Dub Is a Mindset – Not a Genre

How space, silence and performance shapes my bass music

Dub Didn’t Start as a Style

Dub has inspired many genres I like and perform in: dubstep, deep dubstep, jungle, even dub techno and other forms of bass music.
Historically, dub was never meant to be a genre.

It was a way of thinking about sound.

In Jamaican soundsystem culture, dub emerged when producers and engineers started to treat the mixing desk itself as an instrument. Faders, EQs, filters, delays and reverbs weren’t just technical tools to get a good mix of a reggae tune — they were played in real time.

A dub version wasn’t a finished track.
It was a performance.

The Mixing Desk as an Instrument

If you’ve ever watched someone like King Tubby or Lee “Scratch” Perry work a desk, you’ll notice something important:

They weren’t adding more.
They were taking things away.

Dropping the vocals
Cutting the drums
Sending a single snare hit into a delay
Letting reverb bloom into silence

Those gestures are musical. They have timing, tension and release — just like playing drums or keys.

This is why FX sends matter so much in dub:

A delay throw on a single hit
A reverb tail that becomes the next bar
Feedback pushed just to the edge of chaos

Used this way, effects stop being decoration and start becoming another voice in the composition.

Empty Space Is Not Empty

One of the biggest misunderstandings in modern production is the fear of silence.

Dub taught me the opposite:

Space is what gives weight to bass.

By cutting out stems — bass, drums, chords — you don’t lose energy.
You focus it.

In my live setup, I often work with just a few looped stems:

a drum loop or jungle break
a bass phrase
a chord or texture
catchy lead synths
percussion and sound fx

That’s enough. Having to control 8 stems at your fingertips is perfect without using your thumbs.

By muting, filtering, delaying and reintroducing elements, I’m not playing tracks — I’m arranging in real time.

A track doesn’t need 60 channels if you understand when not to play something.

Hi-Cut, Lo-Cut, and the Art of Disappearance

One of the most powerful tools in dub is also one of the simplest: filtering.

High-cut and low-cut filters — famously used by Tubby — allow sounds to:

fade into darkness
emerge slowly
dissolve instead of stopping abruptly

Instead of hard transitions, you get movement.

In jungle, dubstep or deep bass music, this becomes a way to:

create drops without adding layers
build tension without risers
transition between loops without breaking flow

A filtered-out break can be more dramatic than a new one dropping in.

From Analog Desk to MIDI Controller

I don’t tour with a 1970s mixing desk — but the philosophy remains.

My live setup is built around:

loops recorded live from analog instruments
stems arranged live through dubbing the loops
FX on returns
a MIDI controller mapped like a mixing desk

Faders control levels.
Knobs control filters, sends, feedback.
Buttons mute and trigger sounds and the siren.

The important part is muscle memory.

When my hands know where the delay send is, I stop thinking and start reacting — just like an engineer at a dub desk.

This is why digital tools don’t feel digital to me.
They can be played just like analog instruments, that’s the Arnology.

This is my first recording of me dubbing some stems I recorded:

And another live performance of from a gig in the Klub Witzenhausen

Routing FX Like a Dub Desk (Practical Setup)

In my setup, FX live on dedicated return channels, just like on an analog desk.

1. Spring Reverb – Dirt, Space, Character

Spring reverb is essential to dub. It’s unstable, metallic, imperfect — and that’s the point.

You don’t need expensive plugins, you can use any reverb effect that supports the loading of IR (Impulse Response) files, replicating the original behaviour of a given reverb or amp. Yeah, I use it instead of micing my guitar amp sometimes when I am touring on my own, just playing directly into the soundcard using Guitar Rig or some free software amp emulations (hit me up on that) and then finally through an IR of a matching cabinet.

So for the reverb send, I recommend:

Convolution Reverb with Spring IRs (Ableton stock Hybrid reverb supports IR since version 11, set to IR only) here is a free IR Reverb
You can download many free IR libraries to load in there (many vintage spring tanks are available online)

Routing:

One dedicated return track
100% wet
High-pass around 200–400 Hz
Low-pass around 5–7 kHz

This keeps the reverb airy and mid-focused, never muddy.

Spring reverb isn’t about realism.
It’s about movement.

2. Tape Delay – Rhythm, Feedback, Danger

For delay, you really don’t need anything fancy.

Ableton’s stock Echo is more than enough. You can also get original Roland RE-201 Space Echo IR’s and use the IR method from above.

What matters is:

tempo sync on (use 3rds or 6ths and play with switching the sync value live for warbly sounds)
a knob mapped to feedback under your fingers
low- and hi-passfilters inside the delay loop create a pleasant declining frequency change in the delay loop

Routing:

One dedicated delay return
100% wet
High-pass to keep low-end clean
Slight saturation if needed

The delay return becomes a rhythmic instrument.

A single hi-hat or snare hit can suddenly become the main groove — just by riding the send.

Feedback Is an Instrument (handle with care)

Magic happens when you play the feedback, not just on the delay, but also on the reverb! Activate Send 1 on the Send 1 to feedback the signal of the reverb into itself. Use with caution and use a limiter to stay safe.

Raising it slowly:

can generate distorted havoc on a spring reverb with a tube emulation before it
lets the delay bloom into omnipresent infinity
creates dynamics and tension

Cutting it suddenly:

creates silence
resets the room
gives weight to what comes next

This is dub arrangement in its purest form.

The Real Lesson of Dub

Dub doesn’t ask:

“What can I add?”

Dub asks:

“What happens if I take this away — right now?”

It’s not about plugins.
It’s not about nostalgia.
It’s not about genres.

Dub is the courage to leave space,
the confidence to let silence speak,
and the skill to turn a mixing desk into an instrument.

If you can play your mixer,
you can make any sound system move.

Dub reminds us that music can still be performed, not just exported.

It invites risk.
It invites imperfection.
It creates personality.

Whether you’re producing, DJing, or performing live:

Dub is not a genre you choose.
It’s a way you listen.

Dub in Jungle, Dubstep, and Beyond

This mindset travels well.

In dubstep, it becomes weight and restraint
In jungle, it becomes tension between rhythm and silence
In UK bass, it becomes groove through subtraction

What connects them is not tempo or sound design —
it’s how they breathe.

Dub teaches you to trust the room, the sound system, and the moment.

If this way of working resonates with you —
whether you’re curious about live setups, production mindset, or DIY soundsystem culture —
this is exactly the space I work in.

Let’s connect and see what we can build together.

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