Open your sequencing program, such as Reason, Ableton Live, or Cubase, load a sample drum kit or VST drum machine, then set the tempo to 140 beats per minute. Dub, also known sometimes as Dubstep, is written at twice the speed that is heard, creating a double time effect with the percussive sounds.
Route each of the drum kit's sounds to individual tracks within the sequencing program's mixer. This is to let you add separate effects to each of the sounds. Dub music relies heavily on adding delays and reverb on the snare sounds, and adding those effects are an essential aspect of the musical genre.
Create a dub kick sequence by entering note information on the first, fourth, and ninth steps on the 16-step sequencer.
Enter a note for your snare drum sounds on the thirteenth step of the 16-step sequencer. Enter a note on the sixteenth step of the sequencer with a very short snare sound as well for a skipping effect as well. Layering multiple snare drum sounds over top one another to taste can create a deeper level of interest in the listener's ears as well. Adjust the length, or decay, and attack, of the snares differently to blend the sounds together.
Enter notes for the hi-hat sounds into steps three, six, eleven, and sixteen on the step sequencer. You can also enter a note for an additional hi-hat sound on the ninth and fourteenth step as well for a nice effect.
Add a bit of shuffle and equalization to the drum sounds. Shuffle reduces the robot-like rigidity of the sequencer's timing by delaying the notes in different amounts. Set the EQ's extreme lows to negative eight, and the 80-100 HZ range frequencies to positive fourteen. This will remove the rumble of the kicks, and adds punch to them in the process.
Add a reverb effect to the snare sounds in the mixer, and set the decay to about 75%. This will allow the reverb effect enough time to spread out, creating the dub-style snare effect.