An Easy Way to Build Your Own Dub Siren Synthesizer

Dub is a style of electronic music that emerged from the reggae scene at the end of the late ‘60s (dubstep would later be partially derived from dub). Dub carries over a lot of the sound and feel of reggae, but adds a more repetitive rhythm that is more conducive to dance. That rhythm is often created with a special synthesizer called a dub siren. Like the popular Atari Punk Console synthesizer, a dub siren can be made quite easily. If you’re interested, Lonesoulsurfer has a tutorial explaining how to construct a dub siren using just a handful of common electronic components.

The sound of a dub siren is heavily dependent on oscillation, which is why they are so good for generating rhythmic sounds. That sound can be synthesized using basic electronic components. You could throw those on a breadboard or perfboard and wire everything by hand, but Lonesoulsurfer designed a great PCB that you can have fabricated in order to simplify assembly and reduce the size of the overall build. He used an old wireless intercom enclosure for his dub siren case, but you can use whatever you have handy — though old consumer electronics really sell the aesthetic.

The dub siren synthesizer circuit is based on a pair of LM555N model 555 times and a LM741 op amp. Potentiometers paired with capacitors and resistors are used to modify the sound produced by those chips. To reduce the cost and complexity of the circuit, Lonesoulsurfer recommends using a few off-the-shelf boards. Those are an echo and reverb module (not strictly necessary), a class D audio amplifier board, and a LiPo charging and regulation board. The latter board lets you use a LiPo battery for power. The echo and reverb module adds to the richness of the sound. The audio amplifier simply boosts the volume so you can pump it out to a small speaker built into your dub siren or an external speaker system. Once assembled, you’ll have the most important tool for producing dub music.