Natural Audiotopias: The Construction Of Sonic Space In Dub Reggae

Dub reggae is widely regarded as an early form of the remix. Dub artists modify previously recorded reggae songs by manipulating a song\u27s individual tracks with a mixing board and layering them in aural effects such as reverb and echo. These effects are fundamentally spatial in quality, giving the listener an impression of vast open space. This paper is an analysis of the techniques utilized in dub\u27s construction of sonic space as well as an investigation of the cultural meaning of those spaces. My analysis utilizes Josh Kun\u27s theories about audiotopias (temporary aural spaces created through music) in order to study how sonic spaces create new maps that allow an individual to analyze their current social predicament. These new maps, therefore, engender a remapping of reality, a reconstitutive process that parallels dub\u27s emphasis on modification and alteration. This paper also argues that dub\u27s audiotopias are implicitly natural, although they are constructed through modern recording technologies such as the echo chamber and the reverb unit. A final chapter applies these analytical techniques to one of dub\u27s most popular musical offspring, hip hop