Editing Dub music (section)

==Name==
The use of the word ''dub'' in a recording context originated in the late 1920s with the advent of "[[Sound film|talking pictures]]" and referred to adding a soundtrack to a film; it is an informal abbreviation of the word ''double''. Over the next 40 years or so the term found its way into audio recording in general, often in the context of making a copy of a recording on another tape or disc.

It was in this sense that the term was first used in the Jamaican recording industry: new recordings were often initially copied onto one-off [[acetate disc]]s, known colloquially as ''soft wax''<ref name="ReferenceA">Steve Barrow, sleeve notes of "Dub Gone Crazy", Blood And Fire Records, BAFCD 002, February 1994</ref> or ''dub'' and later as [[dubplate]]s, for exclusive use by [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound system]] operators; playing a song as an exclusive recording on a sound system was a good way for a producer to test the potential popularity of a recording before committing to the pressing of hundreds or thousands of copies of [[Single (music)|singles]] for retail sale. Initially, these acetates would simply be the standard recording of a song that was yet to be released on a single; around 1968–69, however, they started to be exclusive mixes with some or all of the vocal mixed out. Producer [[Bunny Lee]] notes:

<blockquote>"Yeah...it was really VERSION those days – it wasn't dub yet beca' it was jus' the riddim. One day an incident: Ruddy's (sound system operator Ruddy Redwood) was ''cutting dub'', an when it start, Smithy (recording engineer Byron Smith) look like 'im start bring on the voice and Ruddy's say: no, mek it run and 'im take the whole backing track off it. 'Im say, alright, run it again, and put in the voice. 'Im didn't do no more like that yet."</blockquote>

After describing how Redwood then had his deejay first play the vocal version and then the instrumental version at a dance, and how popular this novelty was, Lee continued:

<blockquote>"The next day now, 'im start it and just bring in the riddim. Or...down in the tune, bring a little voice and drop it out again...yes. Ruddy use to handle that part himself, drop in the voice and drop it out. All Smithy do was ''cut the dub...''"<ref name="ReferenceA"/></blockquote>

Jamaican soundsystems had always sought exclusive recordings from their origins in the late 1940s. However, when they played American rhythm & blues records through the 1950s, these were simply records that rival sound system operators didn't have and couldn't identify. This progressed from the late 1950s onwards via having local musicians record a song exclusively for play on a particular sound system to having exclusive mixes of a song on acetate, which became possible with the arrival of [[multi-track recording]] in Jamaica. From the concept of a version with some or all of the vocal mixed out dubbed to acetate, the novelty-hungry sound system scene rapidly drove the evolution of increasingly creative mixes in the first few years of the 1970s. Within a few years the term dub became attached to these regardless of whether they were on an exclusive acetate or "dubplate". As the use of the term widened and evolved, [[Bob Marley and the Wailers]] used the order "''dub'' this one!" in live concerts to mean, "put an emphasis on bass and drums". Drummer [[Sly Dunbar]] similarly points to a usage of the related term ''dubwise'' to mean using only [[drums]] and bass.<ref name="Dub p.62">Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.62</ref>

It is possible that the existing use of the word dub for other meanings in Jamaica around the time of the music's origin may have helped to cement its use in the musical context. The most frequent meanings referred to either a form of erotic dance or sexual intercourse;<ref>Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.61</ref> such usage is frequently present in names of reggae songs, for instance, of [[the Silvertones]]' "Dub the Pum Pum" (where ''pum pum'' is Jamaican slang for female genitalia), Big Joe and Fay's "Dub a Dawta" ({{lang|jam|dawta}} is [[Jamaican patois]] for ''[[wiktionary:daughter|daughter]]''). [[I-Roy]]'s "Sister Maggie Breast" features several references on [[sex]]:
<blockquote>I man a-''dub'' it on the side<br>
Say little sister you can run but you can't hide<br>
Slip you got to slide you got to open your crotches wide<br>
Peace and love abide</blockquote>

However, all three of these songs were recorded after the use of ''dub'' for a style of remixing was already prevalent.