21.12.10

Six the hard way ~ Runcome Dubsession recorded live @ LVC Leiden

Runcome Sound featuring special guests Dave I-lodica (melodica) & Leah (tunes, vocals & irieness) recorded @ LVC Leiden 18-12-2010

7.12.10

Out on December 15th: Tony Dubshot ~ Dub Experryments (full size dub album)

This is for the heddz. An album's worth of Xen Dubbhism, as in xenharmonic. Weird harmonies transmitted live & direct from far away dub galaxies and picked up at the ISM studios using the latest in sphere technology.

The piano speaks its mind



About a year ago, the Austrian composer Peter Ablinger first presented his 'updated' player piano. Ablinger designed a hi res mechanism which allows him to create vocoder-like effects. The sound quality is amazing, Conlon Nancarrow would have loved it.

6.12.10

Out now: Daddy Lynx - Original (Clarkstep rmx)


Uncork the bubbly! The first Dubbhism Deluxe release is available NOW in all digital music stores. In 2011 there will be many more free (creative commons) netlabel releases on Dubbhism, but right now we've got unprecedented commercial expansion on the brain.

22.11.10

Terror Danjah mix @ RA

"whehewhaha.."

B%mb%cl%t!! Another great mix this week at Resident Advisor. It's the undeniable Terror Danjah in fine style. See also this recent interview with a classic scene of the man and his computer, creating those big crispy riddims.

15.11.10

EP review: Sevish ~ Human Astronomy (Split Notes)


Some people listen to cd's or records, some people like to listen to mixes or radio shows. And some (like me) listen to big shuffled playlists on an iPod or WinAmp or something like that.

11.11.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis #6 ~ fixed envelopes, fixed frequencies and formants


It’s impossible to have a complete or systematic overview of all different types of FM sounds, but you can have certain categories, for example based on certain types of ratio values (see episode 4).

10.11.10

Nice Terror Danjah interview



Grime legend Terror Danjah has a new album titled Undeniable out on Hyperdub. Crispy sounds & superb production all the way, this man truly has golden ears and a truckload of musical skills too. Even if grime isn't your main thing you'll like this one, trussme.

Galang so ~ WILDLIFE! meets Major Mackerel


Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!! Check out WILDLIFE's version of Galang so, a classic Major Mackerel tune. Posted on Soundcloud already it's out on Discobelle records 22nd of November. Available now the cumbia flavored Douster remix (free dl). Sainted PR didn't quite get the concept of soundcloud sharing yet but still more remixes here.

8.11.10

Dick Flash vs Brian Eno



Pork Magazine's Dick Flash interviews Brian Eno about his new album titled Small craft on a milk sea. Hilarious..

5.11.10

Vampayaa ~ PupaJim delivers instant classic




Make no mistake this is not an ill timed Halloween kinda thing, PupaJim's Vampayaa is a bit more timeless than that. No offense Emch Subatomic but this one is not aimed squarely at your average blood-sucking party freak ;)

Bye bye Avatar ~ now let's move on to 3D holographic sound please!



Moving holograms are here, or should be here in about six years. When they arrive virtual porn will never be the same again..

2.11.10

Original Daddy Lynx kicks off new chapter in Dubbhism history

In 2011 there will be many more free (creative commons) netlabel releases on Dubbhism, but right now we've secured a distribution deal paving the way for new and unprecedented commercial expansion.

31.10.10

Dub equipment and dub philosophy pt.2


Music and computers seem to be inseparable nowadays. In the last 15 years computers have taken over completely in the studio, and even on stage. A bit strange, because computers were not really designed for making music (see also Dub equipment and dub philosophy pt.1).

29.10.10

Serious analog delay ~ Diamond Memory Lane 2


I don't own one myself but looking at the specs and the manual it's pretty obvious that this is an absolute killer analog delay. The design is based on original Panasonic MN3005 chips (4096 stage bucket brigade style echo) which are becoming extremely rare nowadays so you have to act fast.

27.10.10

Foundation Compilation Reggae Series Volume 1

This is the best roots dancehall cd i've heard in 2010, featuring big veteran artists on big riddims. Don't just download the illegal mp3s like everybody else does, buy this thing, the singers & musicians & producers who created this one deserve our full respect!! No filler pure killer, available in all shops.

26.10.10

Runcome Sound come back again





Sista Leah the Boss DJ from Amsterdam conquering Leiden

Runcome Sound is back! Next sessions are 29th of November for Unity FM (radio show) and 18th of December at the LVC, Leiden.

21.10.10

David Hockney ~ Fresh Flowers

This has to be the freshest art exhibition in years.. David Hockney is showing fresh flowers, drawn on iPods and iPads and exhibited on all kinds of digital screens.

20.10.10

Out Now on One Love Records ~ On The Level - Vol 2


BUSH CHEMISTS & KING GENERAL ~ JAH WARRIOR ~ VIBRONICS ~ IRIE MAFFIA ~ INTINN ~ RADIKAL GURU ~ UNITYHIFI ~ VIBRATION LAB ~ ARK ITAL SOUND ~ CYPHAMUSIK ~ LOWKI & DIALECT ~ PHARMACIST ~ L5D ~ MR SLEEPZ ~ DUBSHOT & ILODICA ~ PHINGA ~ REZOUND ~ K9 ~ Z1BRKR ~ TROUBLE & INSIGHT ~ KOSINE & LDRIFT ~ XNATION ~ BROWN NOISE

Vintage vids ~ Dub from Japan & China



15.10.10

Visual dubb: Sougwen ~ dubstep drawings




A whole heap of classic oldskool visual dub clips over here! I found these (the remains of some workshop) via Sougwen who likes to mix up drawing and Hotflush-style dubstep. The wonderful artwork for the Love Pressure EP by Sepalcure is also her work.

30.9.10

Jeff Koons or Kim Jong Il?


OK, so North Korean leader Kim Jong Il knows about Photoshop but does he know how much money Jeff Koons makes with this kind of stuff? Maybe he does.. who knows, if the General runs out of cash the nice white statue might show up at Christie's. Click to enlarge!!

29.9.10

From the nano lab ~ The Micronium



Nanomusic (not to be confused with microtonal music) just got bigger. Meet the Micronium, a nano-instrument with strings a millionth of an inch thick. It sounds kinda mesmerizing, half xylophone/half piano and it produces nice dub fx if you kick it :-)

More nanosound over here: The Quantum Hall Effects - impulse responses from nanospace for convolution reverb

26.9.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis #5 ~ Envelope recipes

This is already the fifth episode of The Tao of FM Synthesis and we haven’t heard a single bell sound yet.. unforgivable! Here it is...


In this bell patch the short envelope for oscillator D provides a ‘realistic’ attack while a subtle LFO adds a bit of movement to oscillator F. The change in color is caused by a constantly varying aftertouch, assigned (in the modulation matrix) to the level of oscillator E, which provides most of the bell-like color in the sustain-part of the sound.

25.9.10

Brother Barbés.D dubbing it live


Barbés.D from France dubbing it live at the Psychobydub festival. Especially the first tune called "Easy" feat. Sista Bethsabée is very good stuff.

20.9.10

Survival of the funkiest ~ dancefloor based mating rituals that work


right knee

Scientists are finally unravelling the secrets of succesful male body movements and courtship signals on the dancefloor. And guess what they found.. wiggling your RIGHT KNEE is especially important!

16.9.10

D.E.A.D. i~ficially approved by Herr Doepfer :-)


The album 'Sonic System' by D.E.A.D. (DUBBHISM-005) was created entirely using a big bad Doepfer modular monster synth and even the original mad synth scientist Dieter Doepfer himself just told us that he's is a fan. He likes the weirdness and he's slapped the album on his front page. Doepfer is pronounced DUB-fer but people from the UK & US always think it's DOPE-fer :)

14.9.10

How to do a King Tubbys Spring Slap on stage


The humble Thunder Tube is one of the simplest and cheapest instruments on the planet and it has a long spring just like a spring reverb. Use it to create King Tubby-style Spring Slaps and all kinds of weird dub fx. Mix it with seismic sine wave tremors for realistic thunderstorms and volcano eruptions. Will even chase away duppies.

10.9.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis #4 ~ Ockham's Razor


“Entities should not be multiplied without necessity.” (William of Ockham)

“Nature operates in the shortest way possible.” (Aristotle)

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” (Albert Einstein)

8.9.10

Album review: Knowsur ~ Nana Wodori (Split Notes)


The xenharmonic tree that was planted by Sean Archibald (a.k.a. Sevish) continues to bear wonderful new fruits as Japanese composer/beatmaker Knowsur drops his first album on Split Notes. Nana Wodori is catchy, bleepy, quirky, jazzy and sugar coated all at once.

7.9.10

Out now: Chrome Optimism remix album feat. David Lynch & Lee 'Scratch' Perry


How about this: Tony Dubshot meets David Lynch, Lee Scratch Perry, Jean Michel Jarre & Dubblestandart, all of them in one meditative ambient track. But wait, there's more!! The Chrome Optimism remix album is loaded with quality dub and dubstep remixes by crucial US producers like Kush Arora, April White and Dub Gabriel.

1.9.10

Runcome Sound Dubsession @ LVC (Leiden, NL)


Runcome Sound is back! Featuring MC Papa Aya, the Soweto Lion, original roots & culture DJ and reggae ambassador, blessed with a voice as sweet as Gregory, but switching to ruffneck just as easily :) Aya will be joined by mad scientist and dub producer Tony Dubshot (a.k.a. Anton Banton) on selector duties and random noise making.

28.8.10

Pain and painting ~ a short and incomplete guide to painter biopics


Biographical movies about famous painters are always about pain. The suffering makes these visionary prophets of art more Jesus-like and sometimes it also deepens their work on an emotional level, but believe it or not.. even Bob Ross suffered!

20.8.10

Out now: Boomski - She was a rough rider




The Tao of FM Synthesis #3 ~ Basic combinations and extra hands

Here's a thing that's confusing about FM synthesis: it's the simple fact that each synth is different. The FM controls are never quite the same. For example, we’ve been talking about ratios in episode 2. Remember: the ratio between the pitch of the ‘basic sound’ and the pitch of the ‘effect sound’ is extremely important in FM.

13.7.10

Out now: Crack my pitch up (Split Notes)

IMAGINE a new musical instrument that can play any sound you like. Surely that would sound quite different from the stuff most musicians pump out routinely. But seriously: how about something REALLY new for a change, because that's what this compilation is all about. Sounds you've never heard before. Call it 'xenharmonic' music (or if that's too hard just call it 'off key').

12.7.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis #2 ~ Find the octaves

In the first episode of ‘The Tao of FM Synthesis’ we got a nice simple picture of FM Synthesis: imagine you grab a singer by the throat and start shaking, very forcefully and at warp speed. The resulting sound effect would be what we call FM (frequency modulation).

10.7.10

Just another false prophet


If you believe this stupid little (not to mention unattractive) octopussy can predict tomorrow's final, there must be something wrong with you :)

Grilling the Messenger - Germany Sours on Octopus Oracle

30.6.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis #1 ~ Musical terminology please

In this first episode of The Tao of FM Synthesis we’re going to try to get a good, basic mental picture of what FM Synthesis actually is. Right now we’re not interested in the weird, technical stuff. All we want are some clues to help us get more predictable results while tweaking a sound. In short, it’s all about MUSIC, not PHYSICS.

Bring back dub inna the dance

Science time again! In the beginning there was dub, but then DJs took over. Now everybody's getting tired of that, time to check out a new generation of dancehall dub. Producers like Process Rebel, Subatomic Sound System, Vuelo and Jah Billah.

SCIENTIFIC DANCEHALL ~ heavyweight dancehall riddims in dub

24.6.10

The Tao of FM Synthesis ~ introduction

PUNISHMENT is a very effective technique for modifying a musician’s behavior. If there is a clear and predictable relationship between a certain behavior, like for example fiddling around with FM synthesis, and the outcome (confusion, anger, frustration, despair) behavior will be modified in such a way that a musician avoids more PUNISHMENT. In the case of FM that means we avoid creating our own sounds.

23.6.10

Subwoofers and the Animal Kingdom



Douglas Adams explains why the booming mating calls of the Kakapo (a large, heavy, flightless parrot from New Zealand) are not very effective. The story begins at around 33 minutes.

22.6.10

Nice vintage docu: 'Discovering electronic music'



Very 70s, lots of bleepy sounds and nerdy/serious faces :-)

"The 1983 film "Discovering Electronic Music" is an introduction to the synthesizers and computers used to create electronic music. The film explains the basics of how sound is converted into electrical signals, the functions of oscillators, envelopes and filters, and the roles of samplers and sequencers."

2.6.10

Some interesting blogs for dubb scientists

Variety of Sound ~ awesome plugins and intelligent audio talk

Anthropology of Sound ~ irregular updates but always interesting: sound design, interface design, weird stuff

Kim Lajoie's Blog ~ practical advice for bedroom producers, short and sweet, no bs

Music of Sound ~ slightly nerdy, even gearslutty but always on the case, lots of interesting links, mainly about sound design

23.4.10

Out now: The Black Exorcist - Fancy Footwork EP (Creme DUB release)


2562 - "Cool dub tracks & retarded Marco Bernardi remix"
Anthony Shakir - "Dark and darker tracks, I like them"
DJ Deep - "I like the vibe of this release! The underground never stops!"
Lady Aïda - "Brass Knuckles hides some dangerous oldskool feel... Love everything!"

19.4.10

I-lodica back pon dem case



Yes people!! It's Dave the melodica don from Brighton a.k.a. I-lodica

27.3.10

DJ Magic Mike explains Bass & Booty



Talking about music can be confusing. At around 45 minutes in this video the journalists ask Magic Mike to explain the difference between Bass and Booty. He tells them that Bass tunes are about bass and Booty tunes are about booty (and have a lot of bass).

18.3.10

Essential Scuba mix


After the tasteful bass-tech-dubscape-isms of Sub:stance here's yet another quality mix by Scuba. Just skip the 'knacksen' intro because this is all about a soulful blend of garage and Berlin tech/dub. Reminds me a bit of the classic Naked sound (US label that peaked around the turn of the century releasing albums like Bare Essentials). But in Scuba's mix the rhythms are more inventive, slightly more techno and the production standard is higher.

17.3.10

Know bout ackee pella

The resurrected FIRST magazine blog keeps going from strength to strength. Check out Gad Reds (there's more than one GAD u know...)



Some advice for the technicians: get cheaper microphones an jus balance de sound ;-)

9.3.10

Marcus Hillman - Cool Operator (dubshot's superconductive redub)

marcus hillman - cool operator (dubshot's superconductive redub) by ISM Studio

Marcus Hillman's version of Cool Operator in dub. The original tune is of course by the great Delroy Wilson. This track will appear on the forthcoming Dubbhism compilation 'Vintage Dubs Vol.2' (release some time in the fall of 2010)

14.2.10

Kandinsky's dubb teachings - from 3D to immersion


Hommage to Grohmann


This last episode of Kandinsky's dubb teachings is again about the spatial tricks Kandinsky used, and about connections between spatial fx in paintings and spatial fx in music, especially dub. We can see that most paintings have a virtual kind of space, like a 3D illusion. In music there's something similar going on. But what  is musical space?

13.2.10

Kandinsky's dubb teachings - book book book!

Kandinsky's writings:
Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings on Art (Lindsay & Vergo)

Serious deejay-bashing over at FIRST magazine

Some really serious dancehall-bashing over at FIRST magazine. Here's a long quote from an article by producer Sherman Escoffery:

The mighty Konono #1 teaming up with Baloji

BALOJI feat. KONONO n1 - KARIBU YA BINTOU from BALOJI on Vimeo.

awesome video featuring the city of kinshasa, check it

9.2.10

Ring modulator shootout: Moogerfooger MF-102 vs. Vermona RM1



Ring modulation is an audio effect that's used mostly by experrymental musicians and producers. There are many different models and sounds, so how do you choose the ring modulator that's right for you?

4.2.10

Carnival special

scratchy dubplate crew - carnival special (irie lion mix) by ISM Studio

Brazilian carnival is dutty but Rhineland style carnival is nutty so this is a special livication to all nuttaz east of the river Maas

"That is dutty!" Craig Mungo's
"Bassline!!!" Jah Billah

31.1.10

Mad Professor sample CD by Loopmasters

From the official propaganda:

"Mad Professor has worked super close with the Loopmasters team to create an exclusive and authentic collection of some of his most prized musical gems from the Ariwa studios reggae vaults – providing producers of Dub, Reggae, Dubstep, DnB and other musical styles with previously unheard and undiscovered audio material!

11.1.10

In the mix: Max Stagger - Kentucky Blue Sensi Skank

It's the return of the amazing MAX STAGGER!!! Strictly highest grade, even burn, smooth draw, kinda grabs you by the booboo.

10.1.10

South Rakkas Crew giveaway



free music doesn't get better than The Stimulus Package by SRC

7.1.10

Album review: Sevish - Golden Hour

I never write album reviews. It seems useless because there's so much new music nowadays. But Sean 'Sevish' Archibald is something else.

You probably haven't heard of him but anyway Golden Hour blew me away from the first time i heard it. It's released on Sean's new Split Notes netlabel (free download, creative commons license).