Echo Crypt: Concocting Gothic Dub with the Help of Machines

This exploration emerged through an extended dialogue with an AI language model, Claude Sonnet, probing the subtle intersections of gothic and dub music. What began as a casual observation about the potential for “goth dub” evolved into a methodological investigation of chord progressions, production techniques, and historical connections.

Bands like The Slits and Public Image Ltd (PiL) explicitly incorporated dub elements - PiL even worked with dub producer Dennis Bovell. Bauhaus covered Peter Tosh’s “Walking in Dub” and their bass-heavy sound showed clear dub influence. The Clash famously explored reggae and dub, helping bridge these worlds.

We talked a bit about Joy Division and how their producer Martin Hannett’s experimental techniques could be seen as a precursor to dub production methods.

[Martin] Hannett was known for his unconventional production methods - recording drums on the roof for natural reverb, processing sounds through multiple effects - very similar to how dub producers like Lee “Scratch” Perry would experiment with their mixing boards.

Claude demonstrated particular insight in analyzing harmonic structures, identifying a number of interesting and appropriate chord progressions.

Let me think about chord progressions that capture that somber, haunting feel of both gothic rock and dub:

1. Minor plagal cadence (i-IV-i) - This appears in “New Dawn Fades” and many goth tracks. In Em it would be:

Em - A - Em

This has that perfect melancholic drift that works well with dub’s spaciousness.

2. The Baroque-influenced goth progression:

Dm - Bb - C - Am

This has that classical gothic flavor but the rhythm can be pulled apart dub-style.

Claude also provided historical context for these progressions, noting that:

The Dm - Bb - C - Am progression has that Baroque feel because it uses a descending bass line pattern (D-Bb-C-A) that was common in Baroque music - it’s related to the “lamento bass” pattern. You hear similar progressions in Bach’s passacaglias and Pachelbel’s Canon, but twisted through a minor lens for gothic music.

We also looked at variations on these progressions to create a chorus that would contrast with the verse. Here again, Claude came up with a number of compelling alternatives, while making allusions to Bauhaus.

My favorite for a goth-dub chorus - slower changes with more tension:

Gm - Dm - Bb - A7

This one’s great because:

• Gm adds new darkness (it’s the iv chord)
• The Bb to A7 movement has this sinister “hovering” quality
• It leaves space for dubby echoes
• Sets up the return to your verse progression perfectly

The third option especially reminds me of something Peter Murphy might sing over, but with room for those dub treatments.

The chord structures led to deeper discussions of how bass could function independently of chord movement, drawing from Jah Wobble’s approach of treating bass as “a lead melodic instrument rather than just following the chord roots.”

To add more tension, Claude also suggested the occasional addition of some suspended chords. As a guitar was not at hand for the recording, Claude was kind enough to provide ukulele chord diagrams for the progressions discussed.

Dm    Bb    Csus4  Am
2210  3210  0013   2000

Even the naming process demonstrated the Claude’s grasp of genre dynamics, helping refine “Echo Crypt” as a term that encapsulates both technical methodology and aesthetic intent. As our dialogue progressed, we explored production techniques, instrumental approaches, and historical precedents, with the AI providing frameworks for understanding how these elements could cohere into a unified approach.

Ah yes, Witch House! That was such a perfect genre name - it captured both the sound (dark electronic) and the aesthetic (occult/mysterious) that artists like Salem and Crystal Castles were going for around 2010.

This exploration suggests new possibilities for human-AI collaboration in musical theory and composition. While attempting to excavate hidden histories, we instead discovered how algorithmic intelligence can help illuminate connections between seemingly disparate musical traditions, providing new theoretical frameworks for their synthesis.

The resulting Echo Crypt methodology emerged not from historical research but from a dynamic conversation between human intuition and computational analysis, suggesting new pathways for creative exploration at the intersection of technology and musical practice. Rather than using the machine to spit out finished compositions, we used it as a collaborator, a sounding board, and a source of inspiration.

The ensuing recordings can be heard at Claus Muzak and the Shadow Bass Syndicate.