I’ve uploaded a few reggae and dub DJ mixes from my archive, one from 2007 and the other from 2012. The mixes reflect the period when I was in a dubstep duo called Pure Phase and regularly DJ’d with the Biscuit Tin Sound System. When I put the 2007 mix together, I was going to see the roots reggae sound system Aba Shanti-I and I had started collecting reggae records, sampling them to make dubstep.
(more…)
Earlier this year I was interviewed by Northampton music magazine Eleven. In the interview I discussed my exhibition at the Avenue Gallery, University of Northampton which presented my experiments with using vinyl record cutting as part of the compositional process. Eleven started by asking about my experience as a turntablist, starting in Hip Hop and later getting into ambient music and dub. I discussed learning to cut vinyl records and why the medium interests me. Click this link to read the interview in Eleven. (more…)
A dubplate is a one off acetate (not vinyl) record often played by Dub Reggae sound systems, but the term is also used in Drum and Bass and Dubstep. The dubplate originated in Jamaica in the 1970’s and these records were a combination of two separate stages of the record manufacturing process. Disc cutting lathes by manufacturers such as Neumann and Skully were usually found in vinyl manufacturing plants and used to cut acetate discs or lacquers as part of the manufacturing process, before the vinyl was pressed. Jamaican producers such as King Tubby however, bypassed this stage by having a disc cutting lathe in the recording studio itself. This allowed Tubby to make test cuts and special one off discs for playback on sound systems before the commercial release of the track on vinyl. The fact that each record is a one off cut, allowed him to cut different versions of the tracks, making each dubplate unique for the sound systems that played them. (more…)
Earlier this year I cut a limited edition of 45 5″ records for my brothers band Earth Rod. They sold out at the pre-order stage and we spent a few days in the studio cutting the records. (more…)
In preparation for our Pure Phase set at the United Nations of Dub Weekender, we cut our whole set to dubplate at our studio. The video shows the disk cutting lathe cutting a record and the dubplates first play. (more…)
I’ve launched an audio mastering and dubplate cutting service. Contact me directly for prices on 12″ dubplates.
A few months ago, I bought a vinyl lathe so that I can cut my own one off records, known as lathe cuts or dubplates. The grooves are cut in realtime by the diamond stylus shown in the picture above. (more…)
James Kelly's blog 