secure World Foundation and the Center for Space Exploration Policy Research at Southwest Research Institute.

What are the long term consequences and implications of space exploration for the future of the human race? Does space hold the key to the future of life and intelligence? Can the move into space help humanity to survive? Come hear the thoughts of some of today's most visionary thinkers about space exploration, and participate in a discussion about the human future.

Tuesday's Panel will include:

Jill Tarter, PhD, director, Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California. (Named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world; many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.)
Christopher McKay, PhD, Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, astrobiologist, and influential writer/speaker on interplanetary bioethics.
Robert Zubrin, PhD, President, The Mars Society
Moderated by Dr. David Grinspoon, Curator of Astrobiology, DMNS
Tuesday, October 16
7:00 p.m.
Phipps IMAX Theater; use IMAX Evening Entrance
Free
Reservations: 303.322.7009 or 1.800.925.2250



--
Dr. David Grinspoon
Curator of Astrobiology
Department of Space Sciences
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
2001 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80205
direct line: 303-370-6469
fax: 303-370-6005
dgrinspoon@dmns.org


President and Rhythm Guitar
Funky Science, Inc.
david@funkyscience.net

http://www.funkyscience.net/

Monday, October 8, 2007

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon opened last month, and I thought of it today because I remembered someone in class wondering if there had been any efforts to archive the stories of astronauts. This looks like an attempt at that, focusing on the Apollo missions to the Moon.

Also, on the movie's website, there's a really nice writing by the film's composer, Phillip Sheppard and how he approached scoring the film (Under "About the Film"):

My initial impulse when thinking about the project was 'Space! America! Let's go big and bombastic adn write music that's going to punch them out of their seats.' But of course that's not what the film's about; its much more of a human story. Funnily enough it's more in the way of a chamber piece; it's more intimate...

So for the launch, where you may expect a full symphony orchestra to be playing right from the off, we're starting really small with just the tiniest instrument, the little marimba, and then building to something that's absolutely enormous We've gone the opposite way to what you might expect...

We recognized that this film is about the frontier mentality; the idea of discovering not the new West but the new world, and I wanted that pioneering spirit to be manifest in the score. I love the old West and this traditional American string music is among my favorites.

Sounds familiar but with a new approach. Its showing at the Landmark Chez Artiste on Colorado. Also, check out that computer! It looks like a giant wall of synthesizers!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The Posthuman DJ - in the 70's at TX/LA radio

Wow, I am floored by this amazing broadcast from The Black Pope:

"I'm a human radio station, I'm the transmitter, I'm the tower, I'm the turntables, I'm the building, I'm every doggone thing."

More jive DJ's here.

RIAA -- "Sounds For The Space-Set!!"



Check out this great, album-sized "mashup tribute to the pioneers of electronic music......A glamorous excursion thru the solar system..." from the RIAA -- that is, the Robotic Intergalactic Astro-Artists. The playlist is like a who's-who of artists relevant to our class. Tracks 3-5 are particularly out-of-control -- out of mission-control, that is -- mashups.

Monday, October 1, 2007

The Amen Break



Here's a great video/installation by Nate Harrison on the Amen Break sampled from The Winstons' "Color Him Father". It's easily the most used breakbeat ever and I would assume followed up in popularity by "Funky Drummer" by James Brown/Clyde Subblefield (who has a myspace page!) and "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band. I think its an interesting meme in electronic music. I don't really have a background in memetics, or fully understand the concepts surrounding them but I would argue that the Amen Break, as a staple of hip hop, house, drum and bass and other genres of electronic music is really successful at survival. I really would like to spend some time looking at its mutations and also how it could be detrimental to its host (perhaps it's seen as too derivative?).

Also interestingly, Harrison argues that markets and capital will benefit from a more open and flexible culture and public domain.

EDIT: I'm sorry, as my fiance pointed out in the comments, the SONG the sample is from is "Amen, Brother" which is on the B-side. Color Him Father is on the A-side.