sound system

A sound system is a group of DJs and engineers contributing and working together, often playing and producing one particular kind of music.

The sound system concept originated in the 1950s in the ghettos of Kingston,in Jamaica. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers to set up street parties. The sound system scene is generally regarded as an important part of Jamaican cultural history and as being responsible for the rise of different style of Jamaican music such as ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub. When Jamaicans emigrated to the United Kingdom, the sound system culture followed and became firmly rooted there in the 1970s. It is still strongly linked with those Jamaican-originated music genres, and some bands or producers still call themselves sound systems, such as Dub Narcotic Sound System and the On-U Sound System. The term also has also become connected with sound reinforcement systems by DJs.

Today, a sound system generally refers to dub music, free party, rave, reggae, rocksteady, ska, sound system (Jamaican), or teknival.

Dub

This week, I want to present you a style of music which I love: The Dub Music!

Dub is a form of music which evolved out of reggae in the 1960s. At the beginning, the dub sound consists of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, with a lot of effects, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequencies or 'riddim', adding extensive echo and reverb effects, and dubbing occasional snippets of lyrics from the original version.

There are Jamaican musicians King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry pioneered the style in the 1960s and early 1970s. King Tubby and Lee Perry each called upon the mixing desk as an instrument, with the deejay or "selector" playing the role of the artist or performer. These early 'dub' examples can be looked upon as the prelude to many dance and pop music genres.

Today, the word 'dub' is used widely to describe the re-formatting of music of various genres into typically instrumental, rhythm-centric adaptations. French groups are very famous, as Zenzile, High Tone, or Ez3kiel.

why rasta smoke ganja?!

So,as you know certainly, The Rastafari movement, or Rasta, is a religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, whom they call Jah or Jah Rastafari. He is also seen as part of the Holy Trinity as the messiah promised in the Bible to return. One characteristic of Rastafari include the spiritual use of cannabis...Do you know why?

For Rastas, smoking cannabis (as ganja, herb, Marijuana) is a spiritual act, often accompanied by Bible study. They consider it a sacrament that cleans the body and mind, exalts the consciousness, facilitates peacefulness, brings pleasure, and brings them closer to Jah. By the 8th century, cannabis had been introduced by Arab traders to Central and Southern Africa, and many Rastas say it is a part of their African culture that they are reclaiming.

According to many Rastas, the illegality of cannabis in many nations is evidence that persecution of Rastafari is a reality. They are not surprised that it is illegal, seeing it as a powerful substance that opens people's minds to the truth (for example the Babylon system). They believe that the smoking of cannabis enjoys Biblical sanction and is an aid to meditation and religious observance.

Kingston & Jamaica

You know certainly Kingston, the capital,and the largest city, of Jamaica! So I want to present you this city,and Jamaica too, because it's really the birthplace of reggae music and it's there that reggae began to be famous.

So Kingston is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. The musical in this city are very different, genres reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub, and, more recently, dancehall and ragga all originated in the island's vibrant popular urban recording industry. Internationally known reggae musician Bob Marley was born in Jamaica and is very respected there. Many other internationally known artists were born in Jamaica including Lee "Scratch" Perry, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Beenie Man, Shaggy, Buju Banton, Sean Paul, I Wayne, Capleton, Bounty Killer and many others...

Next episode the next week!

High Tone

This day, I want to present you High Tone, a band I had seen at the Furia sound system, a festival in Cergy Pontoise. High Tone is a Dub band from Lyon. Formed in 1997, the band came with an emergence of the french Dub Scene (France is the best country actually in dub in all the world^^), with bands like Brain Damage Sound System, Kaly Live Dub, Le Peuple de l'Herbe, Improvisators Dub or Meï Teï Shô. I really love all this group and I has seen most of them.

Formed by five members, High Tone feeds their music with various influences, such as Drum'n'bass, Ambient, Trance, Vintage Dub with artists like King Tubby or Lee "Scratch" Perry, the two inventors of Dub.

After a few self produced vinyl EPs, the band finally signed at the label Jarring Effects (Lyon, France), which is a very good independant label. High Tone members are now considered as major actors in the French Dub Scene, and the band is also known for numerous collaborations.

Groundation

After a long non-attendance, I will present you one of my favourite reggae band : Groundation.

Groundation is an internationally renowned roots reggae band with a jazz and dub flavor hailing from Sonoma in Northern California. The band was formed in the fall of 1998 by Harrison Stafford(vocals and guitar), Marcus Urani(keyboards), and Ryan Newman(bass).Between 1999 and 2001, Harrison Stafford taught the first course on the History of Reggae Music at Sonoma State University.

They had realeased six albums : Young Tree ; Each one Teach one ; Hebron Gate ; We Free Again ; Dub Wars ; and Upon The Bridge.

Each of Groundation’s albums tells part of the story of humanity and the individual's journey through life. Just as this story continues to grow and evolve so too does Groundation. Moving forward on a mission to bring great music and energy to the people of the world.

Music is the Most High...