21 Questions to Paolo Baldini DubFiles

Your name: Paul Baldini DubFiles
You live in: Pordenone, Italy
Title of your last album: "Dolomites Rockers"

What is your personal definition of dub?

Dub is a technique. A technique which, in its original form, allowed to transform a song into a dub version, a new psychoacoustic experience. A technique with a permanent link with reggae music, but now also declined and applied to all genres of black music.

What makes a good dub?

Two things, basically: a song on a good riddim and an inspired dubthe master.

Which aspects of dub music fascinates you the most?

I was amused by the transformational process that a song undergoes when it becomes a dub version. And before understanding the mechanisms behind these processes I was impressed by the role of bass and the feeling of space-time modification. Furthermore, this technique transformed exclusively technical equipment into creative and artistic instruments turning the sound engineer into the Dub Master. That is to say, the person who has the power to regulate the emotional tension of a version.

How did you discover your passion for dub and how did you develop yourself and your music since then?

I was a lucky teenager because the Rototom festival started in a place very close to my city and I started attending it from the first edition!
I discovered that world first as a spectator and only then as a musician. Basically I am an underground reggae musician who, exploring the possibilities that home recording offered in the nineties, became a producer. Step-by-step.

What is the most important factor when producing dub music?

The separation of the tracks of a song, an analogue mixer, and a few aux. And the endless combinations thereof, which is eventually what constitutes the studio of a dubthe master.

What does the process of creating a typical dub track look like?

If it's a version, I firstly rebuild the original settings of the multitrack session of the vocal cut, and when it sounds good, I start selecting a few outboards and effects that I think fit the tune. I then press "record" and do a number of dubsee Only the best survive.

Dub is a technique, which, in it's original form, allowed to transform a song into a new psychoacoustic experience.

When you are satisfied with a dub track you produced?

I'm satisfied with a version I make when, listening to it again, I get lost in it and I can't trace my actions back.

What is your special strength?

I don't know ... Maybe being incline to auto-suggestion.

Which one of your albums do you consider your best work up until now?

Always the last one! But I like being influenced by those who hear and choose them.

Are you able to make a living with music?

Respectable survival.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

All of them. For real!

What do you dread in the studio?

Current drops? Or maybe my son ?! Jokes aside, I have a lot of analogue equipment and I fear the wear of tubes and condensers. Especially in the mixer.

I was a lucky teenager because the Rototom festival started in a place very close to my city and I started attending it from the first edition!

When you're not working on dubs, what is your favorite thing to do?

When I'm not busy with my family I have several safe places where I regenerate. One of these is astrophysics! When I have time, I go to the mountains.

What do you listen to besides dub music?

Any form of Jamaican music. From calypso to dancehall. I recently re-discovered space music and ambient electronic music.

If money and time didn't matter: Which project would you like to realize?

I had so many ideas that I stopped thinking about it. Let's say I'd try to invest on my label La Tempesta Dub to release more material.

Are there any sound system events that you particularly like to attend? Why?

The Dub Academy at Rototom Sunsplash and the International Dub gathering. I grew up at Rototom.

What do you prefer: Studio work or sound system performance?

both. One necessarily feeds the other.

Whom do you consider the greatest dub artist of all time?

Could anyone know not answer King Tubby? They would need a good reason not to.

And who is currently the most interesting dub artist?

There are countless artists who interest and inspire me. I think I could give different answers to this question depending on the time of the day. Iration Steppas are a must in terms of sound system rituals. Dougie Conscious is a big inspiration when it comes to studio mixing… Mad Professor and Adrian Sherwood are a beacon when it comes to using effects. Prince Fatty and Victor Rice are a true inspiration as far as acoustic recording and tape are concerned ... And I think OBF are the most interesting crew at the moment.

Which sound system do you value the most?

I have a rock-solid bond with Imperial Sound Army.

What are your personal top 5 dub albums?

5. Scientists: SCENTIFIC DUB
4.Zion Train: ORIGINAL SOUNDS OF THE ZION
3. Iration steppas: DUBZ FROM DE HIGHER REGION
2. Lee Perry: REVOLUTION DUB
1. King Tubby & Barrett Bros: PICK A DUB