King Tubby
Encyclopedia
King Tubby was a Jamaica
n electronics and sound engineer
, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub
in the 1960s and 1970s. Born Osbourne Ruddock, Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the role of the mixing engineer
to a creative fame previously only reserved for composer
s and musician
s, would prove to be influential across many genres of popular music. He is often cited as the inventor of the concept of the remix
, and so may be seen as a direct antecedent of much dance
and electronic music
production.
Mikey Dread
stated "King Tubby truly understood sound in a scientific sense. He knew how the circuits worked and what the electrons did. That's why he could do what he did".
and which were developing into enterprising businesses. As a talented radio repairman, Tubby soon found himself in great demand by most of the major sound systems of Kingston, as the tropical weather of the Caribbean island, (often combined with sabotage by rival sound system owners) led to malfunctions and equipment failure. Tubby owned an electrical repair shop on Drumalie Avenue, Kingston, that fixed televisions and radios. It was here that he built large amplifiers for the local sound systems. In 1961/62 he built his own radio transmitter and briefly ran a private radio station playing ska
and rhythm and blues
which he soon shut down when he heard that the police were looking for the perpetrators. Tubby would eventually form his own sound system, Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi, which became a crowd favourite due to the high quality sound of his equipment, exclusive releases and Tubby's own echo
and reverb sound effects, at that point something of a novelty.
in 1968. Reid, one of the major figures in early Jamaican music alongside rival Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd
, ran Treasure Isle studios, one of Jamaica's first independent production houses, and was a key producer of ska
, rocksteady
and eventually reggae
recordings. Asked to produce instrumental versions of songs for sound system MCs or toasters, Tubby initially worked to remove the vocal tracks with the sliders on Reid's mixing desk, but soon discovered that the various instrumental tracks could be accentuated, reworked and emphasised through the settings on the mixer and primitive early effects units. In time, Tubby (and others) began to create wholly new pieces of music by shifting the emphasis in the instrumentals, adding sounds and removing others and adding various special effects, like echoes, reverb and phase effects. Partly due to the popularity of these early remix
es, 1971 saw Tubby's soundsystem consolidate its position as one of the most popular in Kingston and so he decided to open a studio of his own.
, and would generate interest in his production techniques from producers, sound engineers and musicians across the world. Tubby built on his considerable knowledge of electronics to repair, adapt and design his own studio equipment, which made use of a combination of old devices and new technologies to produce a studio capable of the precise, atmospheric sounds which would become Tubby's trademark. With a variety of effects units connected to his mixer, Tubby was able to 'play' the mixing desk like an instrument, bringing instruments and vocals in and out of the mix (literally 'dubbing' them) to create an entirely new genre known as dub music.
Using existing multitrack
master tapes—his small studio in fact had no capacity to record session musicians—Tubby would re-tape or 'dub' the original after passing it through his 12 channel custom built MCI mixing desk, twisting the songs into unexpected configurations which highlighted the heavy rhythms of their bass and drum parts with minute snatches of vocals, horns and Piano/Organ. These techniques mirrored the actions of the sound system selector
s, who had long used EQ equipment to emphasise certain aspects of particular records, but Tubby was able to use his custom-built studio to take this technique into new areas, often transforming a hit song to the point where it was almost unrecognizable from its original. One unique aspect of his remixes or dubs was the result of creative manipulating of the built-in highpass filter on the MCI mixer he had bought from Dynamic Studios. The filter was controllable by a large knob—aka the 'big knob' - which allowed Tubby to introduce a dramatic narrowing sweep of any signal, such as the horns, until the sound disappeared into a thin squeal.
Tubby engineered/remixed songs for Jamaica's top producers such as Lee Perry, Bunny Lee
, Augustus Pablo
and Vivian Jackson that featured artists such as Johnny Clarke
, Cornell Campbell
, Linval Thompson
, Horace Andy
, Big Joe
, Delroy Wilson
, Jah Stitch
and many others. In 1973, he built a vocal booth at his studio so he could record vocal tracks onto the instrumental tapes brought to him by various producers. This process is known as 'voicing' in Jamaican recording parlance. It is unlikely that a complete discography of Tubby's production work could be created based on the number of labels, artists and producers with whom he worked, and subsequent repressings of these releases sometimes contained contradictory information. His name is credited on hundreds of b-side labels, with the possibility that many others were by his hand yet uncredited, due to similarities with his known work.
By the later part of the decade, though, King Tubby had mostly retired from music, still occasionally mixing dubs and tutoring a new generation of artists, including King Jammy
and Scientist
. In the 1980s he built a new, larger studio with increased capabilities, and focused on the management of his own labels, Firehouse, Waterhouse and Taurus, which released the work of Anthony Red Rose, Sugar Minott
, Conroy Smith, King Everald and other popular musicians.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n electronics and sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Born Osbourne Ruddock, Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the role of the mixing engineer
Mixing engineer
A mix engineer is the person responsible for incorporating all the different recorded elements of music to make the final version of a song. These mixing professionals have many years of experience and training with audio equipment which has enabled them to master the art of audio mixing...
to a creative fame previously only reserved for composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s, would prove to be influential across many genres of popular music. He is often cited as the inventor of the concept of the remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
, and so may be seen as a direct antecedent of much dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
production.
Mikey Dread
Mikey Dread
Michael George Campbell , better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music...
stated "King Tubby truly understood sound in a scientific sense. He knew how the circuits worked and what the electrons did. That's why he could do what he did".
Biography
King Tubby's music career began in the 1950s with the rising popularity of Jamaican sound systems, which were to be found all over KingstonKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
and which were developing into enterprising businesses. As a talented radio repairman, Tubby soon found himself in great demand by most of the major sound systems of Kingston, as the tropical weather of the Caribbean island, (often combined with sabotage by rival sound system owners) led to malfunctions and equipment failure. Tubby owned an electrical repair shop on Drumalie Avenue, Kingston, that fixed televisions and radios. It was here that he built large amplifiers for the local sound systems. In 1961/62 he built his own radio transmitter and briefly ran a private radio station playing ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
which he soon shut down when he heard that the police were looking for the perpetrators. Tubby would eventually form his own sound system, Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi, which became a crowd favourite due to the high quality sound of his equipment, exclusive releases and Tubby's own echo
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
and reverb sound effects, at that point something of a novelty.
Remixes
Tubby began working as a disc cutter for producer Duke ReidDuke Reid
Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....
in 1968. Reid, one of the major figures in early Jamaican music alongside rival Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd
Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...
, ran Treasure Isle studios, one of Jamaica's first independent production houses, and was a key producer of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, rocksteady
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...
and eventually reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
recordings. Asked to produce instrumental versions of songs for sound system MCs or toasters, Tubby initially worked to remove the vocal tracks with the sliders on Reid's mixing desk, but soon discovered that the various instrumental tracks could be accentuated, reworked and emphasised through the settings on the mixer and primitive early effects units. In time, Tubby (and others) began to create wholly new pieces of music by shifting the emphasis in the instrumentals, adding sounds and removing others and adding various special effects, like echoes, reverb and phase effects. Partly due to the popularity of these early remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es, 1971 saw Tubby's soundsystem consolidate its position as one of the most popular in Kingston and so he decided to open a studio of his own.
Dub music production
King Tubby's production work in the 1970s would see him become one of the best-known celebrities in JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and would generate interest in his production techniques from producers, sound engineers and musicians across the world. Tubby built on his considerable knowledge of electronics to repair, adapt and design his own studio equipment, which made use of a combination of old devices and new technologies to produce a studio capable of the precise, atmospheric sounds which would become Tubby's trademark. With a variety of effects units connected to his mixer, Tubby was able to 'play' the mixing desk like an instrument, bringing instruments and vocals in and out of the mix (literally 'dubbing' them) to create an entirely new genre known as dub music.
Using existing multitrack
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
master tapes—his small studio in fact had no capacity to record session musicians—Tubby would re-tape or 'dub' the original after passing it through his 12 channel custom built MCI mixing desk, twisting the songs into unexpected configurations which highlighted the heavy rhythms of their bass and drum parts with minute snatches of vocals, horns and Piano/Organ. These techniques mirrored the actions of the sound system selector
Selector
A selector can be:*"Selector" music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services*Selector , a Reggae DJ *A DNA probe used in the selector-technique...
s, who had long used EQ equipment to emphasise certain aspects of particular records, but Tubby was able to use his custom-built studio to take this technique into new areas, often transforming a hit song to the point where it was almost unrecognizable from its original. One unique aspect of his remixes or dubs was the result of creative manipulating of the built-in highpass filter on the MCI mixer he had bought from Dynamic Studios. The filter was controllable by a large knob—aka the 'big knob' - which allowed Tubby to introduce a dramatic narrowing sweep of any signal, such as the horns, until the sound disappeared into a thin squeal.
Tubby engineered/remixed songs for Jamaica's top producers such as Lee Perry, Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee
Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
, Augustus Pablo
Augustus Pablo
Horace Swaby , known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He popularized the use of the melodica in reggae music...
and Vivian Jackson that featured artists such as Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...
, Cornell Campbell
Cornell Campbell
Cornell Campbell aka Don Cornell or Don Gorgon is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee in the 1970s.-Biography:Cornel has one of the sweetest falsettos of any Jamaican vocalist and uses it...
, Linval Thompson
Linval Thompson
Linval Thompson is a Jamaican reggae and dub musician and record producer.-Biography:Thompson was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, but spent time with his mother in Queens, New York, and his recording career began around the age of 20 with the self-released "No Other Woman," recorded in Brooklyn, New...
, Horace Andy
Horace Andy
Horace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
, Big Joe
Big Joe (reggae)
Big Joe is a Jamaican reggae deejay and record producer, who recorded extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s.-Biography:...
, Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson
Delroy Wilson was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer.-Biography:Wilson released his first single "Emy Lou" in 1961 for record producer, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, at the age of thirteen...
, Jah Stitch
Jah Stitch
Jah Stitch is a reggae deejay best known for his recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:...
and many others. In 1973, he built a vocal booth at his studio so he could record vocal tracks onto the instrumental tapes brought to him by various producers. This process is known as 'voicing' in Jamaican recording parlance. It is unlikely that a complete discography of Tubby's production work could be created based on the number of labels, artists and producers with whom he worked, and subsequent repressings of these releases sometimes contained contradictory information. His name is credited on hundreds of b-side labels, with the possibility that many others were by his hand yet uncredited, due to similarities with his known work.
By the later part of the decade, though, King Tubby had mostly retired from music, still occasionally mixing dubs and tutoring a new generation of artists, including King Jammy
King Jammy
Lloyd James , better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby's recording studio...
and Scientist
Scientist (musician)
Scientist, born Hopeton Brown in Kingston, Jamaica, 1960 , was a protégé of King Tubby , one of the originators of dub music.-Biography:...
. In the 1980s he built a new, larger studio with increased capabilities, and focused on the management of his own labels, Firehouse, Waterhouse and Taurus, which released the work of Anthony Red Rose, Sugar Minott
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator.-Biography:...
, Conroy Smith, King Everald and other popular musicians.
Death
King Tubby was shot and killed on February 6, 1989 by an unknown group of people outside his home in Duhaney Park, Kingston upon returning from a session at his Waterhouse studio. It is thought that the murder was probably an attempt at robbery.With Augustus Pablo
- Ital DubItal DubItal Dub is an album by Augustus Pablo originally released in 1974 and sees Tommy Cowan and Warwick Lyn replacing Clive Chin on production duties. The album also features King Tubby as Engineer, a role he would later reprise a number of times during Pablo's career.NB : Ital Dub is also the name of...
(Trojan, 1975) - King Tubby Meets Rockers UptownKing Tubby Meets Rockers UptownKing Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is a dub album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar. Pablo produced the album and played melodica, piano, organ and...
(Clock Tower, 1976) - Rockers Meets King Tubby in a FirehouseRockers Meets King Tubby in a FirehouseRockers Meets King Tubby In a Firehouse, is a dub album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1980. "Rockers" was a commonly used nickname given to Pablo. It features Mickey "Boo" Richards, Leroy Wallace and Albert Malawi on drums, Robbie Shakespeare on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna"...
(1980) - Original RockersOriginal RockersOriginal Rockers is a reggae album by Augustus Pablo and is a compilation of singles, all recorded between 1972 and 1975. It was originally released in 1979 on Greensleeves Records....
(1979)
With Prince Jammy
- His Majesty's Dub (1975)
- First, Second And Third Generation Of Dub (1981, with ScientistScientist (musician)Scientist, born Hopeton Brown in Kingston, Jamaica, 1960 , was a protégé of King Tubby , one of the originators of dub music.-Biography:...
)
With Lee "Scratch" Perry
- Blackboard Jungle (1973)
- King Tubby Meets The Upsetter At the Grass Roots of Dub (1975)
Other Collaborations
- Yabby YouYabby YouVivian Jackson , better known as Yabby You , was a reggae vocalist and producer, who came to prominence in the early 1970s through his uncompromising, self-produced work.-Biography:...
- King Tubby's Prophecy Of Dub (1976) - Harry MudieHarry MudieHarry A. Mudie is a Jamaican record producer.-Biography:Harry Mudie attended the St Jago High School. In the mid fifties, he launched his own sound system "Mudies Hi-Fi", before going to the UK to study electronics and photography.Back in Jamaica in the late 1950s, Mudie began producing, mainly...
- Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby in Dub Conference Vol. 1 (1975) - Niney the ObserverNiney the ObserverWinston Holness, better known as Niney the Observer , is a Jamaican record producer and singer who was a key figure in the creation of many classic reggae recordings dating from the 1970s and early 1980s....
- Dubbing with the Observer (Trojan, 1975) - Larry Marshall - King Tubby's Meets Larry Marshall (Java, 1975)
- Roots RadicsRoots RadicsThe Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt and guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont. They were joined by many great musicians. As a combined force the Roots Radics became a well-respected studio and stage band, which dominated the sound in the first half of the 1980s...
- Dangerous Dub: King Tubby Meets Roots Radics (Copasetic, 1981) - Sly & Robbie - Sly & Robbie Meet King Tubby (Vista Sounds, 1985)
- King Tubby the Dubmaster with the Waterhouse Posse (Vista Sounds, 1983)
Compilations
- King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
& Bunny LeeBunny LeeEdward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
- Bionic Dub 1975-1977 - King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
& Bunny LeeBunny LeeEdward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee is a prominent, prolific and successful record producer best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
- Straight to I Roy Head 1973-1977 - King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
- Creation Dub 1973-1977 - King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
- Dub Jackpot 1974-1976 - King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
- Dub Gone Crazy 1975-1979 - King Tubby & The AggrovatorsThe AggrovatorsThe Aggrovators were a dub/reggae backing band in the 1970s & 1980s, and one of the main session bands of producer, Bunny Lee. The line-up varied, with Lee using the name for whichever set of musicians he was using at any time. The band's name derived from the record shop that Lee had run in the...
- Foundation of Dub 1975-1977 - King Tubby Meets Scientist in a World of Dub (Burning Sounds, 1996)
- King Tubby Meets Scientist at Dub Station (Burning Sounds, 1996)
- Glen Brown & King Tubby: Termination Dub 1973-1979 (Blood & Fire, 1996)