What is it about?
Many scholars and journalists have discussed King Tubby's innovative studio dub remixing methods. However, there is very little literature that investigates Tubby's conceptual themes. Therefore, this article seeks to demonstrate the similarities between Tubby's studio methods and those of Canadian soundscape composers Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp. In particular, I focus on common conceptual themes such as environmental context referenced through sound, past listening associations and ecologically informed sound processing effects.
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Why is it important?
In music journalism and academic literature, King Tubby's music and Jamaican dub music in general is often categorized and analyzed as merely a genre of popular music distinct from and not as sophisticated as Western avant-garde and sound art practices. I argue that Tubby's remixing approach involves great conceptual depth and sonic experimentation. Exploring the conceptual similarities between Tubby’s technologically minimal or "diy" music and the established academic-affiliated genre of soundscape composition provides a new perspective on his work as reflecting a multifaceted musical approach that warrants further scholarly study. This article is the first academic study to ever compare Jamaican dub music to soundscape composition.
Perspectives
I hope listeners of both Jamaican dub and electroacoustic music will read my article and realize that there are many subtle aspects of King Tubby's remixing methods that have not previously been examined. My aim is to push Tubby's dub music out of its narrow pigeonholed categorization as simply "pop music" and demonstrate how his music possesses technical and conceptual sophistication comparable to the respected academic music genre of soundscape composition. I feel this article will help in ensuring that King Tubby's music will be remembered and studied in future music history books and academic journals.
nimalan yoganathan
Concordia University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sounding Riddims: King Tubby’s dub in the context of soundscape composition, Organised Sound, December 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1355771817000310.
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