Sound System Culture

The Amplifier

 An amplifier is needed to take the audio signal from the mixer and amplify the sound to match the power of the speakers. An amplifier used in sound reinforcement is very different from one used for a home hifi in that PA amplifiers have to run at high power for long periods of time.

 It is important that the amplifier used, can sufficiently power the speakers it is paired with. So if you have a 1000w amp and your speaker is only designed to handle 500w you can end up overloading the speaker. You also need to match the ‘Ohm’ of your speakers to your amp because say 500w at 4Ohm is a lot less power than if it was 500w at 8Ohm. Having an amplifier with not enough power can also destroy your speakers. However in the last decade ‘active’ speaker systems have become more popular. Active speakers each have their own in built amplifier tailored to its specifications so a separate one is not needed. Passive speakers (require an amp) are however lighter which can prove easier to manoeuvre for touring applications.

 A good amplifier has protective circuits (so it turns off instead of breaking if it gets too hot) and “short circuit protection” (Terry 42, 2013) because if you have a lot of amps running it is easy for short circuits to happen. Some speaker manufacturers make their own amplifiers. Whether it is a marketing strategy or a technical superiority is up for speculation. In this case it is nearly always preferable to use the manufacturers amplifiers because if you use anything else its likely to not sound right. For example a Funktion One sound system ran on a third party amplifier does not sound nearly as good as when it is ran on its own system (the same goes for the Bose 802 speaker range). 

The Speaker

 The speaker is the last vital component the audio signal will pass through. The speakers move air to create sound waves. A small driver is needed to create Shorter wavelengths mean a higher frequency. In contrast a large driver is needed for the lower frequencies/longer wavelengths. This is why the tweeter is small and the subwoofer is large. The bigger the speaker the more air it can move - finding a balance between moving enough air but keeping the efficiency and distortion low is key. Smaller speakers, but more of them have become more popular in recent years because you can get more accuracy from a smaller speaker (there is less air to move). An example of this would be modern line array systems for concerts.

 A good speaker should be heavy enough so as not to move around from its own vibrations. The cabinet should be rigid and stable so as not to bend or create unwanted frequencies. Most speakers are made from wood or a wood blended with man made fibres (the latter are generally more expensive because they are stronger). The way air escapes the cabinet is also a crucial part of a good system as air escaping can cause unwanted phasing and a lot of noise behind the speaker if not designed properly.

Speaker Placement

As a rule, the bigger the crowd/venue, the bigger the speaker system needs to be. But placement of the speakers is also very important for it to sound any good. 

 As a rule of thumb for portable speaker systems and such; speakers should be at each side of the room or stage, away from the wall and ceiling by at least a metre, the speakers should be pointed in to the room slightly (not too much though otherwise you risk getting phasing from the sound waves hitting each other). Subwoofers should be on the ground below the top/mid cabinets or in the centre on the floor (if you have one) because they make a lot of vibrations and use the floor sometimes to resonate even more.  The mid/top speakers should be just above crowd level so that the sound waves reach the back of the room and do not get disrupted.

 In bigger systems like stadiums, speaker placement can get a lot more complex because the sound needs to reach tens of thousands of people. Techniques like having some bass cabinets facing backwards to cancel out any phasing are very popular. (For more information on touring systems please see the video I posted last month about Bass Nectars touring system).

 Some of the best clubs in the world work directly with speaker manufacturers to get the best acoustics possible. One example of this would be Funktion One’s involvement with Space in Ibiza.

Drivers

 There are many different kinds of speaker driver but for now I am going to focus on compression drivers versus traditional cone speakers. Compression drivers are very efficient in that the amount of electrical power gets converted into acoustic energy fairly well. “Low efficiency in this case means that with every 100 watts of input power, a cone loudspeaker may only produce 2 or 3 watts of acoustical power output. In comparison, a horn loudspeaker with a midrange compression driver efficiency of 25 to 30 percent will require as little as 10 or 12 watts of power input to produce the same 2 or 3 watts of acoustical power output - a vast improvement in efficiency.” (John Eargle, Jun. 17, 2014:1) Some speaker manufacturers believe that compression drivers can cause more distortion though.

Terry 42, T. (2013) Beginner’s Guide To PA Systems, Part 3: Amps & Speakers. [Online] Available from: http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2013/05/beginners-guide-to-pa-systems-part-3-amps-speakers/ [accessed 5 July 2015]

 The Roots

 Following influences from America, blues was very popular in Jamaica and from the 1950s, the sound of Kingston had a new, cooler vibe to it. DJ’s would strive to have the latest records and they would play the track multiple times in a night.

 Sound systems like Tom The Great Sebastian, Count Smith The Blues Blaster and Sir Nick The Champ were among the first on the scene, pioneering a new movement in Jamaican history. These systems were followed by the likes of Duke Reid the Trojan which were arguably the most badass sound system collective in history. They were known to fire guns off of the rig and such which inspired violence. From then on the movement got more and more associated with gangs and crime. (Carl Stanley, 2012)

 ‘Toasting’ also came about in the late 60s/early 70s where street performers would come up with their best rhymes inspired by USA radio station jingles and catchphrases. “Toasting is a style of lyrical chanting which in Dancehall music involves a deejay talking over a riddim.” (Jamaicans Music, 2012:1). However with the rock and roll era soon to explode on to the music scene, these young talents struggled to keep hold of the lime light.

 In 1959 Chris Blackwell went in to business with Island Records and helped to firmly establish the Jamaican record industry. It was him who was partly responsible for making Bob Marley so popular.

 By the 1970s with gang crimes still stigmatising sound system culture, Dancehall was the new sound of the time.

UK Sound Systems

“Duke Vin and Count Suckle arrived in England in 1954, stowaways on a boat from Kingston.” (Melissa Bradshaw, 2013:1). The two came from a background where sound systems competed to be the loudest and have the best music.  In 1955 Duke Vin built a sound system called Tickler and Suckle also built his own. They soon adapted their skills to UK the sound system lifestyle and played Ska music in venues and clubs. Count Suckle opened his own club on Carnaby Street called the Roaring Twenties.

By the 1960′s London had a small but growing population of sound systems each playing their own style of music.

 In the early seventies the influential man Jah Shaka moved to London from Clarendon. He stuck to the original reggae sound and not the new popular dancehall style which proved to be a success. He was soon playing in hot London clubs and had his own sound system/following.

 “In the ’70s, police in London revived the 1824 Vagrancy Act.” (Melissa Bradshaw, 2013:1). This meant black people were targeted by police for doing, well, nothing at all. It was known as the suspicion act which gave police power to arrest anyone who looked like they were going to commit a crime. Paul Gilroy, an academic theorist who wrote The Black Atlantic said that “the police were trying to control where people could be in a city. The laws were applied in a very uneven and discretionary way to criminalise a generation, to confine them to some areas of the city and exclude them from others.” This oppression had a direct effect on the music being produced at the time for example: Beat Down Babylon by Junior Byles and such conveyed a sombre message. Riots at the 1976 Notting Hill carnival were partly caused by rising tensions with police and anti-apartheid protestors in soweto and lost sports games. Sound systems had once again been associated with violence.

Sound systems to this day still hold one of the most spiritual followings and controversy associated with loud music is still rife. This article explains one of the biggest strains on UK night Life.

Bibliography

Jamaicans Music. (2012) Origins of Toasting. [Online] Available from: http://www.jamaicansmusic.com/learn/origins/toasting [accessed 25 June 2015]

Melissa Bradshaw, M. (2013) Warrior Charge: The Birth of UK Soundsystem Culture. [Online] Available from: http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2013/04/warrior-charge-the-birth-of-uk-soundsystem-culture-feature [accessed 24 June 2015]

Philp, R. (2015) The Arches and the trouble with UK nightlife http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?2497

Stanley, C. (2012) Looking back at Jamaica's sound system history. [Online] Available from: http://louderthanwar.com/looking-back-jamaicas-sound-system-history/ [accessed 24 June 2015]

Free Tekno

Delving deeper into the culture that surrounds sound systems I discovered a video on youtube called free Tekno.

 You could argue that the rave scene owes some of its success to the Roland TB-303 and it being found by Chicago producers in 1985 to be used and abused to create acid house. By the late 80′s this genre had declined in popularity in America but was “in full swing” (Sara Simms, 2013) in the UK by 1987 when the likes of Paul Oakenfold and other British producers/DJ’s got in to the genre.

 By the late 80′s Police across Europe and America where cracking down on raves, pushing the phenomenon underground. Ever since the ban, party organisers risk getting their expensive speaker systems confiscated (Gunnar Hauth, 2012) and party goers risk arrest for tresspassing and using recreational drugs.  Across Europe though, the free party scene is still going strong despite the logistical problems and law issues.

Bibliography:

Hauth, G. (2012) Free Tekno.  [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7MUlimHYx4 [accessed 10 June 2015]

Void in action

Please answer this short questionnaire.

Mike is the Senior Sales Manager at VOID Acoustics Research Ltd

Void create some of the most exciting looking and sounding systems in the world and are renowned for their quality, flexibility and imposing looks.

Hi Mike.

Hello Murray

What sets Void apart from other major speaker brands (Funktion 1, Turbo Sound, Martin etc) in your opinion?

I think fundamentally the combination of visual style and sonic performance that is offered by Void is something that nobody else is currently doing.  Brands like Turbo and Martin are very much black box brands.  Clearly they make solid products, otherwise they would not be in the market position they are, but otherwise there is nothing to really help differentiate the brand.

Funktion One have obviously had a try at some more ambitious designs, but they have ended up being quite lazy in this.  The majority of their products are just normal loudspeaker designs, in wooden boxes painted purple.  We like to think that products such as Airmotion, Trimotion, Nexus and Incubus truly break the mould of the traditional design.  As we can then back this up with world class sonic performance this leads to a package unlike anything else on offer.

What is the future for speaker design?

I think it depends which section of the market you are talking about.  Touring system are going to be dominated by line source solutions, anyone who says any different is kidding themselves.  There is a lot of harking back to old large scale point source arrays and how they sounded far better than line arrays, but the reality is that with current touring companies being so heavily invested in line array, this won’t change soon.  For most touring solutions, line array is the smallest and lightest solution and to most rental companies this is frankly almost more important than how it sounds.  If it can be rigged by two guys and go in the back of a transit van, but still cover 5000 people, then you’re on to a winner!

The install market does follow the touring one to a certain extent, people want to use what they have seen on X Festival or at Y live music gig.  Thankfully for us however there will always be people who want to think outside the box, people who want to be different.  We try to innovate all the time, for example at this years Prolight and Sound show we released nine new products, which is more than any of our competitors.  So we will always be trying new things, and this gains us a lot of respect from the audio community.

I think if I had to predict one think that is the most important feature of loudspeaker design it would be control the sound particularly in outdoor spaces.  Noise restrictions are being more and more strict and therefore speaker systems which can control the spread of the sound and stop it spilling in to the wrong area are going to be key moving forward.

How important are the looks of your systems to your clients?

Depends on the customer, but to most very important.  That is our principle USP and therefore people love to have the funky looking red products.  These hold a lot of brand value and are therefore key anyone investing in the brand.

Do you think club/party goers are still interested in the sound system?

Yes to a certain extent.  They are interested in the brand, perhaps not the technical side, but brands such as ourselves and Funktion One carry weight in that a club night with a “void sound system”does create some additional interest, certainly in our experience anyway!

Thanks Mike.