how’s the ear doing Yabba?
2 Likes
you mean pac, biggie was your track heheh 
2 Likes
@flipinfantile ive still got the noise in my ear but I can hear lower frequencies again in it thankfully, and ive kinda got used to the noise I don’t notice it at all if there is any other sound happening so it’s really only bugging me when there’s silence.
At the minute I’m more bugged by my laptop giving up, I tried to system restore it as an update seemed to make my wi-fi options vanish, it switched off while restoring and ive ended up with the blue screen of death.
So not a successful start to the year so far but things could be way worse 
5 Likes
yikes lmao im showing my belly, shows how much tupac ive consumed. thanks for the gentle correction 
1 Like
Gonna lock in my votes. Great and inspiring listen all the way through, really great work everyone 
and thanks to @Sleepyhead and @electricthing for the great theme.
Track 1: Super sick. Kinda Reminds me a little of the Dub versions you used to get on some Hip-Hop 12’s. Dig the psyche-y guitars.
Track 2: Love that dub siren. Track sounds like a lost tape relic, very dope sound.
Track 3: Really like the arrangement on this. Love the second half especially when Linton comes in and it vibes out.
Track 4: Big smiles and head nods for this one. Super fun mix up of genres. Jungle + hip-hop vocal is a personal favourite.
Track 6: I think this is fucking great and would love to hear it on massive speakers. Really cool sounds and melodies, vocal drops sound sweet, change ups/progressions are great. The build and the bit that drops in around 1:45 is just so good to my ears.
Track 7: That bass line. Fire. Would have liked that section to be extended but at the same time it’s cool it kinda teases it and the overall arrangement is very nice and the mix sounds great.
Track 8: Another great bass line. Really dig the tape echo type delays on the snare and the effect on the vocals sounds cool as hell. It has a sense of space to it I really struggle to do with my own music.
Track 9: Sounds like this was a fun one to make! And a super fun listen. It packs so many ideas into 3 minutes. Great track.
1st place: Track 6 @schoolbabyboy
2nd place: Track 1 @Doug
3rd place: Track 4 @malus_mons
HM to all of you 
6 Likes
damn thanks homie, that is very kind praise! im glad it connected with you!
3 Likes
Most definitely did! It’s funny how sometimes when you’re not that happy with something for someone else it’s absolutely killer.
3 Likes
haha for real!
my most played track on soundcloud is a track i made when i first got a tr-6s and did a little combo track with the mc-101. i find that track to be so annoying and mostly bad, there are some good parts at the end. but for some reason it was picked up by some “Chill R&B” playlist on soundcloud (still cant tell if its an official soundcloud playlist or not) and korea, vietnam and japan seemed to have it on repeat for a while. it was fun, in the analytics it showed that the most frequent listener was a cafe in a rural part of japan. fun to imagine my dinkers playing in the background while a japanese farmer drinks some tea.
5 Likes
ha, that’s awesome man!
Big in Japan
2 Likes
- woop woop
- I really like the stereo field, the bassline, and the rhythm guitars—it could be part of a Tarantino movie soundtrack. Amazing.
- Even though I kind of enjoy pretending to judge my own tracks (haha), it doesn’t make sense to do that this time.
- Intriguing poetic line: “Culture is like medicine, and should only be taken in small doses.” I really feel this funky track. The delay on Latifah’s vocals works well, and it’s a pristine dub remix with that incorporates original elements.
- This slams so hard! I like this take so much better than the original. A total recontextualization. You took something that was nothing more than a homage to Eazy-E (in my not-so-humble opinion) up a level or three, with seamless influences from both Jamaica and the UK!
- WTF. Another one that I like way better than the original? Wow! I really love those singing vocals behind the rapping, the intermittent sirens, and that thing that sounds like a car passing. The whole thing blows me away.
- A total departure from Party & Bullshit. This is a completely new and original dub track. It’s great and chock-full of creativity!
- It retains the energy of the original, takes out some of the punk, and replaces it with a bit more funk! I like how the groove sits in the FX—awesome work!
- Man, a completely new reggae/dub instrumental backing track—it sounds like every line was recorded by a studio musician! You went all out on the mixing board, with a lot of variety and creativity in how the snares play out.
- The original track already sounds like it could be on this mixtape—the proto dub-hop track, if you ask me. You took it five levels of dub higher. So much fun and positivity shining through! And I loved the personal touch. You weren’t the only one listening with a big grin, I can tell you that!
3 pts: @looms
2 pts: @surfacescan
1 pt: @malus_mons
HM: Everyone!
7 Likes
#1. @sezare56 - I had a sort of idea in my head when I first read the challenge, and when I heard this track I just said “oh yeah, this is it.”
#2. @Doug - this was like alchemy—somehow both really loose and super focused at the same time. just right. and a minimal approach gave you nothing to hide behind, either.
#3. @Sleepyhead - something about the delay on this hits that sweet spot.
As ever hard to choose just 3 tunes. Those vocals on @looms track are so good—reminds me of some of my favorite Rebel MC dubs.
Also interesting to hear the variety of sounds and approaches and the places the styles overlap. The intersections between dubby hip-hop and funk, or rap on top of drum’n’bass. Maybe it’s just careful sequencing by @Sleepyhead, but the playlist flows really well for 9 very different tracks.
As always I’m also interested to hear everyone’s experiments and discarded ideas.
6 Likes
Today is the last day to get your votes in guys!
1 Like
- @looms - This one is just a great remix. Everything is put together perfectly. And I loved how the drums dragged a bit behind everything else. The whole thing had a really nice groove to it.
- @surfacescan - I got the sense that you probably had more fun than everyone else and it shined through the whole track. I loved how playful it was.
- @malus_mons - This is another one that I would call playful. I loved the jungle of it all.
Honorable mention:
@Sleepyhead - I really loved how you took that bassline and reworked the whole track around it. It’s a completely different vibe and yet still appropriately moody.
4 Likes
1 @sezare56, to me this one represented the challenge the best
2 @schoolbabyboy I wanted weird and you didn’t disappoint me!
3 @surfacescan the vocals and beat matched perfectly and the toast at the beginning was great
Awesome job @everyone!
7 Likes
- 1 @malus_mons. Dubbiest track with huge fx ! Was my first choice since the beginning. Not because you also chose me !
- 2 @surfacescan. Most reggae-dub track, very different from og track.
- 3 @Sleepyhead. Great bassline.
I would have liked to ear longer delays, 8th dotted…
Additional comments with list order.
- @Doug great track but not much dubby than OG !
- @flipinfantile good stuff but I couldn’t get into it because the vocal part seems very muffled.
- @KingDuppy good track. I would have liked longer delays with more feedback, mutes.
- @looms great intro and mix but unfortunately I am not fond of the drums.
- @schoolbabyboy good and original remix, impressive fx, dub techniques, maybe too much ?
Thanks @Sleepyhead for organising and all participants !
What about a new dub battle category ? 
7 Likes
Hi fam. I had planned to submit my votes and feedback by now but the day had its own way. I will submit it later this evening after hockey practice with the lad. I want to give it a good attention since the tracks are so worth the time. Amazing work.
Thanks for your patience.
3 Likes
All my people in here get LOVE.
In terms of mixing two of my favorite types of music, I had so much fun listening to people beats on this one and it also made it the hardest to judge. So I went back to my own definition of what I love about a good dub track:
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It punches some big warm holes in the music leaving lots of juicy spacious pieces to listen to -
It gives a nod to the original tune and interplays with it something new, giving me an appreciation for the operator at the board (Dub producers original samplers?) -
It surprises me and lets me lazily indulge in some of the instruments and parts of the track that would normally get pushed to the background - while using the holy trinity of echo, reverb and quick fades.
My top 3 choices:
@sezare56 - Dope use of all the bits and pieces that make this track a classic while giving it lots of space and time to play.
@malus_mons - Brings me back to the early days of rave where drum and bass, jungle, dub and rap were all friends. wesome blend of all of the above… Love the dub beat fade at the end.
@Sleepyhead - As soon as I heard this track I knew it was in my top three. Beautiful composition. The bass, organ, guitar riffs and space echo on the snares while still keeping that boom bap. This would be a secret weapon on a mixtape.
I honestly love all the tracks on this mix so here are my thoughts on the rest:
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@Doug - Felt like I walked straight into a low hanging ceiling basement house party with red lights on and this live kraut rock band with the vintage fly Camp Lo rocking the mic and the whole party all night. Would have loved a bit more space between the verses and chorus.
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@flipinfantile - Love the dubbed out atmosphere here and live drums. Punch 2Pac’s vocals through the track a bit more and I could head nod even more!
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@KingDuppy - I really wanted to put this in my top 3, and on another day I would have. Love how you found the original sax part and extended it. I think if you alternated that drum pattern a bit more, it would be the next level.
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@looms - This track burns so fierce, comes straight out the gate - the synths, the dub siren and dub vocals. If it wasnt for me wanting dub to have more space between the vocals, and instruments, I would for sure have made this one of my choices. Love the way everything sits in the mix together. Nice work man.
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@schoolbabyboy - you put together a great track here man. I like the alternation between the double time and then the half beat. This was the first Biggie track I ever heard and bought (by accident!) - you’ve created an awesome atmosphere with those synths/pads. I wonder if you could create some build up by letting them and strip the track down to bare bones and then build it back up? I really wanted to put this in my top choices. Thanks for this
Peace
8 Likes
Thanks guys! And here’s my own vote and the final results! This set of tracks was very fun to listen to, but also very hard to judge… I think all tracks were in my top 3 at some point.
My votes
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@Surfacescan: Your track was my clear favorite from the first listen. It has both amazing mixing, buildup and dubbing, and shows great skill. This one just sounds fun and very much alive. Theres a perfect balance between subtlety and rawness.
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@Doug: One of the reasons I decided to put the tracks in alphabetical order in the playlist is that your track just starts it off so well! Love the chord progression at the end of every 8 (?) bars. The track has enough space, but also enough body. The dub elements are subtle here but work great. Great track overall.
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@flipinfantile: Out of all the tracks in this playlist your track stuck in my head the most. The original is one of my fav 2pac tracks, and your remix just works, I love both the structure and chaos in this one and the chords are hypnotizing.
Hm: @sezare56, @looms and @malus_mons (all three of you were very much deserving of a vote as well but by not voting for one of you, all 3 of you end up on the podium which feels like a fair outcome!)
Final Results:
Winner: @surfacescan
2nd place: @sezare56
3rd place (tie): @looms and @malus_mons
Notes on the other tracks:
Kingdubby: When you choose the Unity track to dub I facepalmed for not thinking of that one myself, its a perfect track to dub and you did amazing. This one feels very alive and just love how you took apart the track. I can hear youre experienced and skilled in this genre and I learned a lot by trying to dissect what you did here.
Malus Mons: This one sounds unique because it feels like a mix of dub and both classic and modern hiphop. The way you did this shows great skills, and this is one that could would be amazing playing on a big soundsystem in a club.
Looms: Your track is amazing and would’ve probably gotten my top spot in any other battle. This is a great remix and as I’ve told you before, I like that I can always pick out your sound. Love the drums and the vocal sample echoing around. Some others went a bit further down the dub rabbithole hence giving them the nod.
Schoolbabyboy: Very alive. Love the slow buildup here, which makes this an almost hypnotic experience. Great bassline.
Sezare: I’m in awe of the spatious mixing on this one, really something I aspire to be able to do myself. The snares sound great as do all the vocal bits in the background. Great track.
I think all of you really outdid yourselves in this battle. The overall quality of production is amazing, and the whole playlist just feels very alive and exciting because of the performance elements. Your tracks really inspired me, and I plan to use dub elements in all of my tracks from now on. Looking forward to reading some notes on the techniques you guys used here!
8 Likes
Some notes on my own track:
I’ve always loved the bassline of the original mobb deep track (sampled from Norman Conners) and decided to build a completely new, reggae style track around it using a different chord progression than the original.
I replayed the bassline with my p-bass, added organs chords and stabs, and some guitar. Everything was recorded into the looper tracks on my s2400. The drums are a chopped up drumbreak, or which I put the snares on a seperate channel for dub purposes.
When recording, the snare went through my moog gm spring reverb tank and el capistan delay pedal, while playing with the reverb and delay in realtime. I did the same to the vocals in a second take.
Learned a lot from this battle, but listening to what all of you did, I got a lot more to learn in the field of dub!
6 Likes
Congratulations @surfacescan, @sezare56, @looms & @malus_mons
I’m already looking forward to what you come up with @surfacescan!
Thanks @Sleepyhead for being such a gracious host!
Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback for your kind words and constructive criticism, It’s much appreciated!
Here are my track notes:
I’d been practicing live finger drumming for a couple of weeks, and this track was the first time where i’ve recorded doing that!
I turned off quantisation for everything to give it a more live feel. I played & sequenced the sections for the chords (peak) and bassline (a4) on the mpc2000, arranged them in song mode and then recorded everything in one take twisting knobs and punching in fx. Used the sp404mk2 as the sample & fx engine for vocals, drums and oneshots. Dub siren is a Digitone preset!
5 Likes