When Did Dub Music Start?

September 23, 2025 by Dahrk Vision in Dub:

Dub music started in Jamaica between 1968 and 1970, when sound engineers like King Tubby began remixing reggae tracks into instrumental “versions.” This article traces the timeline of dub’s beginnings, its pioneers, and how it evolved into a global movement.

Introduction

Every music revolution has a point of origin, a moment when experimentation crystallizes into a new form. For dub music, that moment occurred in late 1960s Kingston, Jamaica, when the island was buzzing with sound system dances, independence-era creativity, and technological innovation in recording studios.

The question “When did dub music start?” does not have a single-date answer like the release of a first album. Instead, dub emerged as a process between 1968 and 1970, shaped by sound system competition, the rise of “versions,” and the genius of engineers like King Tubby, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Errol Thompson. These innovators transformed reggae tracks into immersive, bass-heavy soundscapes filled with echo and reverb, laying the foundation for one of Jamaica’s most influential contributions to world music.

Defining Dub’s “Start”

Pinpointing the “start” of dub requires understanding that it grew from several parallel developments:

Versions on B-sides: Starting in 1968, instrumental versions of reggae singles began to appear regularly.
Live Sound System Experiments: Engineers at dances used EQ filters and delay to alter how tracks were played through speakers.
Studio Manipulation: By 1969–70, King Tubby and others began deliberately remixing tracks, dropping out vocals, and adding effects.
Dub Albums: By 1971–73, dedicated dub releases signaled that it was no longer just a technical trick but a standalone genre.

Thus, dub “started” as early as 1968 in its embryonic form and was fully recognized by 1970–71.

The Pre-History: Versions and Sound Systems

The Rise of Versions

Jamaican singles in the 1960s often came with a vocal track on the A-side and an instrumental “version” on the B-side.
These versions stripped out lead vocals but left rhythm sections intact, making them useful for sound system DJs.
Early versions included cuts like “On the Beach” (The Paragons, 1967), whose instrumental flipside prefigured dub logic.

Sound System Rivalries as Pressure Cookers

Sound systems like Duke Reid’s the Trojan, Coxsone Dodd’s Downbeat, and later King Tubby’s Home Town Hi-Fi were in fierce competition.
Selectors sought exclusive tracks that no other system could play.
This demand created a need for special mixes — an environment ripe for the birth of dub.

Early “Sound Tricks”

Operators would physically manipulate playback equipment at dances.
Cutting treble, boosting bass, or using primitive echo created excitement for audiences.
These live experiments foreshadowed what dub would achieve in the studio.

1968–1970: The Birth Window

1968: First Steps

Producers like Rupie Edwards and Errol Thompson began pressing more instrumental B-sides.
These tracks were not yet dub, but they represented the transition from vocal to instrumental dominance.

1969: King Tubby Innovates

Tubby, a trained electronics repairman, modified mixing consoles and amplifiers to push them beyond intended functions.
He started isolating drum and bass tracks while muting vocals — essentially remixing live on mixing boards.
Tubby’s experiments gave audiences an entirely new way to hear familiar songs.

1970: The Breakthrough

By 1970, Tubby’s versions included reverb, echo, and delay, making them distinctly different from the originals.
Sound system crowds went wild when dubplates with these mixes dropped.
What had begun as a technical adjustment became a new musical language.

The First Recognized Dub Tracks

“Take One” by The Techniques (1968)

Sometimes cited as the first Jamaican instrumental “version.”
Showed how a vocal song could be re-imagined without lyrics.

“King Tubby Meets the Upsetter” Sessions (1970)

Early collaborations between King Tubby and Lee Perry.
Established the dub template of stripped-down bass and heavy effects.

“King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” (1974)

Although recorded a few years later, this track with Augustus Pablo encapsulates techniques Tubby was pioneering by 1970.
Widely considered dub’s defining anthem.

1971–1973: Dub Becomes a Genre

By the early 1970s, dub was no longer confined to dubplates:

1971: Commercial Recognition

Studios like Randy’s Studio 17 began releasing dub singles.
Audiences wanted to purchase the versions they had heard in dances.

1972: Augustus Pablo’s Melodica

Pablo’s haunting melodica lines added a spiritual quality to dub mixes.
His partnership with Tubby elevated dub into an expressive art form.

1973: “Blackboard Jungle Dub” (Lee Perry)

One of the first albums marketed as a dub LP.
Perry’s surreal sound collages expanded dub into experimental territory.

By 1973, dub was internationally recognized, not just a Jamaican niche.

Why the Late 1960s?

Political & Cultural Context

Jamaica had gained independence in 1962.
The late 1960s were marked by political turbulence, social unrest, and youth creativity.
Dub’s stripped-down sound resonated with the search for authenticity in postcolonial Jamaica.

Technology Meets Creativity

Four-track recorders and affordable mixing boards reached Jamaica at just the right time.
Engineers like Tubby pushed this technology to its limits, turning necessity into invention.

Economics of Scarcity

Jamaica’s small recording market forced producers to stretch material.
Dub allowed multiple versions of a single recording, maximizing profit and creativity simultaneously.

Pioneers Who Shaped Dub’s Start

King Tubby (Osbourne Ruddock)

Universally recognized as the father of dub.
His innovations in 1969–70 laid the foundation.

Lee “Scratch” Perry

While Tubby was technical, Perry was theatrical.
His Black Ark Studio (opened 1973) became legendary for producing dub steeped in Rastafarian mysticism and sonic experimentation.

Errol “ET” Thompson

His work at Randy’s Studio 17 mainstreamed dub.
Helped transform dub from sound system exclusivity to commercial viability.

Augustus Pablo

Introduced the melodica into dub, giving it a meditative, almost spiritual sound.

Together, these pioneers transformed dub from experiment into global phenomenon.

Dub’s Consolidation in the Mid-1970s

Dub albums like Pick a Dub (Keith Hudson, 1974) and Super Ape (Lee Perry, 1976) cemented dub’s legitimacy.
International audiences began consuming dub as art, not just dance music.
British punks and post-punks embraced dub aesthetics, while Jamaican immigrants carried dub to diaspora communities in London and New York.

Global Impact of Dub’s Start

Dub’s birth in late 1960s Jamaica reshaped the trajectory of modern music:

Hip-Hop: DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant in the Bronx, adopted dub’s practice of extending instrumental breaks, directly influencing hip-hop’s birth.
Electronic Music: Dub’s emphasis on bass and effects influenced house, techno, jungle, and drum-and-bass.
Dubstep: Emerging in the UK in the 2000s, dubstep explicitly borrowed its name and bass-heavy ethos from Jamaican dub.
Pop & Rock: The Clash, Massive Attack, and Gorillaz incorporated dub production techniques.

From Kingston’s dancehalls to global festivals, dub’s echoes are everywhere.

Conclusion

Dub music started in late 1960s Jamaica, between 1968 and 1970, when engineers began reshaping reggae tracks into immersive, bass-heavy remixes. King Tubby is credited with pioneering dub by using mixing boards as instruments, while contemporaries like Lee Perry, Errol Thompson, and Augustus Pablo expanded the genre’s artistry.

Dub’s start was not marked by a single record but by a cultural shift — sound system rivalries, versions on B-sides, and experimental studio techniques coalesced into a new art form. Its invention not only transformed Jamaican music but also laid the foundation for global remix culture, electronic music, and hip-hop.

When dub started in Kingston’s modest studios, no one could have predicted that its echoes would still reverberate across the world decades later. Yet the late 1960s remain the crucible where this radical sound was forged.

References

Bradley, L. (2000). Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King. Penguin.
Hebdige, D. (1987). Cut ’n’ Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music. Routledge.
Hope, D. P. (2006). Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica. UWI Press.
Manuel, P., & Bilby, K. (2016). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (3rd ed.). Temple University Press.
Veal, M. E. (2007). Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. Wesleyan University Press.
White, G. (2016). King Tubby’s Studio and the Invention of Dub. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 28(3), 335–350.