Sound, Power: Sounds Systems and Dub
Sound & Culture Summit
Academic researcher and writer Julian Henriques explores the relationship between the Jamaican sound system and dub music in a talk and sonic lecture. The sound system is the instrument through which music is played the Jamaican way and, when dub music developed in the 1960s and 70s, it shaped both its cultural development and musical features, for instance its strong physical embodiment through bass frequencies.
The skills and techniques used by sound system engineers were also adopted by producers in the recording studio. Both practices involve repurposing and reconfiguring technology, applying echo effects, and a distinctly fearless Afrodiasporic approach to technology that makes it more human. While the sound system operator mixes frequencies, the producer works with stems in the studio.
This equipment embodies not only the culture but also the “technological capital” of the subaltern marginalized communities who developed these practices. Knowledge is power, and the sound system and recording studio materialize this knowledge/power through electromagnetic waves.
Photography by Noah Schielen
The Sound & Culture Summit is supported by TIMES (The Independent Movement for Electronic Scenes) and co-financed by the EU.
