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Reggaeton is sweeping the Latin music world with its irrepressible blend of tropical Latin and reggae rhythms. Today many of the most popular reggaeton artists come from Puerto Rico, but you can't keep this music from sailing out to the rest of the world.
The Music:
The distinctive sound of today's reggaeton is a mix of Jamaican dancehall rhythms, derived from reggae, and Latin merengue, bomba, plena and sometimes salsa. It's heavily percussive beat is called "dembow" and comes from Trinidad's 'soca' music; it fuses electronic dance music, hip-hop elements and Spanish / Spanglish rap to form a compelling, driving sound that has been embraced by hispanic urban youth worldwide.
Roots of Reggaeton:
Historically there has been an invisible line that has segregated Jamaican music and other Latin dance styles. But that line was breached in Panama, a country with a significant Jamaican population that had migrated south to work on the Panama Canal in the early 20th century.
There's a heated debate about whether reggaeton originated in Panama or Puerto Rico. While it seems obvious that the roots are Panamanian, some of the best know (and earliest) purveyors of today's reggaeton sounds come from Puerto Rico, so the confusion is easily understood.
Panama:
Panamanian El General (Edgardo A. Franco) was one of the pioneers of the Reggaeton sound, returning to Panama from an accounting job in the states to record the new dancehall fusion.
During the 1990s, the reggae sound became more popular in Panama and continued to change as elements of hip hop, rap and other carribean music fused with the older reggae dancehall style.
Puerto Rico Takes Over:
As the mixture of hip hop, rap and reggae caught the imagination of urban youth in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Latin cultural centers in the U.S., the majority of new reggaeton artists catching the public's imagination came from Puerto Rico - to the extent that reggaeton is often thought of as primarily Puerto Rican Music.
Puerto Rico's pioneering rapper, Vico C, started releasing hip hop recordings in the 1980s and over time mixed in urban Panamanian dancehall music. Performing in a suit rather than traditional rapper clothing, Vico added plena and bomba elements to his musical mix. The music caught on and generated a wealth of musical talent bent on expressing the angst, anger and energy of urban life set to a compelling rhythm.
Reggaeton Takes Off:
2004 was the year that reggaeton finally burst out of its confined space. With the release of Daddy Yankee's Barrio Fino, Tego Calderon's El Enemy de los Guasibiri, Ivy Queen's Diva and Real, the reggaeton sensation was off and running and shows no sign of slowing down.
Puerto Rico's large roster of reggaeton artists include, along with those mentioned above, Voltio, Glory, Wisin & Yandel, Don Omar, Luny Tunes, Calle 13 and Hector El Bambino (now Hector the Father). This Puerto Rican invasion has captured the hearts of urban hispanic youth the world over.

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I am solo performer and I use this method a lot when I perform. I want to share it with you how to do it.
I will show how you can play guitar and producing rhythm beat like percussion or drum at the same time. Especially playing reggae music. You guitar must be an acoustic one - not electric.
Pick any chord to use - it doesn't matter. Or for this practice , use A-minor. Concentrate on the right hand - because you are going to 'drumming' and 'strumming' at the same time. Try to do 4/4 beat. Slowly on beat, do these below:
1. Slap or hit the neck of the guitar or on frets with the palm of your hand.Make sure it makes sound, like you a drummer hitting a snare.
2. Then, do strumming (down stroke on staccato)
3. Hit or slap the body of the guitar with your bottom part of your palm to produce 'Bass' sound. It depends on the guitar. You might hit random spot to find the perfect 'Punchy Bass' sound.
That's it. Now try to do it faster over and over. It looks simple but it can be hard when you have never done it before. But trust me you can do it within a minute.
I know it's small tips and not for everyone, but I hope this would make you to pick up your guitar and try it.
Please do share your thought about this, I might learn from you.

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Reggae fusion' or reggaefusion, is a term that is used to describe the style of mixing reggae or dancehall with different influential elements of other genres whether it be hip hop, r&b, pop, techno or house, rock, alternative, jazz, drum and bass etc.
Origin and characteristics Origin of the term
Though artists have been mixing reggae music with other genres from as early as the early 70s - notably Toots and the Maytals' "Reggae Got Soul" (Reggae mixed with the Atlantic/Stax sound) and Funky Kingston (Funk guitar with the Reggae offbeat played, unusually, on piano), no official term had been used to describe this practice. Therefore, artists such as UB40 were described by using terms which conjoined the various genres they performed (eg. "reggae funk", "reggae pop" etc.). It was not until the late 90s when the term was officially coined and all artists who fused reggae with other genres were simply described as "reggae fusion" acts, virtually replacing the multitude of conjoined terms which had existed. The term itself is self-explanatory. "Reggae" is used as it is the general term used to describe reggae music and all variations of it (including dancehall) and "fusion" due to the fact the it incorporates fusing of genres. To avoid confusion, the term is sometimes spelt as one word, "reggaefusion".

Characteristics of reggae fusion
It is recognized as a fusion genre and, in some cases, a subgenre of reggae music and came about as a result of influences from various derivative forms of reggae such as lovers rock and dancehall (specifically late 80s to early 90s). In addition to characterizing fusions of reggae music with other genres, it is used to describe artists who frequently switch between reggae music and other genres, mainly hip hop, such as Kardinal Offishall, Sean Kingston, Saint Romeo and Heavy D as well as artists who are known to deejay over instrumentals which are neither reggae nor dancehall in origin such as Elephant Man, Shaggy, Beenie Man and the late Natasja Saad. One of the more popular forms of reggae fusion is mixing drum and bass instrumentals with dancehall or reggae lyrics. This is sometimes referred to as ragga jungle

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Hip hop and rap
Toasting is a style of chanting or talking over the record that was first used by 1960s Jamaican deejays such as U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone. This style greatly influenced Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, who used the style in New York City in the late 1970s to pioneer the hip hop and rap genres. Mixing techniques employed in dub music have also influenced hip hop.

Dancehall
The dancehall genre was developed around 1980, with exponents such as Yellowman, Super Cat and Shabba Ranks. The style is characterized by a deejay singing and rapping or toasting over raw and fast rhythms. Ragga (also known as raggamuffin) and reggae fusion, are subgenres of dancehall where the instrumentation primarily consists of electronic music and sampling. Notable ragga artists include Shinehead and Buju Banton.
In February 2009, Dancehall with explicit lyrics was banned from the airwaves in Jamaica.

Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of dance music that first became popular with Latino youths in the early 1990s based on spanish reggae from panama which was invented on 1970s. It blends reggae and dancehall with Latin American genres such as cumbia (a backbeat type of latin music, originating in Colombia), bomba and plena, as well as hip hop.

Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a mixture of reggae and/or dancehall with different influential elements of other genres whether it be hip-hop reggae, R&B reggae, jazz reggae, rock 'n roll reggae, Indian reggae, Latin reggae, drum and bass reggae, punk reggae, polka reggae, etc.[16] It is recognized as a subgenre or fusiongenre of reggae and dancehall music and is closely related to ragga music. It is also used to describe artists who frequently switch between dancehall and reggae genres, as well as other genres such as hip hop and R&B. It first became popular in the late 1990s and originated in Jamaica, North America and Europe. A few Reggae Fusion acts are Sean Kingston, Saint Romeo and Canadian based Kardinal Offishal.

Spanish Reggae
Reggae en Español (reggae in Spanish) does not have any specific characteristics other than being sung in Spanish, usually by artists of Latin American origin. Spanish reggae has its origins in the mid 1970s in Panama. When reggae began to travel worldwide during the 1970s, it was embraced in the Spanish speaking world first by Panamanians of Jamaican descent. Many began to develop a spiritual bond with Kingston, Jamaica, which was considered the mecca of reggae.
In the 1980s, Panamanians like El General, Nando Boom and Chico Man began taking dancehall songs and beats and singing over them with Spanish lyrics. They also sped up riddims, and added Hispanic and Latino elements to them. This style was called Reggaeespanol, Reggae en Espanol or La plena. Spanish dancehall sounds similar to English-language dancehall. The music continued to grow throughout the 1980s, with many stars developing in Panama. El General has been widely regarded as the "Padre Del Reggae en Español" or "Father of Spanish Reggae" due to his unique sound with Latino rhythms.

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Through out the years of the musical genres existence, its ideological definition has been a platform for debate.
Reggae is not as many may think. A fusion of externalized influences, interpreted, and blended to fit our own cultural experience. This fact may be argued, evident by the past and present trend, but this experience happens to all musical art forms as it tries to find a place outside of its own social habitat. Hiphop/Rap fused with classical, latin, and slews of 60’s and 70’s groove samples. Jazz eventually fused with Blues, R&B, Doowoop etc. and let us not forget the latest and greatest example, reggaeton.
Yet the purist fans of every musical genre enjoy the fused experience. Some stay for the ride, while others retreat to purity, like a tribe splitting up, sub-genres are born. As Yuppies become boomers, and Generation X gave birth to Generation Next each generation holds onto their own musical classification. Their rhythmical identity, a subliminal time machine that when needed creates some kind of nostalgic, physiological comfort zone, which for every generation is incomparable. Yuppies, now boomers, still think Jimmy Riley is the biggest thing since slice bread. But Generation Next thinks Tarrus Riley is the man of all times. And when Generation Next gives birth to Generation Y(any child born 2000+), Tarrus will still be the biggest thing for our generation. To each his own, and that’s a fact. In the early days, as far back as the 1920’s, reggae was unnamed. It had no true social identity in Jamaican culture. It was just called, “Rasta music”, or blackheart chant, that these, so called “madmen” would chant and beat whilst they burned bonfires to cover the scent of the marijuana they consumed. The few Sadhu Indians that’s came to Jamaica in the late 1880’s, brought with them not only weed seeds, but the Nazarene vow, and word of mouth updates of the middle east and its spiritual practices. This influx of information up stirred the yearning few, who crudely interpreted this new knowledge to create a social ideology that other “sufferers” as themselves could identify with. Once the Leonard Howell saga took place in the 30’s, it not only further isolated these outcast, but it fevered their unstated mission of creating a social identity for the people, primarily the black indentured laborers and subsistence sufferers who could recognize, and sympathize with their cause.
The 12 tribe on the other hand created a slow, smooth folk sound with thought provoking limericks and acoustic guitar accompaniment, occasionally accentuated with a Nyabinghi derivative. Unlike Nyabinghi where the drum was the center of the soundscape, the 12 tribe soundscape was centered on the acoustic guitar. It is this sound that became the trademark of the greats we know today. However it was not until Bob Marley and the Gang met Chris Blackwell, did it obtain the “Rock and Roll” accents which commercialized the music on an international level. Since then reggae has evolved, surely, spawning many sub-genres, fusions and soundscapes from its womb, the latest being Reggaeton. Yet despite all the various children that have been derived from Reggae it has not lost its core identity. We the listeners have just forgotten it. Reggae in its true essence is not only an art form. But it is the cultural epitaph of the Jamaican people; It the indigenous identity of a proud nation which has influenced millions worldwide. It is the voice of Rasta, and as this generation redefines the sound, reggae at its core will always be the music of reason.

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Latin America
Reggaeton is very popular in Latin American countries such as Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela. Reggaeton has become staple music in many parties and events, complementing the common mix of merengue, salsa and electronic music, and has paved a huge fan base. In some countries such as Peru with MC Francia, Los TNT and Mr. Fresh, Venezuela with Doble Impakto, Honduras with DJ Sy and El Salvador with Heavy Clan, domestic "reggaetoneros" have arisen, expanding the Pan-Latin feel of the genre.

In some Latin American countries such as Cuba, where ideas and language are an integral part of the appreciation of music, there is an alleged critical backlash against the increasing popularity of reggaeton. This rift supposedly exists often among members of the Cuban Hip Hop community. According to British music lecturer Geoff Baker, many critics claim that the music's lyrics do not explore any subjects past "sex, dancing, and the singer himself, in various combinations." Baker also believes that because reggaeton has an allegiance to so many Caribbean and Latin American countries, it overshadows distinctly Cuban forms and variations of music, such as Cuban Hip Hop, even though Hip Hop is ultimately a north american musical genre.

Panama
Spanish Reggae developed as a result of Jamaican immigration to Panama as a result of the Panama Canal. Eventually, many of these Jamaicans had intentions to go back to Jamaica, but many of them ended up staying, and eventually assimilated and became part of the culture. Meanwhile, in the 1970s, Panamanians like El General began taking reggae songs and beats and singing over them with Spanish lyrics. They also sped up Reggae beats, and added Hispanic and Latino elements to them. The music continued to grow throughout the 1980s, with many stars developing in Panama. El General has been widely regarded as the "Godfather of Reggaeton" due to his unique sound with Latino rhythms.El General stepped down in 2004 from the music industry, and since then has been working to help underprivileged Panamanian children. Now, the reggaeton industry flourishes in Panama; artists are gaining recognition and popularity such as La Factoria, Eddy Lover, Flex and Makano.

United States
With the help of N.O.R.E, a New York-based rapper, and his producing of Nina Sky's 2004 hit Oye Mi Canto, which featured prominent reggaeton artists Tego Calderón , Daddy Yankee reggaeton quickly gained popularity in the US. Soon after, Daddy Yankee caught the attention of many big names in hip hop with his song Gasolina, propelling the style across the country.Also in 2004, XM Radio launched a channel called Fuego (XM), which played exclusively reggaeton music. However, XM Radio removed the channel in December 2007 from home and car receivers, but can still be streamed off the XM Satellite Radio Website. The genre has also provided the foundation and basis for a modern Latin-American commercial radio phenomenon known as Hurban,a combination of the terms Hispanic and Urban that is used to evoke the musical influences of hip hop and Latin American music. Reggaeton forming from hip hop and reggae has helped Latin-Americans contribute to the urban American culture while still keeping many aspects of their Hispanic heritage. The music relates to many of the socio-economic issues happening in America including gender and race which highly connects to hip hop in America today.
Underground clubs, youths in the inner-city ghettos, and huge hip hop moguls all participated in pushing the genre to the top of the charts.

Europe
Reggaeton has not become as popular in Europe as in Latin America. However, It has a great appeal to Latin American immigrants and Spanish people, especially in Spain.A Spanish concept called "La Canción del Verano" (The Summer Song), under which a particular song or two define the mood for the season and are regarded unofficially as such by Spanish media, served as the basis for the appearance popularity of reggaeton songs such as Panamanian rapper Lorna's "Papi Chulo (Te Traigo el Mmm) " in 2003, "Baila Morena" by Hector y Tito and Daddy Yankee's Gasolina in 2005. Puerto Rican and Panamanian reggaeton artists have toured Spain to give Reggaeton concerts.

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“Producing a traditional Dub Reggae track in 6 steps”

This page will give you a basic idea of what producing Dub is about. Since Dub is an artform which evolved from the recording techniques available in Jamaica back in the seventies the equipment used in this example is from that period too. Of course nowadays you can use modern equipment which offers far more possibilities especially when it comes to editing and controlling details of the production (hard disc recording, mixing automation, ..). It is felt by some producers however that real dub must be mixed by hand in real time as a "direct-to-tape mixing performance". After getting an overview on this page you can find more information about individual aspects of the recording process in the specialised chapters.

1. Get the following equipment:

• multitrack tape machine
• mixing console
• amplifier and speakers to monitor your music
• a second recording device to capture your final mix
• effect units: delay, reverb
• cables to connect everything
• instruments & players: drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, horns, percussion, vocals

2. Record a song or at least a basic arrangement.

Make sure each instrument or instrument group is recorded on an individual track of your tape.

3. Start by making a basic mix: Set the levels and equalizing for each track on the mixing desk so that all elements are well balanced. (This alone is an art in itself, but this site is about Dub not about general recording techniques so we won't go into details here.)

4. Run the song and switch on and off individual tracks during the song. typical settings are:

• All tracks switched on
• Just drums & bass
• All tracks except drums & bass
• Voices are usually only thrown into the mix occasionally.

5. Use the different effects on the individual tracks.

typical techniques are:

• Connect the effects to the auxiliary sends of your mixing desk. Thus you can apply an effect to a single track only.
• Set delay times to match the song speed (use whole beat, half beat, tripplet timing.. very typical: one and a half beat)
• Reverb or echo on the snare drum; not everytime but once in a while
• Change the delay time during the song - this leads to echoes bouncing up and down in pitch (only on analog delay units).
• Echo on the offbeat guitar: Open the aux send slowly over 2 bars letting the echoes accumulate until they start to overcrowd the sound then switch off the offbeat track. The delays will go on for a while and fade out.
• Make sure the sound stays crisp: keep bass and drums dominant; Don't open all aux sends at once.

6. Repeat the whole mix many times and listen to the recorded dubs afterwards. Then select the best version.

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THE HISTORY OF DUB REGGAE

The word 'dub' today is used to describe a genre of music that consists predominantly of instrumental re-mixes of existing recordings. These re-mixes radically manipulated and reshape the recording(through the use of sound effects). The production and mixing process is not used just to replicate the live performance of the recording artist, but audio effects and studio 'trickery' are seen as an integral part of the music. The roots of 'dub' can be traced back to Jamaica in the late 1960s, where it is widely accepted that Osbourne Ruddock pioneered the style(1). Ruddock turned the mixing desk into an instrument, with the Deejay or mixer playing the role of the artist or performer. These early 'Dub' examples can be looked upon as the prelude to many dance and pop music genres(2).

Jamaican music has always borrowed heavily from U.S. popular music form adapting this music to give Jamaica its own unique variations(3). During the forties 'Big Band' music was very popular in Jamaica, with swing bands touring all over the country playing at local dance halls, but by the 1950's these 'Big Bands' were starting to be superceded by smaller, 'more dynamic, optimistic' (4) bop and rhythm and blues groups. Jamaicans traveling to America in search of work were exposed to this new kind of music, which fitted in perfectly with America's postwar optimism. It was not only being played live but also through large sound systems, and this trend soon followed to Jamaica. Sound system operators started appearing in the ghetto areas of Jamaica's capital Kingston, holding dances in large open spaces called 'lawns'. These operators would also tour the country districts of Jamaica in direct competition with the big bands. These sound systems soon took over in the dance halls, because for many people who didn't own a radio, it was the only way to hear the new R&B music. 'Sound systems were also cheaper to employ than a dozen musicians and a 'sound' took no break' (5). By the middle of the 1950s, Duke Reid and Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd had become two of the premier sound system operators in Jamaica.

In 1954 Ken Khouri started Jamaica's first record company 'Federal Records' pressing licenced copies of American recordings, as well as a few local artists. Following his lead in this Duke Reid and Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd both held their own recording sessions, recording Jamaican artists for exclusive play on their own sound systems in the hope of gaining the upper hand in the highly competitive business. Duke Reid recorded Derrick Morgan and Eric Morris for sound system play. Reid, whose set(6) played at 'S-Corner' on Spanish Town Road, even titled Derrick Morgan's first tune 'Lover Boy' as 'S-Corner Rock' when it was played on the sound system as an exclusive acetate recording. Clement Dodd also had his first recording session in this year, recording over a dozen tracks with artists like Alton Ellis and Eddie Perkins, Theophilius Beckford, Beresford Ricketts and Lascelles Perkins.(7)

Young Jamaicans during the early sixties had been drawn to the major cities in search of work. They had not found it, and the mood of the ghetto areas had started to deteriorate. These youths or 'Rude boys' as they were called, started forming into political gangs from different ghetto's throughout Kingston. 'Rude boys connected with the so-called 'underworld', a layer of people who lived outside the law, and who had always patronized Jamaican dance music'(8). The 'Rude boys' connection with the dance halls, as well as their style of dancing (which was slower and more menacing) changed the style of music being played from the more up tempo Ska(9) to the slower Rock Steady beat(10) . While many producers(11) have claimed to have pioneered the 'Rock Steady' groove it was Duke Reid who capitalized on it, recording and releasing several tunes by a variety of performers in this new style.

The 'Rock Steady' phase lasted little more than a year, and although Duke Reid and 'Coxone' Dodds had dominated Jamaican music for well over a decade, three other producers, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Bunny Lee and Osbourne Ruddock (all of whom had worked for either Ried or Dodds at sometime) dictated the pace of Jamaican music in the seventies and beyond.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry ( or Rainford Hugh Perry) was born in 1936 in Kendal, a small town in the rural parish of Hanover, in the northwest of Jamaica. Perry arrived in Kingston in the late 1950s, and immediately tried to enter the music business. He started working for Coxsone Dodd as a 'gopher, bouncer, spy, talent scout, uncredited songwriter and eventually performer'(12) Perry left Coxsone's employ after a disagreement over payment, moving to a new label (Amalgamated) set up by Joel Gibson, where he recorded an early reggae hit called 'People Funny Boy' (which was a verbal attack aimed at his previous employer 'Coxsone".) Perry became well known as a producer and was instrumental in Bob Mailey and the Wailers early success. He linked up with Mailey and the Wailers in 1969, beginning a collaboration that resulted in 'definitive versions of some of the Wailers strongest work'(13). Perry, through his work as an artist, producer and engineer, has been one of the main people responsible in shaping the sound of Jamaican music over the last forty years(14).

Osbourne Ruddock (better known as King Tubby) was born in 1941 in Kingston, and worked as an electronics engineer (repairing radios and televisions) though out the 1960s. He owned a sound system (called 'Home Town Hi-Fi') by 1968, and used unique echo and reverb effects which set him aside from the competition. During this time, he also worked for Duke Reid at Treasure Isle Studio as the master cutter, cutting acetates(15). These 'one off' disc were designed to gain a competitive edge over rival sound system operators via their exclusivity. Ruddock was mixing one of these 'dub' versions when he accidently left out portions of the vocal track from the recording. On listening back, he decided he liked the effect of just having the bed track by itself and played it on his sound system.

He took it to a dance and played the vocal, which everybody knew, then played the dub plate of this rhythm track and people couldn't believe it.(16)

These new 'versions' of popular songs (combined with the unique effects of his sound system) soon saw Tubby's 'Hometown Hi-fi' become extremely popular(17). In addition Tubby had started working along side deejay Edwart Beckford, known in the dance hall as U Roy, who had begun answering the vocal sentiments of the singers with his own brand of outrageous jive talk. This vocal style known as 'toasting' is widely accepted as a precursor to 'rapping' (18).
In 1972 Ruddock set up a tiny studio at 18 Bromilly Avenue in Waterhouse (a district in Kingston), he began to experiment with these instrumental recordings using various home built electronic effect devices such as reverb, delay and equalizers, and started to further manipulate the sound of these instrumental songs. He acquired a disc-cutter and a two-track tape machine, and using his home made mixer, started working closely with producers like Bunny Lee and Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Together with Perry he made the stereo dub album 'Blackboard Jungle' in 1973.

Joe Gibbs of 'Amalgamated' soon saw the potential of these instrumentals, and instructed Errol Thompson (Gibb's engineer at Randy's 'Studio 17') to start putting instrumental/rhythm versions on B-sides of singles, which he called 'dub'. Tubby bought a four-track mixing board from Dynamic Studio and, with his background in electronics, he was able to specially-customized this equipment to include faders. This enabled him to slide tracks in or out of the mix smoothly, giving Tubby the edge over his rival, Errol Thompson who had to punch tracks in more abruptly, using buttons. In 1974, Tubby started working closely with Bunny Lee, who supplied hundreds of rhythms, and recorded all his hit artists at Ruddock's studio (including Johnnie Clarke and Cornell Campbell). The studio now contained many effect devices, such as an echo delay which Tubby had made by passing a loop of tape over the heads of an old two-track machine(19). There is general agreement that King Tubby's most prodigious period was during the mid seventies when working with Bunny Lee(20). With Lee relying on Tubby's experimentation and expertises of the 'dub' re-mix.

Improvisation was the order of the day; most of Tubby's dubs were mixed live, with the engineer playing his board like a great jazzman blowing solos on his horn, deconstructing and reinventing the music.(21)

While Tubby was not an instrumentalist, when recording Lee's studio band the Aggrovators(22), he was able to use his mixing desk and primitive effect devices as though they were an instrument, on occasion even physically hitting the spring reverb unit to create a thunderclap sound or putting a brief frequency test tone on deep echo into the mix (later he would use sound effects like sirens and gunshots).

It wasn't simply the fact that Tubby and his cohorts used reverb and delay effects in their mixes; the difference with Tubby, was that these effects were used to enliven radically re-mixed versions of songs. Tubby, a skilled and resourceful electronics expert, improvised endlessly with his studio equipment.(23)

Tubby started training other engineers (such as 'Prince' Philip Smart,(24) Lloyd James, better known as 'Prince Jammy'(25)and Overton 'Scientist' Brown(26).) in the intricacies of dub.

In the mid 1970s Jammy would become King Tubby's leading dub engineer at the Waterhouse studio. During his time at the studio he had mixed most of Bunny Lee's dub tracks. Then in 1978, Jammy started his own label called 'Imprint' and took his first step in record production. By 1985, Jammy had become the dominant Jamaican producer responsible himself for bringing a whole new generation of musicians and mixers into this genre of music.

As the 1970s came to a close, Overton 'Scientist' Brown took over as Tubby's leading engineer. Brown had first met Osbourne while working in his Televison and radio repair shop. He was given the opportunity to experiment in the recording studio during downtime. Brown would eagerly play what he had done to Tubby, to which Tubby would reply that he thought the work was weak and his apprentice still had much to learn. Years later Tubby admitted he was merely pushing Brown to stretch himself and these early 'dub's' had been excellent.(27)

'Every man who mixed at Tubby's got his own sound, yet no matter which mixmaster was at the board, the resultant music always bore the authentic stamp of King Tubby's'(28).

During the early eighties, King Tubby devoted himself to building his new studio. Completed in 1985, it soon produced its first hit, Anthony Red Rose's 'Temper'. It looked as if Tubby was to become a leading producer in Jamaican music, until he was mysteriously gunned down outside his studio in 1986.

The Jamaican music scene has had very strong links to the United Kingdom since early 1960s. When Jamaican 'Ska' artists were signed by English record companies, their music was readily accepted by England's 'Mod' culture of the sixties(29). To some degree it has been these links and support that has made the export of Jamaican music much easier to the rest of the world. The combination of this with the growing popularity of modern dance styles such as 'Trip hop', 'Drum and Bass" and 'Jungle', (which are direct decedents of the originanl Jamaican 'Dub' music of King Tubby(30)) have brought many new artists and producers from outside of Jamaica to continue in the experimentation and the use of dub in their music. Steve Barrow of Blood and Fire says,

Tubby was, by any standards, a genius.....he invented Dub - which, as we know, is the pulse that beats through much of today's dance music from trip-hop to techno. If Lee Perry was the first surrealist of dub, Tubby was definitely the first modernist.(31)

England now has a large percentage of the total number of artists involved in this genre of music, with many of the leading producers being based there. Adrian Sherwood and The Mad Professor are two of these leading 'dub' exponents.

Adrian Sherwood (The producer behind the British On-U sound record label) has since the 1970s recorded many artist from within the 'dub' genre, such as Creation Rebel, African Headcharge, Singers & Players and Dub Syndicate. Often wildly experimental with studio techniques, sometimes running whole tracks in reverse, has also attracted artists from outside the realm of 'dub' such as Depeche Mode, Nine inch nails, Living Color, Garbage and The Cure, all of who have used Sherwood's radical approach to mixing to manipulate their material.(32)

The 'Mad Professor' alias Neil Fraser started producing and recording dub music in 1980. Over the past sixteen years he has become one of the premier artists of this genre. One of the most prolific creators in this medium and operating out of a vast studio expanse in Britain, he has released in excess of a 100 Albums, performing re-mixes for such acts as Massive Attack, Sade and Pato Baton. He characteristically uses electronic sounds in his dub such as bleeps, whirs and other electronic machinations.(33)

'Dub' Recommended Listening

King Tubby, 1994, Dub gone Crazy(The Evolution of Dub), Blood and Fire.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry and King Tubby, 1974,Blackboard Jungle, Upsetter.
Compilation, 1975, The Roots of Dub, Grounation.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry, 1975, Revolution Dub, Cactus .
Massive Attack vs Mad Professor, 19??, No Protection, Wild Bunch.

Bibliography

Larkin, C. (ed.) 1995, The Guinness Encyclopedia of popular Music, vol 1-5, Guinness Publishing, England

Newspapers and Magazines

Hawkins, E. 1996 'The secret history of Dub-reggae historians delve into the echo chamber", Eye Weekly, Toronto's arts Newspaper April 18
O'Hagan, S. 1997, 'Blood & Fire', The Guardian, November 7.

Internet

'Dub gone Crazy', [online},
http://www.interruptor.ch/dub.html [15th June 1999]
Islandlife, 1998, ''Early Years Lee Perry The Mighty Upsetter', [online}, http://www.leeperry.com/life/page5.html[12th April 1999]
Islandlife,1997, 'The Story of Jamaican Music', [online}, http://homepage.oanet.com/sleeper/bio01.htm [10th April 1999]
Jah, S. 'King Tubby', [online},
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/kingtubby.html [9th June 1999]
Niceup, 'Blood and Fire liner notes', [online}, http://v-music.com/niceup/writers/steve_barrow/blood_and_fire_liner_notes [15th June 1999]
On-U Sound, 'Adrain Sherwood' [online},
http://www.obsolete.com/on-u/sherwood.html [2nd May 1999]
Sleeper, M, 'Brief History of Scratch', [online},
http://homepage.oanet.com/sleeper/bio01.htm [10th April 1999]
Smithies, G. 'Hopeton 'overton' Brown (Scientist)' [online}, http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/Scientist.html [18th March 1999]
Spence, D. Jetpack, 'Back to the Lab with the Mad Professor', [online}, Http://www.jetpack.com/lounge02/mad_prof/ [22nd July 1999]
The interrupter, 'The Dub me Crazy page', [online}, http://www.interruptor.ch/dub.html[15th June 1999] [9th August 1999]
Toop,D. 'Dub by John McCreedy', [online}, http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/Johnmccreedy.html [15th June 1999]
Wordup, 'King Tubby, Scientist & Prince Jammy', [online}, http://www.merseyworld.com/wordup/wordup4/tubby.html [22nd July 1999]

Music

Compilation, 1993, Tough than tough; the story of Jamaican Music, Island Records
King Tubby, 1994, Dub gone Crazy(The Evolution of Dub), Blood and Fire.

Endnotes

1. See Larkin(1995, pp 1252-1254, 2307-2308), Barrows(1993, p16)
2.
3. 'The Story of Jamaican Music': http://www.islandlife.com/tough/1.html
4. Barrows(1993, p6)
5. 'The Story of Jamaican Music': http://www.islandlife.com/tough/2.html
6. Set is another name for a sound system performance in Jamaica
7. Barrows(1993, p 10)
8. Barrows(1993, p 14)
9. 'Ska' is a generic title for Jamaican music recorded between 1961-1967. A fast dance style of music, 'vigorous','extravert' and 'jerky' which exaggerates the after beat or up beat. Commonly assumed to be derived from the Miami and New Orleans 'jump' beat of the late fifties, known in England originally as 'Blue beat' to the 'mod' culture who adopted the music.(Larkin 1995,p3810)
10. 'Rock Steady' is a slow groove based music that gives the vocalist room to 'stamp his personality on a song,' a Jamaican version of the American soul music of the mid to late sixities. The bass lines have distinct breaks in their rhythm, (something that has become characterized in Jamaican music from this point hence) coming in shorter patterns of notes. The after beat or up beat being emphasized by the guitar and drums.(Larkin 1995, p3538)
11. 'Roy Shirley with 'Hold Them' in 1966 for producer Joel Gibson. Derrick Morgan with "Tougher Than Tough" for Leslie Kong the same year, and Alton Ellis sang 'Girl I've Got A Date' for producer Duke Reid.' ('The Story of Jamaican Music': http://www.islandlife.com/tough/6.html)
12. 'Brief History of Scratch', http://homepage.oanet.com/sleeper/bio01.htm
13. 'Early Years Lee Perry The Mighty Upsetter' http://www.leeperry.com/life/page5.html
14. Larkin 1995, p3227-3228.
15. The U.S. expression for these acetate (one-off soft wax discs) singles was 'Dub'. The term 'Dub' can be traced back to the 1950s (Hawkins, 1996).
16. Barrow (cited in Hawkins,1996)
17. http://v-music.com/niceup/writers/steve_barrow/blood_and_fire_liner_notes
18. Barrows(1993,page15);Larkin (1995, p2307)
19. Barrows (cited in 1994,'Dub Gone Crazy(The Evolution of Dub at King Tubby's 1975-1979)', Blood & Fire)
20. Larkin 1995, p2307;
McCreedy (cited in http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/JohnMcCready.html );
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/kingtubby.html
21. Barrow (Cited http://www.interruptor.ch/dub.html)
22. Bunny Lee's Aggrovators were Robbie Shakespeare(Bass), Carlton 'Santa' Davis (Drums), Earl"Chinna' Smith (Lead guitar), Ansel Collins (piano), Bernard Ellis (trumpet), Vin Gordon (trombone), Tommy McCook (tenor saxophone) and Lennox Brown (alto saxophone).
23. 'King Tubby, Scientist & Prince Jammy'
http://www.merseyworld.com/wordup/wordup4/tubby.html
24. Philip Smart went to the U.S. and today he runs the top Reggae Studio HCF on Long Island.
25. Prince Jammy, 'the undisputed king of computerized, digital reggae music'(Larkin 1995, p2302-2303), from the mid 1980s King Jammy would dominate and control the sound of reggae, with the introduction of new computerized drum beats and rhythm.
26. Overton 'Scientist' Brown was second generation Jamaican dub mixer and a rival to Prince Jammy. Notable for his theme albums (with lurid cover art) on which he would meet and vanquish protagonists from off-world regions:( ie Scientist Meets The Space Invaders, Scientist Encounters Pac Man). Such meetings, derived from the rivalry of the sound clash, are central to the mythology of dub. For origins, see King Tubby Meets The Upsetter At The Grass Roots Of Dub (http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/Scientist.html)
27. http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/Scientist.html
28. http://NiceUp.com/writers/steve_barrow/blood_and_fire_liner_notes
29. Barrows,1993, p11
30. See Larkin(1995, pp 1252-1254, 2307-2308), Barrows(1993, p16)
31. Barrows (cited Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, November 7, 1997)
32. http://www.obsolete.com/on-u/sherwood.html
33. Http://www.jetpack.com/lounge02/mad_prof/

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