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A sound system is a group of DJs
Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
 and engineers
Audio engineering

Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music....
 contributing and working together as one, often playing and producing one particular kind of music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
.

sound system concept originated in the 1950s in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbor protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island....
. 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 modern Jamaican musical styles such as ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
, rocksteady
Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady"....
, reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 and dub
Dub music

Dub is a form of music, evolved from reggae that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequ...
.






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A sound system is a group of DJs
Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
 and engineers
Audio engineering

Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music....
 contributing and working together as one, often playing and producing one particular kind of music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
.

Origin

The sound system concept originated in the 1950s in Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbor protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island....
. 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 modern Jamaican musical styles such as ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
, rocksteady
Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady"....
, reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 and dub
Dub music

Dub is a form of music, evolved from reggae that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequ...
. When Jamaicans emigrated to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, 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
Dub Narcotic Sound System

Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based Indie -funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson , signed to K Records....
 and the On-U Sound System
On-U Sound Records

On-U Sound Records is an England record label best known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label is owned by Record producer Adrian Sherwood and home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Charge, The London Underground, Little Annie, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail, New Age Stepper...
. When Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation

Asian Dub Foundation are a United Kingdom electronic music band, that plays a mix of breakbeat, dub music, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a Punk rock influence....
 are advertised as Asian Dub Foundation, the whole band performs, but when they announce themselves as Asian Dub Foundation Sound System, members of the band mix and play music (by other artists, as well as their own) while one or two MCs rap
Rapping

Rapping is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes, wordplay, and poetry. Rapping is a primary ingredient in Hip Hop music, but the phenomenon predates Hip Hop culture by centuries....
 over the songs like DJ Pro. The term also has also become connected with sound reinforcement system
Sound reinforcement system

File:Large_Outdoor_Concert.jpgA sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers that makes live or pre recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sounds to a larger or more distant audience....
s by DJs such as the Valve Sound System
Valve Sound System

The Valve Sound System is a touring sound system specifically designed for the playback of drum and bass music. Created by UK artists, Dillinja and Lemon D, the system has a total power output of 96kW....
.

Sound system is also used to refer to a free party
Free party

A free party is a party "Freedom " from the restrictions of the legal club scene, which typically involves a Sound system #Freetekno/Free Party Sound systems playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home....
 sound system, also known as a rig. The equipment will be a van, loudspeakers, amplifiers
Audio amplifier

An audio amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power audio signal to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage in a typical audio playback chain....
, decks
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
 and cables but larger rigs might also have fog machine
Fog machine

A fog machine is a device which emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog or smoke is typicly known as theatrical smoke and fog within the entertainment industry....
, lighting
Stage lighting

Modern stage lighting is a flexible tool in the production of theatre, dance, opera and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in the pursuit of the various principles or goals of lighting....
, projectors
Video projector

A video projector takes a video Signalling and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other inconsistencies through manual settings....
 and an electrical generator
Electrical generator

In electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction....
. A sound system collective is usually five or more people, with larger sound systems having more members. Equipment is owned by some and others are DJs,
Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
 record producer
Record producer

In the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, Audio mixing and audio mastering processes....
s or enthusiastic ravers that help out. They will be the people who organise free parties
Free party

A free party is a party "Freedom " from the restrictions of the legal club scene, which typically involves a Sound system #Freetekno/Free Party Sound systems playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home....
 and will be a group of friends with similar interests. Some soundsystem can be or travellers, modern Nomad
Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
 tribe
Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups ....
s or New age travellers
New age travellers

The New age travellers or Peace Convoy were a group of people who often espoused New Age and/or hippie beliefs, and who travelled between music festivals and fairs in the United Kingdom in order to live in a community with others who hold similar beliefs....
, going from one place to another. The word sound system can be used interchangeably to describe the group of people or the equipment. Examples of a sound system are Bedlam
Bedlam sound system

Bedlam sound system was founded in Dalston, East London, England in 1992. It was a free tekno Sound system run by Steve Bedlam and four other people....
 and Spiral Tribe
Spiral Tribe

Spiral Tribe is a free party Sound system which existed in the first half of the 1990s, and became active again in 2007. The collective originated in west London and later travelled across Europe and North America....
.

See also

  • Dub music
    Dub music

    Dub is a form of music, evolved from reggae that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequ...
  • Free party
    Free party

    A free party is a party "Freedom " from the restrictions of the legal club scene, which typically involves a Sound system #Freetekno/Free Party Sound systems playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers decide to go home....
  • Rave
    Rave

    A rave is a term in use since the 1980s, to describe dance party with fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties disc jockeys and other performers play Electronica, Trance music, and Techno ,...
  • Reggae
    Reggae

    Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
  • Rocksteady
    Rocksteady

    Rocksteady is a music genre that was most popular in Jamaica, starting around 1966, and its reggae successor was established around 1968.The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady"....
  • Ska
    Ska

    Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
  • Sound clash
    Sound clash

    A Sound clash is a musical competition where crew members from opposing reggae sound systems pit their skills against each other.Sound clashes take place in a variety of venues, both indoors and outdoors....
  • Sound system (Jamaican)
  • Teknival
    Teknival

    Teknivals are large free party which take place worldwide. They take place most often in Europe and are often illegal under various national or regional laws....


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