Dub Music Quiz: King Tubby, Lee Perry and Echo Effects

This dub music quiz sits at the mixing desk where Jamaican engineers turned songs into new sound worlds. Play 10 interactive questions on B-side versions, King Tubby and his studio in Kingston, Lee Scratch Perry's Black Ark, echo and spring reverb, dropping instruments in and out, Augustus Pablo's melodica, sound systems and dub's influence on remixing.

Start Dub Music Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
Where did dub music begin?
Version
What were B-side versions?
Tubby
Which engineer is a founding father of dub?
City
In which city was King Tubby's studio?
Perry
What was Lee Perry's studio called?
Effects
Which effects are central to dub?
Desk
How do dub engineers use the mixing desk?
Drop
What do dub mixes often do with instruments?
Melodica
Which musician is known for melodica in dub?
Legacy
Which practice did dub help inspire?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where did dub music begin?
Answer: Jamaica
It grew from reggae.
Q2: What were B-side versions?
Answer: Instrumental mixes of a song
Engineers began reshaping them.
Q3: Which engineer is a founding father of dub?
Answer: King Tubby
His real name was Osbourne Ruddock.
Q4: In which city was King Tubby's studio?
Answer: Kingston
It was a small home studio.
Q5: What was Lee Perry's studio called?
Answer: The Black Ark
He built it behind his house.
Q6: Which effects are central to dub?
Answer: Echo and reverb
Sounds repeat and fade.
Q7: How do dub engineers use the mixing desk?
Answer: As an instrument
They play the faders live.
Q8: What do dub mixes often do with instruments?
Answer: Drop them in and out
Bass and drums stay strong.
Q9: Which musician is known for melodica in dub?
Answer: Augustus Pablo
He recorded with King Tubby.
Q10: Which practice did dub help inspire?
Answer: The remix
Hip-hop and dubstep drew on it.

When the Mixing Desk Became an Instrument

Dub grew out of reggae in Jamaica in the late 1960s and 1970s. Record B-sides often carried instrumental versions of songs, and engineers began reshaping these mixes, stripping out vocals and building new sound worlds for sound systems.

King Tubby, born Osbourne Ruddock, worked from a small studio in Kingston, using the mixing desk as an instrument. He dropped instruments in and out, kept bass and drums heavy, and drenched sounds in echo and reverb. Augustus Pablo's melodica floated over tracks like King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown.

Lee Scratch Perry built the Black Ark studio behind his house and created strange, layered productions. Dub helped give birth to the remix, and its ideas flowed into hip-hop, electronic music and dubstep.

What This Quiz Teaches

Music fans will enjoy these questions.

How dub began
Who the pioneers were
Which effects define it
How engineers worked
What it influenced

Did You Know?

Scientist was a protege of Tubby.
Sound systems battled with dub plates.
Bass is felt as much as heard.
Dub poetry is a related form.
Tape delay created echoes.