Although the Maltese Manwel Tabone aka Manwel T is already an old cracker (born in 1960 - even older than me!), He produced and mixed his first Dub only in 2006 and completely on his PC - which is why he is also called “digital dub remixer ”. His first album was released three years later, in 2009, now in 2012 with “Virtual Dub 4 ”is his fourth work. Since I also have “Virtual Dub 2 ”, I was able to immediately make a historical comparison which, after carefully studying exactly 24 pieces, led me to the realization that Manwel T maintains a constant style: classic-modern Dub with a tendency to steppers. Despite his obviously limited resources, he manages to build quite independent tracks, each of which has its own distinctive characteristics, be it a concise hookline, a melodic bassline or an interesting arrangement. Not bad - if it weren't for the a bit too sterile, all too synthetic sounding. Maybe he just doesn't use really well-sampled instruments or he just can't do the mastering. Maybe he only works with Windows ;-) Since he is probably aware of this shortcoming himself, he is giving away his album as a free one Download - which makes any further criticism obsolete.
2 replies to “Manwel T: Virtual Dub 4 "
Mac users like to consider themselves elitist, so much for the cliché.
Is there a reason why tracks produced under Windows should tend to sound worse? What indispensable production tools aren't there for Windows?
Maybe the tracks should just sound like that. Was the artist asked? I think the production is appropriate. Of course there is better. Is always available.
All too often I recognize the boring standard GarageBand sounds in various songs, carelessly strung together. Then a woman sings about it and it'll be a chart hit;) well, something like that.
That's right, the Windows gag is unfair. Was a non-justifiable conclusion from the optics and usability of the operating system to a product created with its help. ;-)
Manwel T's album is definitely okay (see above). I've also listened to his earlier works and I'm really impressed. However, I particularly like an album by his label that is not his: http://dubkey.com/dubkey005.html