Soca music

ritu@ritu.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Raggae or Soca is a form of dance music which originated in the Islands of Trinidad and Tobago from calypso music. It originally combined the melodic lilting sound of calypso with insistent percussion (which is often electronic in recent music) and local chutney music. Soca music has evolved in the last 20 years primarily by musicians from various Anglophone Caribbean countries including Trinidad, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Unit [...]

The golden age of Reggae

ritu@ritu.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100

As reggae became a world attraction, styles multiplied and inbred with the American genres.

Burning Spear (1), the project of Rastafarian visionary Winston Rodney, unleashed the supercharged Marcus Garvey (1976), perhaps the highest artistic achievements of reggae music.

Joseph Hill's vocal trio Culture were equally passionate, and the title-track from Two Sevens Clash (1977) became the anthem of the rasta-punks and coined "rockers reggae".

Ijahman Levi (Trevor S [...]

Ragga jungle

ritu@ritu.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Ragga jungle is the type of music that emerged circa 1989-1990 and is initially heavily based on production of Michael West (Rebel MC, Congo Natty Label). Early pioneers of the genre also include Leenie De Ice and Ragga Twins.

History

This style is credited with engaging the black community within the jungle scene, and contributed to the 'bad boy' or 'rude boy' subculture within the UK. Ragga jungle's popularity waned significantly since 1995 in the UK,[1] in part beca [...]

Ragga

ritu@ritu.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a sub-genre of dancehall music or reggae, in which the instrumentation primarily consists of electronic music. Sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music as well.

Wayne Smith's "Under Me Sleng Teng" was produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a Casio MT-40 synthesizer, and is generally recognized as the seminal ragga song. "Sleng Teng" boosted Jammy's popularity immensely, and other producers quickly released their [...]

Reggae outside the Caribbean

ritu@ritu.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Reggae has spread to many countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres.

Americas

Reggae en Español started in Panama in the mid 1970s and later expanded to the rest of Latin America. It does not have any specific characteristics other than being sung in Spanish, usually by artists of Latin American origin. By the end of the 1980s, the local music scene in Hawaii was dominated by Jawaiian music, a local form of Reggae.

Types of Reggae Music and Reggae Jargon

ritu@ritu.com — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Jamaican Reggae music is a dynamic music form that is continually evolving and changing and it continues to do so to this day. Reggae music is a musical form of expression which artists have used to discuss topics ranging from cultural to social. Reggae musics' origins and beginnings can be traced back to the 1950's. This article will look at Reggae music genres from the earliest to the present. Also, we will define some Reggae jargon as it pertains to the genres.

Ska

[...]

Subgenres

ritu@ritu.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Early reggae

Early reggae, sometimes dubbed "skinhead reggae" due to its popularity among the working class subculture in the UK, started in the late 1960s, as the influence of funk music from American labels such as Stax began to permeate the playing of studio musicians. The characteristic defining early reggae from rock steady is the "bubbling" organ, a percussive style of playing that brought to closer light the eighth-note subdivision within the groove. The guitar "skanks" [...]

Musical characteristics

ritu@ritu.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Reggae is either played in 4/4 time or swing time, because the symmetrical rhythmic pattern does not lend itself to other time signatures such as 3/4 time. Harmonically, the music is often very simple, and sometimes a whole song will have no more than one or two chords. These simple repetitive chord structures add to reggae's sometimes hypnotic effects.

Drums and other percussion

A standard drum kit with is generally used in reggae, but the snare drum is often tuned [...]

Keyboards in Reggae

ritu@ritu.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
The keyboard in reggae usually doubles the rhythm guitar's skank, playing chords on the offbeats in a staccato style to add body. Sometimes a keyboardist plays occasional extra beats, runs and riffs. Most larger bands will use two keyboard players; one for the rhythm part and another to cover horn and melody lines. The reggae-organ shuffle is unique to reggae. Typically, a Hammond organ-style sound is used to play chords with a choppy feel. This is known as the bubble. There are specific drawbar [...]

Roots of reggae fusion

ritu@ritu.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
The sub genre predominantly evolved from late 80s and early 90s dancehall music which instrumentals or "riddims" contained elememts from the r&b and hip-hop genres. Due to this some see artistes such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton and other dancehall artistes from this era as somewhat pioneers of reggae fusion. Some of these very same artists, such as Buju Banton, eventually ventured into reggae fusion later on in their careers. Though there were a few recognized reggae fusio [...]

Reggaeton - From Puerto Rico to the World

ritu@ritu.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Reggaeton is sweeping the Latin music world with its irrepressible blend of tropical Latin and reggae rhythms. Today many of the most popular reggaeton artists come from Puerto Rico, but you can't keep this music from sailing out to the rest of the world.

The Music:

The distinctive sound of today's reggaeton is a mix of Jamaican dancehall rhythms, derived from reggae, and Latin merengue, bomba, plena and sometimes salsa. It's heavily percussive beat is called "dembow" and come [...]

Instruction How To Play Reggae Beat on Acoustic Guitar

ritu@ritu.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
I am solo performer and I use this method a lot when I perform. I want to share it with you how to do it.

I will show how you can play guitar and producing rhythm beat like percussion or drum at the same time. Especially playing reggae music. You guitar must be an acoustic one - not electric.

Pick any chord to use - it doesn't matter. Or for this practice , use A-minor. Concentrate on the right hand - because you are going to 'drumming' and 'strumming' at the same time. Try to do 4/4 [...]

Reggae fusion

ritu@ritu.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Reggae fusion' or reggaefusion, is a term that is used to describe the style of mixing reggae or dancehall with different influential elements of other genres whether it be hip hop, r&b, pop, techno or house, rock, alternative, jazz, drum and bass etc.

Origin and characteristics
Origin of the term

Though artists have been mixing reggae music with other genres from as early as the early 70s - notably Toots and the Maytals' "Reggae Got Soul" (Reggae mixed with th [...]

Newer styles and spin-offs

ritu@ritu.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Hip hop and rap

Toasting is a style of chanting or talking over the record that was first used by 1960s Jamaican deejays such as U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone. This style greatly influenced Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, who used the style in New York City in the late 1970s to pioneer the hip hop and rap genres. Mixing techniques employed in dub music have also influenced hip hop.

Dancehall

The dancehall genre was developed around 1980, with exponents such as Yellowman, Supe [...]

The Real Definition Of Reggae

ritu@ritu.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Through out the years of the musical genres existence, its ideological definition has been a platform for debate.

Reggae is not as many may think. A fusion of externalized influences, interpreted, and blended to fit our own cultural experience. This fact may be argued, evident by the past and present trend, but this experience happens to all musical art forms as it tries to find a place outside of its own social habitat. Hiphop/Rap fused with classical, latin, and slews of 60’s and 70’s gr [...]

Reggaeton across the world

ritu@ritu.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0100
Latin America

Reggaeton is very popular in Latin American countries such as Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela. Reggaeton has become staple music in many parties and events, complementing the common mix of merengue, salsa and electronic music, and has paved a huge fan base. In some countries such as Peru with MC Francia, Los TNT and Mr. Fresh, Venezuela with Doble Impakto, Honduras with DJ Sy and El Salvador with Heavy Clan, dome [...]

Dub Reggae Production Tips

sales@reggaeloops.com — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:00 +0100

“Producing a traditional Dub Reggae track in 6 steps”

This page will give you a basic idea of what producing Dub is about. Since Dub is an artform which evolved from the recording techniques available in Jamaica back in the seventies the equipment used in this example is from that period too.
Of course nowadays you can use modern equipment which offers far more possibilities especially when it comes to editing and controlling details of the production (hard disc recording, mixing [...]

The History Of Dub Reggae

sales@reggaeloops.com — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:00:00 +0100

THE HISTORY OF DUB REGGAE

The word 'dub' today is used to describe a genre of music that consists predominantly of instrumental re-mixes of existing recordings. These re-mixes radically manipulated and reshape the recording(through the use of sound effects). The production and mixing process is not used just to replicate the live performance of the recording artist, but audio effects and studio 'trickery' are seen as an integral part of the music. The roots of 'du [...]

Blog Entries

Soca music

The golden age of Reggae

Ragga jungle

Ragga

Reggae outside the Caribbean

Types of Reggae Music and Reggae Jargon

Subgenres

Musical characteristics

Keyboards in Reggae

Roots of reggae fusion

Reggaeton - From Puerto Rico to the World

Instruction How To Play Reggae Beat on Acoustic Guitar

Reggae fusion

Newer styles and spin-offs

The Real Definition Of Reggae

Reggaeton across the world

Dub Reggae Production Tips

The History Of Dub Reggae