Sound system

A sound system is a mobile discotheque that is mainly used in Jamaican culture.

The first sound systems were formed in the 1950s, when Jamaican music also experienced a strong development and new styles of music such as Ska and Rocksteady emerged. The first recorders, then Soundman, now called Selector, organized dances or bashments in so-called "dancehalls". Since the dances were very popular very quickly, the Sound Systems switched to free spaces called Lawn. At this time, selectors also began to develop their own playback technology and thus an individual sound. Pioneers of this era include "Sir Coxsone" Dodd , Duke Reid and Prince Buster . According to many sources, spoken singing technology also developed in Jamaican sound systems . a. formed the basis for rap / hip-hop : In the course of the 1960s, many DJs switched from simply announcing the pieces to rhythmic toasting ( U-Roy was a pioneer here ). Therefore, in Jamaica the vocalists are often called " Singjays ". A Jamaican, Kool Herc , is said to have exported this type of singing to New York. In Jamaica itself, dancehall reggae and raggamuffin developed from this .

Nowadays there are reggae sound systems all over the world, which as a rule rarely have their own music system, but rather represent teams of DJs / selectors and MCs / singjays. In recent times there have also been an increasing number of soundclashes in Europe in which two or more sound systems are in a kind of competition, e.g. B. also with the help of their dubplates . The aim of these soundclashes is to inspire the audience with a particularly outstanding compilation of the dubplates and an original way of mixing the individual dubplates. The winner of the clash is determined by the response of the audience (called "Massive" in the reggae scene). The sound system in which the "Massive" cheers the loudest wins. The roots of the soundclash also go back to the 1960s. During this time, clashes were held on the streets. At that time, the volume was a much more important factor. The opposite sound system had to be knocked down with more volume to prove that you had the more powerful system.

Sound Systems in Germany

The first sound systems based on the Jamaican model were founded in Germany in the early 1980s. But it was not until around the middle of the 1990s, with the onset of a boom in dancehall and reggae events, that Sound Systems was founded on a massive scale. These new sound systems usually only consist of people (DJs or selectors, MCs or DJs and sound operators); The purchase of a system consisting of large and powerful boxes and amplifiers is often not seen as necessary, as there is a good club or disco infrastructure in Germany and the shops are already equipped with music systems.

Parallel to reggae and dub sound systems, there is the Freetekno sound system scene, in which Hardtekno, Acidtekno, Tribe and other styles have been cultivated at free parties since the 1990s .

Web links

• [1] - interactive, worldwide map with original sound systems - is constantly updated.