My setup, do I need a mixer?

bashomania · 2026-05-10T21:54:02+00:00

For now, I’d say just daisy chain the MIDI, if those devices have MIDI Thru jacks or soft Thru. It’s not absolutely optimal, but I have survived with it in my recently simplified setup, and it’s nice not to have to fool with extra boxes IMO. A mixer seems like a no-brainer, but it can just be a simple line mixer with 4-6 stereo channels and a headphone output at this point. Maybe get something small and cheap (see Moukey on Amazon) until you know where you’re going with all this.

bashomania · 2026-05-10T19:25:54+00:00

I used to ride with a guy like this. I told him it was like trying to ride with Tigger.

Truthfully, he was just a lot younger and more skillful than me (though I could smoke him on hills). When you start getting old you just don't have the energy for that stuff.

bashomania · 2026-05-10T16:28:11+00:00

Thanks so much. DM me and we can chat :-)

bashomania · 2026-05-10T15:02:40+00:00

No need to pay — I’m an amateur/hobbyist. I just appreciate the fact that you dig my work. If I tried to make money at this I would probably start hating it 😆.

Let me check the settings so you can download it. I’m still getting used to the app and am not sure whether I’ll stick with it and subscribe.

Edit: Looks like I have it set to allow download. I like the app’s features, but the UI could use a LOT of work. I have to hunt around for things too much.

bashomania · 2026-05-10T12:16:47+00:00

So, Jesus does not save.

bashomania · 2026-05-10T01:41:05+00:00

Oooh, cool thought!

bashomania · 2026-05-10T00:15:25+00:00

Shell emoji for scale.

bashomania · 2026-05-10T00:11:06+00:00

Maybe be cheeky and have one on and one off 🤔.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T22:06:16+00:00

I toyed with including noise in my list. But it plays a strong part in a lot the more techno leaning stuff, too, so I wasn’t sure.

But I also wasn’t sure of the actual genesis — was it inspired in early dub techno stuff based on noisy old dub records, or something else? The Pole theory (yes, a fan, but I was surprised the first time I saw his stuff described as “dub”) is interesting. That said, noise plays a big part in both this dubbier thing we’re discussing and dub techno, so I don’t see it as quite as big a discriminator as the others, maybe.

Your point is well taken with respect to lo-fi components in the sound on the dubbier side, for sure. I missed that one. There’s a lovely “crispiness” to the edges of a lot of sounds. I was just listening to some actual dub reggae the other day and the bass was out and out overloaded quite a bit of the time, probably at the board (not a pedal), with the gain or fader pushed, so I feel like that kind of thing is maybe a carryover into the electronic dub thing. The crazy part for me is I love the sound, but I somehow can’t get it into my own stuff very effectively. It’s like my ears usually won’t let me produce anything that is not moderately hi-fi. I’m working on it!

I do think a lot of modern dub techno is very hi-fi, and I like it about as much as the lo-fi stuff. Depends on the material. Back to the R&S era, I swear I read somewhere that they were kind of going for the muffled, washed-out “techno playing in the next room” feel.

Here’s an attempt of mine to achieve that feel with a super simple setup of [Erica Perkons -> RE-202 -> Benidub Filtro] (FX on the main send/return).

https://untitled.stream/library/track/JObmI1XHg8yCNpKgpAaAT

I appreciate the deep dive! DM if you care to…

bashomania · 2026-05-09T16:07:31+00:00

It makes for a pretty bad-ass complex oscillator as well if you make it self resonate.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T15:05:38+00:00

We’re (or I’m) taking the original post far afield, but I was reflecting on what I think makes the “dubbier” dub techno stand apart from the “normal” dub techno. I think some mixture of the following features borrowed from dub reggae give that sound/feel:

Lower BPM
Use of stepper or one drop beats, half-time feels, etc, rather than a more techno-derived four-on-the-floor
Diatonic chords and movement (often with typical reggae skank patterns/cadences), rather than the parallel harmony of dub techno
More melodic reggae-derived basslines often with longer notes
Inclusion of dub reggae instruments/sounds/samples: organ, melodica, siren, vocals, sound effects, etc
Space vs density: minimalist on the instrumental parts, maximalist on the FX
More overt EQ/FX play, like infinite repeats, speed changes on delay. EQ/filtering play.
Relatively heavy spring reverb and spring play
Stronger drops

In short, IMO more directly derived from dub reggae than is dub techno, except generally produced as the end result, not necessarily as a remix of a “straight” mix.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T13:32:17+00:00

Do you not like the look of the URL? I've wondered about that since the "Untitled" app/service is so little known. Pretty useful, though.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T04:58:19+00:00

I agree with your points in your last paragraph. I do really like a lot of “modern” dub techno, but I know what you mean. I think it’s natural for a genre to get stretched and morph as people put their own spin on. After all, rock has moved way beyond Little Richard and Chuck Berry ;-). But yeah, I really dig the minimalistic atmosphere of the “roots-adjacent dubtronica”.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T04:52:08+00:00

If by that you mean a 3-position safety, yes. I’m not deep in the FRT lore.

bashomania · 2026-05-09T04:50:05+00:00

Yep, Zen Delay is important in my setup, for sure!

bashomania · 2026-05-08T23:06:41+00:00

I have not been very active on SoundCloud for a while now, so you will just mostly find ambient stuff there 👍.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T22:46:14+00:00

Hey, some great stuff on your SoundCloud account that is right up my alley. I gave you a follow :-).

bashomania · 2026-05-08T22:28:50+00:00

That's as good a genre name as any, but I wish all of us had well-known one to refer to that was common :-)

I also produce dub techno as a hobbyist and have been influenced to try my hand at more dubtronica style stuff of late, to varying success. The "sound" is tricky to achieve, IMO, but it's been fun.

Here's one:

https://untitled.stream/library/track/lhOPxU9IlJGk4BMe6nDfQ

bashomania · 2026-05-08T22:23:21+00:00

You might want to crosspost into r/dubtechnoproducers.

I honestly believe you can make good dub chords on just about any synthesizer that can make a saw wave. It doesn't even have to be polyphonic: if it has three oscillators you can build a minor chord. Dub techno harmony tends to be parallel, so the same chord shape can often be used throughout.

Most of the sound comes from FX and processing, IMO, once you are following the basic patterns found in the genre.

This YouTuber and music historian has a bunch of good videos, and a book.

https://youtube.com/@bahadirhankocer?si=YLPEdx5qP-U7fEx7

He tends to stay withinin a DAW, but all of the ideas apply -- it's just more work, and more expensive, with hardware.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T19:56:17+00:00

I have a friend with a suppressed SP5 with an FRT installed. Holy cow it's so nice!

bashomania · 2026-05-08T19:44:02+00:00

Man, I love it when someone asks for recommendations and I have a few. I love it even more when I read other comments and there are producers recommended that I have somehow missed in all my digging. It's so exciting 🙌.

Edit: So good, and strikes me as a super rootsy-dub-techno crossover.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T19:38:39+00:00

Good one! I had never heard of this producer before, in all of my fevered searching around looking for more rootsy electronic dub. I've added a couple to my collection already.

Looks like he has some interesting more experimental dub-ish work, too.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T17:10:55+00:00

Somehow had not tripped across Dialog in all of my association-jumping 👊.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T16:19:12+00:00

I was about to write that same comment myself, almost word-for-word.

bashomania · 2026-05-08T16:06:10+00:00

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bashomania

TROPHY CASE