Dubplate
A dubplate is an acetate disc usually of 10 inches diameter, traditionally used by studios to test recordings prior to mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record, but pioneered by reggae sound systems as a way to play exclusive music. They became an important facet of the jungle/drum and bass, UK garage, grime and dubstep music scenes.
History
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According to David Toop, the "dub" in dubplate is an allusion to the dubplate's use in "dubbing" or "doubling" the original version of a track.[1] The first use of dubplates is commonly attributed to sound engineer King Tubby and reggae sound systems such as Lloyd Coxsone and Killamanjaro.[2] Special and one-off versions were cut to acetate for competing in a sound clash, using vocals specially recorded to namecheck the sound system. As such, these became known as "dubplate specials" often remarking on the prowess of the sound system playing it, in a bid to win the clash.
In the UK, John Hassell and his wife ran a recording studio from their suburban house in Barnes, South West London, which became key to British sound systems and artists such as Dennis Bovell.[3] Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Music House in North London and JTS Studio in East London were the two most prominent "cutting houses".[4][5]
Whilst acetates have been used in the music industry for many years, especially in dance music, dubplates became a particularly important part of the jungle/drum and bass scene throughout the 1990s.[6] This was followed by the UK garage, grime and dubstep genres, and cutting houses such as Transition.[7][8] New music was composed and recorded onto DAT tape to be cut onto dubplate, often so that it could be played that weekend (or even that night).
Despite the shift to DJing on digital mediums such as CDJs and DJ controllers, dubplates continue to be used for playing exclusive music and have also gained a specialist market in recent years.[9]
See also
[edit]References
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- ↑ Toop, David (1995). Ocean of Sound. Serpent's Tail. p. 117.
- ↑ Chris Parkin (10 August 2017). "How Jamaican soundsystem culture conquered music". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "The strange origin of the UK Reggae big bass sound: John Hassell Recordings, Barnes". Soundofthehound.com. 25 June 2011.
- ↑ Warren, Emma (2010). "The First Cut is the Deepest". Woofah Magazine. No. 4.
- ↑ "Music House Studio Inside one of London's legendary dubplate studios". Dub-stuy.com. 25 November 2018.
- ↑ Matthew Bennett (30 October 2014). "Dubplate Culture: Analogue Islands in the Digital Stream". Red Bull Music Academy Daily. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Alex Nagshineh (13 May 2015). "Dreams rendered in metal: A look into dubplate culture". Bonafide Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
- ↑ Will Pritchard (8 September 2016). "Nuff Wheel Ups: Exploring Dubplate Culture". Clash Music.
- ↑ Oli Warwick (28 August 2017). "Meet the studios keeping dubplate culture alive". The Vinyl Factory.