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Jamaican Sound System Culture

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Jamaican Sound SystemJamaican Sound System

by Venesha Johnson | Associate Writer

Jamaica is known for its raunchy Dancehall culture, musical clashes and uplifting Reggae music. A big part of our music culture is the Jamaican sound system. No dance or event is done quite right without a sound system.

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Sound systems are what bring the events alive. Sometimes there are multiple sound systems at the same event. For example, there was once an event that happened annually on Independence Day, August 6, called Ten Sound!

This was a massive celebration that, as the name suggests would have 10 different sound systems, each having its unique style and flavour. This allowed patrons to move up and down along the street from one sound system to the next. Almost as though attending ten different parties at once. 

Here is all you need to know about the Jamaican sound system.

What is Jamaican Sound System Culture?

A sound system, as used in Jamaican popular culture, is a collection of DJs, engineers, and MCs who play a variety of musical styles, including Ska, Rocksteady, and reggae, to name a few. Jamaican culture and history are fundamentally based on the sound system, and as a result, it has distinguished itself from many other cultures. 

By the mid1950s, sound systems had now incorporated live musicians to stage parties. By the second half of the decade, custom-built systems began to appear from the workshops of specialists such as Hedley Jones, who constructed wardrobe-sized speaker cabinets known as "Houses of Joy”.

What began as an attempt to copy the American R&B sound using local musicians evolved into a uniquely Jamaican musical genre.

Where did the sound system come from?

In the slum districts of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1950s, the idea of a sound system originally gained popularity. Street parties were organised by disc jockeys who loaded a truck with a generator, turntables, and large speakers.

The Disc Jockeys initially played American Rhythm and Blues music, but as time went on and more locally produced music emerged, the sound shifted to have a local character.

Who were the big three of the early Jamaican sound systems?

Tom the Great Sebastian was the first significant figure in the Jamaican Sound System's history. Count Smith the Blues Blaster and Sir Nick the Champ are just two of the systems that had similarly great names back then. ‘Duke Reid the Trojan and the Sir Coxsone Downbeat sound system were also big sound systems.

Is a Jamaican sound dominated by bass guitar and drums?

The Jamaican sound system is more focused on the music, and not necessarily on the instruments used to produce the music itself. Reggae and Dancehall are the major music genres played by Jamaican sound systems.

The bass guitar and drums are major instruments used to produce reggae music, so one could indeed say that they are a big part of Jamaican sound systems.

Why was the sound system so important to the average Jamaican?

The sound systems now generated significant revenue and were one of the only reliable sources of income in the region's unsteady economic climate. The promoter (the Disc Jockey) would make his profit by charging a low entry to the public, which is how everything operates.

Every meeting became a growing event when there were thousands of people present and food and alcohol were available for purchase.

Who invented the sound system?

Early sound systems were developed by Jamaicans travelling back and forth from the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. They were influenced by R&B bands playing through PA systems at New York block parties, and they took the idea and ran with it, creating homemade rudimentary Sound Systems.

The Great Tom Sebastian, founded by Chinese-Jamaican entrepreneur Tom Wong, was the very first commercially successful sound system and influenced many subsequent sound systems.

What is a sound clash in reggae?

A sound clash is a musical contest in which the crews of competing sound systems compete musically. Reggae and dancehall music are the main musical genres played during sound clashes, which occur in a variety of locations both indoors and outside. To defeat or "kill" their rivals is the goal.

The Jamaican sound system is part of our culture that will hopefully never die. 

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Return to Jamaican Music History from Jamaican Sound System
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References & Sources For Jamaican Sound System

  1. Origins of Jamaican Sound System - Jamaicansmusic.com, https://jamaicansmusic.com/learn/origins/sound_systems
  2. Looking back at Jamaica's sound system history, https://louderthanwar.com/looking-back-jamaicas-sound-system-history/

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