Computer Rise

 By Frederick R Dannaway

 of www.highstylus.com

Jamaican music scholar Frederick R Dannaway charts the rise of technology and machines – and the changing role of the producer – from roots reggae through dub to digital dancehall.

“Computer world, we in a computer world” – Lee Van Cliff (“Computer World”)

Rhizomatic riddims
The roots of reggae stretch deep to African soils, re-emerging as digital filaments and radicles in the creation of dub, dancehall and digital reggae. The revolving complexity of instruments filtered through various types of mixers and special effects has changed the very conception of music. From bedroom to cutting-edge professional studios, digital hardware is ever birthing new combinations. Dub as the mystical shadow of vocal versions has always had a touch of magic in its echoing translations of one drop riddims. Producers are the ‘scientists’ and ‘professors’, ‘organisers’, ‘doctors’ or ‘chemists’ in their recipes of audio potions that vibrate from their studio laboratories.
All music that is not enjoyed live and in person is subjected to the interlopers of recording devices and studio equipment of microphones and amplifiers. Yet some of the vintage studio equipment seemed to transmute the recordings uniquely – modern producers try to re-invoke the signature sounds. Musical periods, and therefore the studio outputs, are defined by the unique tonal ambiance of the recording equipment. Certain equipment is legendary, such as the Ampex 351, the holy grail of the recording arts. Abroad, the Ampex was recording Elvis and The Beatles, marking the era by its characteristic sound. In Jamaica it was immortalising such acts as The Wailing Wailers with Bob Marley at Studio One.

Read the rest on Red Bull Music Academy:

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/computer-rise