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SOUNDSYSTEMS
Sound systems first started in Jamaica in the '40s for the simple purpose to get people movin' (dancing, that is). A lot of people have no idea what a sound system even is! It started out (in Jamaica)pretty much as either a record player hooked up to a few speakers and parking in front of a liquor store or restaurant, or local DJs piling as many speakers as possible onto the back of a truck and parking it near a town at dusk. Then turn the system up as loud as you can and the let the bashment begin! They were originally playing big band and jazz, in the 1940's, that came from the States. In the Fifties came R&B which was also pretty much only imported from the US. Then the local musicians started covering R&B songs and changing the styles of them which formed Ska and led to all the various forms of Jamacian music we know today. Around the late Sixites is when the soundsystems really started getting good (in my opinion). They would play all normal pressings of 45's, but after King Tubby started to experiment with his dub versions the selectors would begin to use those instrumentals and say their own lyrics on top of it. Eventually this led to dubplates (and coincedentally spawned Dancehall reggae) so that instead of the same DJ over every track, you could go to the studio and cut another famous DJ's voice over a version (and, for good measure, have him send special big-ups and shout-outs to your sound system so that everyone would know that you are the hottest).
These sound systems influenced many other genres of music. Hip-Hop was first set around parks in New York with system battling it out. Also, punk, house, techno and most influenced - jungle.
If you've got the money and/or the parts, why not make a sound system for your area? There is no limit to the amount of speakers you can have; the more the better(Metromedia Sound has so many speakers that when laid end to end they span 2 city blocks!)! Build as many bass cabinets as you can, throw in about half as many mid-range and about a quarter as many highs. Then add as many amplifiers that you can get your hands on (be sure to remove all the limiters and compressors. You'll blow some speakers of course but you'll also be the wickedest around!!
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