Dub Club Melbourne wrote:same o wrote:obliveus wrote:The soundsystem was also about the unique records (dubs, acetates, etc) being played by each individual crew (Prince Buster, Reid, etc)...not just the system itself, wasn't it?
but then would mean u could call urselff a sound if u just had dubplates which ny one can do if they got the cash...
imo if ur gonna be called a sound u need a sounds system.. nuff said.
i dont think it will take off in aus, cuz i dont recon enough peeps care about it or are passionate about it (unfortunatley)
we lucky that we have the heartical tho.
Some good points here.
Prince buster and Duke Reid etc all ran their own sounds.
There are many crews about who label themselves as a soundsystem or sound for short who don't even do sound or have the machine, they just turn up and play on house PA. Fair enough. but then the whole meaning and purpose of 'soundsystem' is lost here IMO. How can they be a credited sound when no one sees them string one up. Ive argued this point over and over and quite frankly it has made me un-popular with some
everything you say is true Derek. when you say the whole meaning of "soundsystem" has been lost, you're right. unfortunately for people like yourself, who are championing the original concept of soundsystem (speaker boxes, amps, etc) the term has evolved and come to have different meanings in different places. when you talk about having a sound in the UK, people will probably expect you to have a rig, but when you talk about having a reggae sound in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, San Fransisco, or Miami, people won't necessarily be expecting a rig, but rather a particular mode of delivery and content - custom dubplates, and tunes presented in a certain way, with lots of mic speech, etc. as well as geographical variance, the term "sound" also appears to carry different connotations depending on the music - dub scenes everywhere still generally expect a physical system, while dancehall scenes don't seem to.
it's a shame that this has happened, as it does make it harder for a "true" soundsystem like Heartical to really stand out. unfortunately, misinformation is one of the biggest problems that reggae/dub/dancehall sufferers from. over the years, I've met so many people who will say "yeah I love dub", but they don't actually know what they're talking about (they may actually be referring to 70s roots reggae, early 80s foundation, or even modern dancehall!).
when Chant Down started back in 2000, we called ourselves Chant Down Sound or Chant Down Soundsystem, as we were following the lead of the modern Jamaican sounds, who don't necessarily have a system, but play the music "soundsystem style" complete with dubplates bigging up their sound name. these days in Jamaica, the massive systems still exist, but even if you just have a car stereo, as long as you have tunes and an MC on the mic, you're a sound! the point is, it doesn't matter what you play on, it's how you play that makes you a sound in present-day Jamaica (the indoor club thing is much more prevalent these days also for what it's worth).
that said, I've made an effort in recent years to make sure we're just billed as Chant Down, and not Chant Down Soundsystem (though our logo says Chant Down Fire Sound which is different still!). even though I still consider us a sound in the modern Jamaican sense, I don't want to mislead anyone into expecting a custom-built system when they come to More Fire, and I also don't want to detract from guys like Heartical who are working so hard at building a serious, heavyweight soundsystem.
to be honest, I can't see that kind of soundsystem culture really taking off here, but I'd love to see it happen.
hearing the bass drop of a system like Heartical is definitely something special, and we're really lucky to have a soundsystem like this in Melbourne - respect once again to Derek for making it happen, as well all his supporters behind the scenes.
