This is the first in a series of blogs documenting the ongoing SST research in Colombia, mainly focused around picó culture. Not claiming to be comprehensive or authoritative, what follows is rather the result of several conversations, meet ups, and explorations that happened over a preliminary research trip in December 2022 aimed precisely at doing networking […]
Sonic street technologies take many forms and play many different kinds of music, but one amongst them – the reggae sound system – has travelled particularly far and wide. Historically its journey has been in the company of the Jamaican diaspora who are very well represented in Canada. As Jamaican music and culture has taken […]
This blog is available in English at this link. Estamos particularmente interessados nos aparelhos móveis usados para tocar música gravada. Este ângulo especificamente tecnológico do projeto SST atravessa os gêneros musicais e geografias que mais frequentemente definem a pesquisa sobre cultura popular. Ele nos permite explorar como diferentes tecnologias estão sendo implantadas para construir comunidades […]
We are particularly interested in the mobile apparatuses used to play recorded music. This specifically technological angle of the SST project cuts across the music genres and geographies that most often define research on popular culture. It enables us to explore how different technologies are being deployed for building communities and solidarities in different cultures […]
SST is proud to support Sound System Outernational #8, to be held in London on Saturday 5th of November 2022. SSO#8 UK Sound System Reasoning Day: Continuities and Disruptions, brings together sound system operators from around the UK and across different generations. We aim to celebrate and exchange knowledge about how sound system culture and […]
A unique Colombian SST, the picó consists in one or more large speaker boxes, hosting one or more drivers, beautifully hand-painted with colourful artworks representing the name of each unique set, mainly blasting African music such as soukous, highlife and makossa, among other genres. SST welcomes new bloggers José Camilo Ríos Alarcón and Adriana Alexandra Ayala […]
Sound system cultures have intimate histories that implicate them in global networks of ecologies, infrastructures, and multiple instances of environmental and energy justice issues. In this blog, Sonic Street Technologies Research Assistant, Aadita Chaudhury reflects on some of the ways these domains intersect and interact at the site of sound system culture’s development and practice. […]
Every culture needs adequate archiving of spaces and practices unique to that culture, whether through […]
‘Dance a yard before you dance abroad’ refers to the notion of conquering your own territory before trying to conquer someone else’s. It’s a term heard in the lyrics of reggae songs, a DJ’s diss to another, or a demeaning phrase (cuss) used to put someone in their place. Basically, know yourself! However, the essence of […]
There are so many ways in which legacies get overlooked in a world where the concept of the ‘archive’ is often read as static and lifeless. In this post, we seek to breathe life into the legacy of Hedley Jones whose contribution to Jamaican music has enabled not only technological shifts but collaborations to further […]
Second in a series of blogs on SST research (read here the first piece), this article considers different knowledge systems in order to locate, recognise and give value to the ways-of-knowing of audio engineers. Knowledge comes not only from data, information or scientific laws; it is also embodied in the techniques and practices of SST engineering. Appreciating this is one of the major […]
In the meantime, practitioners and punters have found in social media and streaming platforms a way to cope with restrictions, keep in touch with sonic comrades, and find relief from the harshness of an uncertain present by virtually gathering in the covid-free space of the world wide web. But what exactly happens when a street-based sonic culture is abruptly forced to jump with both feet into the digital space? […]
Technology will save us, big tech tells us; others are more sceptical, offering low-tech solutions as less destructive of human life and the planet. Certainly, the technological transformation of substantial sections of humanity needs to be better understood. The claim here it that this understanding is already present amongst us […]