How do I make a dub beat?

Dub is all about space, heavy bass, reverb-drenched snares, and rhythmic delay throws. Here is a practical workflow for building a dub beat on the EP-40.

Set your tempo

Press tempo and dial in something slow and heavy, around 70-90 BPM. Dub lives in that spacious low-end groove.

Load your sounds

Press sound to enter sound mode. Use Group A for drums (kick, snare, hi-hat from the default ranges), Group B for a bass sound (samples 400-499), and Group C for a melodic element like organ or keys (500-599).

Build a sparse drum pattern

Press main and record a simple pattern. Leave lots of gaps, dub is defined by what you don't play. A kick on beats 1 and 3, a snare on 2 and 4, and a loose hi-hat pattern works well.

Add a heavy bassline

Press keys with your Group B bass pad selected and record a slow, syncopated bassline. Use notes that sustain and sit low in the mix.

Apply reverb to your snare

Press fx and navigate to reverb with minus and plus. Turn the fader up and set a long room size with the knob x. Send your drum group through it for that classic cavernous dub snare.

Throw delay on the melody

Switch to Group C and navigate to delay. Set a longer delay time with knob x and add feedback with knob y for cascading repeats.

Perform with punch-in effects

Press play, then hold fx and hit the pads to throw in punch-in effects live, dropping reverb and delay in and out for that dub mixing desk feel.