Wearable bass technology fits hand in hand with the drum and bass scene but did you know about this until now? Jamie hooks up with Snooks from SubPac to discuss the story of the brand and it’s multitudes of possibilities – exclusive to Drum&BassArena.
So first of all – what does it look like? Well this video breaks it down nicely.
Now you know what you will be wearing, you’re all set up to really feel the bass..
How did the SubPac idea originate? Did the guys treat music as a feeling with the wish to generate those feelings into something much deeper?
“Exactly! Our founders John and Todd got into physical sound by going to raves and sound systems over in Canada and wanted to be able to recreated the feeling of sound that was sorely lacking outside of the club and festival environments. Drum and bass was the main genre that influenced the creation of the SubPac.
A Kenny Ken set in Toronto from the late 90’s at a warehouse event to be exact!.
What are the musical roots of SubPac? Do you all have different influences that eventually came together into one master product?
“Most of the team at SubPac have a background working within the music industry, be it in production, DJ, engineering or promotion. We all have a shared interest in physical sound and a massive love and appreciation of music.’
Speaking of products, can you show us any of the original designs that didn’t quite make the cut? What was the deciding factor of the end product?
‘Since the inception of SubPac the concept has been pretty much the same. The newer versions have had the form redesigned to make them more ergonomic and accurate.’
What’s your personal favourite genre of music to feel through the SubPac and why?
‘Personally I love my roots and dub. Until SubPac came along the only way to get the full experience of this genre you would have to go to a dance with a huge rig. I know this can be said about dubstep, drum and bass and many other genres but the message and vibes from roots resonates with me so much more.’
When you can feel the bass at a rave it’s like a feeling you have never experienced before (especially if you love the tune!) Can you envisage a warehouse full of ravers with each of them wearing a SubPac connected directly to the sound system? Is this logistically possible? If so, when can it happen!
‘We have put on loads of events and listening parties like this across the globe so far and we plan to do many more. You can have a bunch of wearable SubPacs set up wirelessly without too much effort. Ask the guys at Hyperdub, Exit Records or Planet Mu how it went down, we have run some great listening parties with them!
The best thing about these type of events is it enables the audience to experience the music in a much more accurate manner while getting around the issues of excessive volume levels.
What I find more interesting is the potential to provide these types of experiences at places where you wouldn’t normally be able to run a rave or sound system in. It really opens up a lot of possibilities. Silent discos have been giving a sorely needed upgrade!”
You’re hooking up with the RunDemCrew soon to promote the pac in much more of a fitness oriented way. Tell us a bit more about this live link up of music and fitness.
‘The RunDemCrew are a perfect example of how fitness and music cross over. Most of the crew have a background in the music industry and use specific tracks to help them set pace and to keep them going. I’m sure most people out there training use music in the same way. A lot of athletes also use music to help them zone out and concentrate before competing. Until we came along people were happy using ear buds or headphones but once you add the physical side of music to the equation it becomes a whole new experience and enables them to push a lot harder in training.
The possibilities for this technology are endless, if budget was no object what would you like to try and integrate SubPac into?
“As you say the possibilities are really wide ranging. We have already integrated into a Peugeot concept car and cinemas in Korea. We are also doing a ton of work in VR/AR and the gaming industry too. I know our technology will be everywhere just like speakers are now. There is no other peripheral like the SubPac.
If you really want me to look deep into the future I would say tactile implants into the human body. I’ll let your readers think of what they would want to do with that!”
Talking of integration, SubPac is incredibly popular with the console and computer gaming scene. Can you really feel the shots being absorbed in Call of Duty, a hard tackle in FIFA and an almighty crash in Forza Motorsport? What would you say is the best gaming genre to use SubPac with?
“Good question. Personally I enjoy driving games and music related experiences but any game with great sound design can be so much more enjoyable with SubPac in the mix. I have been playing No Mans Sky with my M2 recently and the sound design when taking off from a planet and entering space with the thrusters on is immense. There are some great games coming out on PSVR later this year that I highly recommend. ‘Thumper’ looks like a crazy game to try with a SubPac and the Batman VR experience looks like a winner too.”
And obviously this goes hand in hand with virtual reality right?
“Indeed! With VR or AR you have headsets that provides the visuals and headphones for the audible content but where is the physical feeling that we are used to in real life? We provide the missing piece of the jigsaw and complete the experience! People are only just starting to realise the importance of physical sound in these sort of environments.”
Have you tried to play a retro classic from the 90’s using SubPac? GoldenEye on the N64 or Street Fighter 2 on the SNES?
“Yes! I’ve tested SubPac with a huge range of old consoles and titles. Providing the sound design is on point you can rediscover all your favourite games again!”
As many of our readers are home DJs, how would this technology aid their practice using turntables or a controller?
“Stick a wearable SubPac on your back when mixing and you will feel the physical side of your music just like being in a club, in fact more accurately than most venues out there. You don’t want to turn up for a gig and be surprised by what you are doing once you feel and hear it on a big system especially if the groove is mainly in the lower end of the spectrum.”
And producers – by wearing a SubPac and making beats, does it give you that edge over someone just using a pair of studio monitors or headphones alone?
“Our products are made for people like that. If you have limited space, poor acoustics and are in close proximity to neighbours it is the perfect option. You will be able to produce for longer at lower volume levels in a much more accurate fashion than using a subwoofer. You also have the added benefit of protecting your ears, we all know there are plenty of producers and DJs out there that suffer from hearing loss due to blasting their ears over the years.
Its also an amazing option for touring DJs,producers and musicians. What people need to realise is your body is a better judge of bass at frequencies below 100Hz and using SubPac in a production context allows you to understand how different elements of your mix sit against each other – the kick and sub for example.”
Your future projects with some big A list producers from the drum and bass scene is currently in full swing, what do you expect to achieve from the end result?
“We are ingrained within the drum and bass community, I was a record buyer at Black Market Records for 7 years before being part of the SubPac Crew.
The drum and bass community are very aware of us (more so after this interview I’m sure!) and we have been working with many artists from the Ram, Metalheadz and Exit to name a few.
We hope to show people how all these amazing producers utilise our technology in their productions and how it has helped or even changed the way they work.
What’s the feedback like so far from the drum and bass community?
‘Drum and bass is one of the most technical genres to produce so it’s great to have huge producers and labels from those circles on board. I personally deal with the tech side of things here in the uk and have had to deal with some really in depth questioning but once someone get the chance to try a SubPac they get it right away and then cant live without it.’
Can you breakdown the next 12 months for us? What will we be getting excited about in the future from SubPac?
“We will be launching our new website portal ‘Feel Bass’ in October which will have loads of great SubPac optimised content from tutorials to mixes and tracks from a bunch of well know producers, artists and DJs across a wide range of genres. It’s very exciting times, we are always looking to the future at SubPac and finding new ways to work with creative people and organisation. Keep an eye on our socials feeds to keep updated on our mission to spread those low frequencies worldwide!’
If you would like to pick up your very own SubPac then follow this link.
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