My good buddy Ras Dave and I have been at it again. As many of you are aware,
Ras Dave is a beast when it comes to sound creation and his/our newest project,
Lulladubs will put several things into perspective. Your ideas of dub and roots may change. Our pre-concieved notions regarding the roles of the musician/label relationship may fly out the window and suddenly, your baby may
start crying only when the radio is off. You see, there are certain ills that only music can cure and Ras Dave is bringing it to the crib.
Lulladubs is Reggae for Babies
Jacob, Ras Dave's new baby son is the inspiration for the Lulladubs project, which will eventually become a Five Volume collection of reggae-esque melodies and rhythms tailored to meet the comfort needs of infants . When Ras first heard that he was going to be a dad, his mind became obsessed with figuring out some way to take musical instruments which are known to soothe a crying baby and blend them into a new form of dub which is not only effective, but based in some sort of science. We talked this over one evening and I recalled a paper I once wrote for an ancient Greek Philosophy class about Pythagoras and his theory of Harmony in music. Pythagoras is best known for his "Pythagorean Theorem" actually had two camps of followers, the
mathematikoi ("learners") and the
akousmatikoi ("listeners"). The latter was more of an esoteric group which embraced Pythagoras's theory of harmony would later push his ideas after the Pythagorean places of gathering were burned. Basically, Pythagoras felt that Music could be explained mathmatically and because certain types of instruments have certain types of effects on human emotion, there must be some solid methods for explaining human emotions mathematically.
So how could we work this into the production of Lulladubs? Well, for Ras Dave, music production is essentially a mathematical pursuit in many ways. Having played with some of the most well known names in Island music such as the Wailers, Yellowman, Burning Spear, Damien Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Culture,and Pato Banton, for years, Dave has studied the greats of reggae music and their historical methods of music production. Ras Dave rarely plays music created by others, unless by request. Instead, he produces and plays his own music, unlike many reggae and dub DJs. In fact, even in cases when you think you hear him playing someone else's track, it most likely is Ras Dave's own music, with a strikingly similar rhythm- and even then, he is most likely created it for his own purposes. Take a quick listen to this short mix of baby reggae music from the
Lulladubs Volume One.
The Legend of Pythagoras
Although I am presently sworn to secrecy in regards to the extent to which we have been loosely applying this sort of Pythagorean theory to Lulladubs, I can tell you that this may be the most interesting reggae music project you've heard. If you listen deep, as your children surely will, you will hear the application of this ancient theoretical concept of harmony present and effective in its simplicity. If you are an enthusiast of Pythagorean teachings, you may even venture to say that he would be a great fan of Lulladubs, if he were alive today. According to legend, the way Pythagoras discovered that musical notes
could be translated into mathematical equations was when one day he
passed blacksmiths at work, and thought that the sounds emanating from
their anvils being hit were beautiful and harmonious and decided that
whatever scientific law caused this to happen must be mathematical and
could be applied to music. He went to the blacksmiths to learn how this
had happened by looking at their tools, he discovered that it was
because the hammers were "simple ratios of each other, one was half the
size of the first, another was 2/3 the size, and so on." It is the simple ratios in Lulladubs that have the ability to calm a crying child.
Lulla Dubs Mix by rasdavereggae
Ras Dave is stepping out on a HUGE limb here, by initiating such an ambitious project. Let's face it, to completely spin a collection of reggae albums for babies, in a world driven by adult social media is pretty risky. I mean,
his listeners are not even old enough to twitter or facebook his tracks! He has also committed himself to the chronological release of five volumes, all of which will be produced in sync with his own son Jacob's lifecycle, as an infant. Stop by the official
Lulladubs website and download the first volume of the collection, which of course is reggae music for new borns. You can also follow the project as it progresses on
Lulladubs Facebook page.
We Are the Record Label
As with several of my more interesting projects,
Ras Dave and I are the entire record label. We handle all of the design, social promotion,
production, marketing and sales of Lulladubs.
More on this to come...
