i m p u l s e c r e a t o r phÓrum

Dubplate, the very word brings jealousy and bliss to the hearts of countless deejays across the world. For five years there wasn’t a day that went by in which I didn’t think about Dubplates, or plot on how I could get them. I had a problem, one that I could never imagine recovering from. I had Dubplate envy, the Drum & Bass equivalent of penis envy; I loved every minute of it, until I was finally cured.

For the uninitiated; a Dubplate is a plastic coated metal disc, also know as acetate. Cut with a lathe they are a temporary piece of vinyl which is used to create the molds from which Vinyl Records are stamped. Temporary in the sense that every time they are played the plastic is worn down; much like regular vinyl records, though much quicker. In the DNB vernacular any tune that is in some way an exclusive or prior to promotional release is usually considered a Dubplate. The idea that any unreleased tune is a Dubplate has become especially prevalent in recent years with the advent of more technologically advanced methods for manipulating music on other formats, such as CD and in the popular MP3 format. The widespread coveting of Dubplates is a direct result of the months, and sometimes years before tunes are released; some are never released at all. For these reasons there is a mystique, which drives deejays and Drum & Bass fans wild with desire. It’s also this mystique that in my opinion may be causing harm to the entire scene.

My cure came how the cures for most unobtainable desires come. After months of hard work merging my site, Drum & Bass Massive, and the BCrecordings web forum to create DogsOnAcid my connections to producers, deejays, label bosses, and pr companies had become numerous. I was almost in awe with my own aim buddy list. It had started off slowly; late one night I was working on a webpage that would display various start times of online D&B radio shows when a contact that supplied me with clips of Brazilian DNB tunes instant messaged me to tell me that XRS was online and wanted to meet me. I instant messaged him and we talked about the biggest tune since Andy C & Shimon’s Body Rock: LK. Written by XRS with Marky, both had visited Drum & Bass Massive a few times and listened to sound clips there and had been fans of the site. As the conversation went on I feared that he may go soon and I would lose my first real opportunity to obtain my first major Dubplate. I asked as nonchalantly as I could, which means it came out as some blathering idiocy, where without any doubt I rambled for 20 minutes about how much I liked his songs, and how it would complete my life if I could have the tune to play. Before he could answer, a transfer box popped up and he began to send what would be the first of many Dubplates I would posses.

I was finally on my way, in the years that would follow I would regularly receive tunes from various producers whose songs I always liked including A Sides, Dylan, Bad Company, Fresh, Pendulum and many more. Everyone was different; sometimes I was told I could play the tune whenever I wanted, other advised me never to play certain tunes in front of certain deejays due to promises of exclusivity in certain areas. Some told me never to play them on the radio, or the internet. Some told me to never play the tune at all, that I could listen to them all I want but to never share them with anyone else. I always respected the rules I was given, I feared I would upset the Dubplate gods if I didn’t and would never be given the privilege again. It was these restrictions that gave me my first feelings of uneasiness. I would be perpetuating a sort of lie by hiding the fact I had certain tunes. Some of these producers had promised people that they would be the only people to ever play tunes in a certain area. When I was given tunes and was told I would be one of only a small few to play the tune in the US was it a complete lie? It may seem trivial but why was this necessary? I certainly never asked for any specific exclusives, had these other people I were told to avoid? The most common exception was easily: \"Never play these tunes in front of UK deejays\". It was also the one I had hated the most.

Drum & Bass is built on two major tenants: One, Respect anyone whose more important than you; Two, Above all else respect anyone who you could further your own career. This idea of respect is really not really respect at all. It’s mostly a sort of selfish idea that what you’ve accomplished is somehow more important than other peoples accomplishments, unless those accomplishments are greater than your own, or this person can in some way further your career. This is what truly breeds the Dubplate culture. When asking for tunes I found some people wouldn’t give me the tunes I actually asked for. They would send other tunes, ones that were less popular, as the popular ones were usually held back for people with greater stature than I. In these cases I was deemed to be of less importance because my accomplishments were not as great as others. I can respect that; it’s not my music, and it’s not my right to tell people what they should do with their own music. In the same vein I can’t say that I didn’t care. I was being deemed as less important, and whether that was quantifiable was irrelevant to how it made me feel. Now I’m not hippy, it’s not as if I cried over this, more likely I quietly cussed whoever it was to myself; okay and to be honest to a few of my friends as well. I’m not the only one that these things happened to, that I can be sure of.

It goes even further what these unreleased tunes have driven people to do. While playing a show at LA’s Respect. Dara, of Breakbeat Science and Planet of the Drums, noticed that tunes he had brought with him were missing, Tunes he had just seen in his bag were seconds later gone. Due to the nature of Dara’s fast mixing he didn’t have time in the heat of the moment to actually take an account of what was missing. After the show a quick inventory showed eight Dubplates had been stolen. Later during the night one of the missing plates was found near the exit but the rest were long gone. It turns out after surveying some pictures of the night; a local deejay had simply taken them during Dara’s set. He had done so in plain sight, while 2 video cameras and countless photographers took account of the event. In other cultures this would have gotten you Killed. Since the ‘60s in Jamaica Dubplates were used by countless reggae and Ska deejays across the island. Stealing Dubplates then by either making a recording off of a soundboard or outright steeling the plate, as in the case of Dara’s missing dubs, would get you shot on sight. These days, cooler heads prevail and stolen records or Dubplates such as these are usually just returned. Violence isn’t too far fetched though. When a top producer or deejay in the UK is slighted in some way the idea of someone showing up on your doorstep with a baseball bat is not unheard of.

In recent years where advances such as Final Scratch and CDJs the cost of playing a strictly Dubplate set has fallen dramatically. Many major deejays themselves either use Final Scratch or cds exclusively in order to cut costs themselves. Dieselboy and John B use CDs almost exclusively and Hive is one of a few deejays using Final Scratch. A $500 to $1000 investment in Final Scratch or a CDJ has given local deejays the same tools as the majors to play any tune they can get their hands on in MP3 or CD format. Stealing a Dubplate is now as easy as firing up your favorite p2p application or just asking a friend who regularly visits these sites. On an internet message board during discussion of the Dara Respect incident it was said that the local deejay could have just taken the tunes off the internet much more easily, with risk of being caught almost nonexistent. With many of the producers and deejays just an Instant Message away it is certainly believable that almost anyone could have certain tunes.

Dubplate Culture is described as being a part of the very fabric of what DNB is. Many people credit Dubplate Culture to the very reason in which DNB’s sound is constantly evolving, due the quickness in which new tunes are made available to the public. This shortsightedness is part of the problem, the true reason DNB manages to evolve quickly and stay fresh is a desire of the fans and the producers to Evolve. Would evolution go anymore slowly if Dubplates weren’t ever held back to an exclusive few or for release? In reality Dubplate Culture only serves the deejays and producers, whose ideas of respect and ones demonstrable value serve as a basis whether you, the fan, deserve their music. The idea also is turned on its head when fledgling producers are trying to get the major deejays to play their music in order to garner more exposure. Essentially ensuring unless you are somebody; you won’t be somebody. There are the exceptions with some major labels starting sub labels for producers with less stature. These sub-labels by their very nature are part of the Dubplate Culture; their very existence points to a fear that an unknown producer’s music may in some way harm the reputation of the parent label if it was released there. It’s these ideas which are ultimately causing the scene irreparable damage and is the reason why I despise the Dubplate culture.

It does seem I am not the only one who feels this way. The Dubplate Culture is becoming less prevalent, a few record labels and deejays have made great efforts to keep their tunes out of the public ear until they are closer to release. Some labels have instituted policies to distribute Dubplates only to deejays signed to the label, leaving some major deejays waiting for the promotional white label release. Even these policies have exceptions, as no one is going to violate tenant two. It is a combination of these policies, internet Dubplate clip sites, and the widespread thievery of Dubplates which has encouraged labels to release music quicker, though the Dubplate Culture still prevails. The question in coming years will be whether a fading Dubplate culture will strengthen the scene or harm it.

- Brian Peace

The most common exception was easily: \"Never play these tunes in front of UK deejays\". It was also the one I had hated the most.

Drum & Bass is built on two major tenants: One, Respect anyone whose more important than you; Two, Above all else respect anyone who you could further your own career. This idea of respect is really not really respect at all. It’s mostly a sort of selfish idea that what you’ve accomplished is somehow more important than other peoples accomplishments, unless those accomplishments are greater than your own, or this person can in some way further your career. This is what truly breeds the Dubplate culture.

de vegul is ez az egesz vhol az uzletrol szol nemdebar?

de akkor mit is keresünk itt?
nem, ez nem igaz, éppenhogy nem az üzletről szól (végülis pont visszafogja az eladásokat valamennyire stb.)

szóval szerintem azzal van a baj, hogy egy picit egészségtelen az, amikor a) egy szar zenét csak azért játszanak, mert dub b) egy jó zene azért nem jelenik meg, hogy dub maradjon.

Drum & Bass is built on two major tenants: One, Respect anyone whose more important than you; Two, Above all else respect anyone who you could further your own career.

Hát végigolvastam ezt a kis irományt, és szvsz a tag több ponton el van tévedve, annak ellenére, hogy van amivel egyet tudok érteni. Főleg az alapoknál kezdődnek a gondok:



Ez sztem tipikus esete annak, amikor nem látom a fátol az erdőt. Miért is tisztelem a másikat? Azért mert valamit - ezesetben konkrétan zenét - letett az asztalra, amely nekem fontos, ami számomra sokat jelent, megérintett, stb. Nem csupán azért tisztelem xy djt/producert, mert van egy angol/ausztrál/új-zélandi útlevele (na igen, itt most el lehetne kezdeni beszélgetni a teljesen téves dj/producer kultuszról...) hanem mert (mondjuk magamból indulok ki) ő az az ember aki megírta azokat a számokat amelyek olyan fontosak a számomra, bla bla bla, tehát amelyekben értéket látok.
Ha a dolog tényleg így áll, akkor azt a tényt, hogy ő a saját zenéjével, vagy a saját kiadóján megjelenő zenéjével azt tehet amit akar, természetszerűen elfogadom.

A másik aspektusa az egésznek, ami feltehetőleg azért hiányzik az irományból mert az illető nem foglalkozik egy kiadónak az igazgatásával, az az, hogy mennyire nehéz manapság életben tartani egy ilyen dnb labelt. Sok kockázatot kell vállalnia annak aki ma életben akar tartani egy ilyen cimkét, ami nagyon nagyon sok apróságon is múlhat - kinek adod oda a megjelenés előtti zenéket, ki játsza/chartolja azokat, stb stb stb. Valóban sok kiadó esetében, a tulajdonos szinte SENKINEK sem adja oda a megjelenés előtt álló zenéket. De mindezek mögött az is húzódik, hogy az adott kiadónak milyen szerződése van a lemez disztribútorral, amely egy személyben az alatta álló kiadók "sugar daddy"-je. Sok esetben egy kiadvány csak korlátozott példányban jelenik meg, remélhetőleg gyorsan elfogy, és kész, ennyi, a disztributor nem vállalja a 12es újranyomását (pld. Subtitles, Commercial Suicide, stb stb stb.) Sok esetben viszont éppen az a baj, hogy a disztibutor túl sokat nyom fel, és rossz promóció (illetve a legtöbb esetben zéró promoció) esetén eladhatatlanul fognak porosodni egy raktárban - a label tulaj vesztére, akinek a következő 12esét a disztributor nem fogadja majd tárt karokkal.

Elnézést, hogy ilyen sokat írtam, de a lényeg az, hogy semmi sem véletlen, és számomra az a meglepő, hogyha ez a faszi olyan régi pörgeti magát ahogyan állítja, akkor hogy nem látja ezeket a dolgokat.

Még csak annyit, hogy az slsk/mp3/filesharing para miatt én is tök jó ötletnek tartom, hogy sokkal gyorsabban jelennek meg mostanában a zenék, mint akár egy-két éve, és hazudnék, hogy ha azt mondanám, hogy engem sem bosszant az, ha egy zene másfél év késéssel jelenik meg. Azonban itt ismét a disztributorra lehet gyanakodni - sok esetben nem a labeltulaj tartja vissza a megjelenéseket.

A soha meg nem jelenő zenék a legtöbb esetben a bennünk felhasznált minták jogi rendezésének lehetetlensége miatt tünnek el a süllyesztőben. Most hirtelen csak a Fucking Hostile jut eszembe amelyről kifejezetten lehet tudni, hogy a szerzője nem szeretné ha megjelenne.
De ezt is el lehet fogadni, mivel ő csinálta a számot, hadd csináljon vele amit akar!!!

Persze a jó munka eredménye --> hype, hírnév, elismertség, pénz, megbecsültség, tele naptár mind-mind finom dolgok!

pfffff

u.ezt a beszelgetest is sokadszor eltem at a minap egy szlav sraccal, kis seggnyali, majd tamadas,

Mondjuk a másik oldala az, h ha beleszerettél egy zenébe, ami nálam sajnos szinte napotna megtörténik, akkor onnantól kezdve folyamatosan rajta pörögsz, és szeretnéd megszerezni - s talán itt jön a képbe az a vmi amit talán tiszteletnek lehet nevezni s amit brian papa csúnyán benézett, h tiszteletben tartom a művész saját szerzeményével kapcsolatos elképzeléseit, még ha az nem is feltétlenül egyezik az én valós v vélt érdekeimmel vagy mittomén és ..asszerm itt be is fejezem..

érdekeltté teszi a közönséget, hogy eljárjanak a partykra, mert lehet, hogy máshol soha többet nem lesz hallható az adott darab... de ugyanakkor ez rossz is, mert - ha esetleg nagyon megfog az a dub - frusztrálttá tesz az, hogy nem tudod sehonnan beszerezni... (itt most egy átlagos lemezvásárlóra gondolok, pl. magamra... - biztos más is járt már így...) szóval azért egy kicsit az üzletről is szól...

Current bid: £160.00

ezt sztem elírták....