Nonprofit · Bay Area, California
1hz
One cycle per second. The pulse under everything.
A nonprofit for bass music and sound system culture. Home of DEEP AUDIO and 3rd Eye Collective.
Roots to now
From the yard to the low end
- 1950s
Sound systems
Kingston, Jamaica. Crews build their own speaker stacks and take the music to the street. The sound system is born: rig, selector, crowd.
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In 1950s Kingston few people owned a radio or a record player. Sound systems filled the gap: a truck, a generator, home-built amplifiers and wardrobe-sized speaker boxes, playing American R&B at open-air dances in the yards.
Rival sounds competed in clashes and guarded their exclusive records, scratching the labels off so nobody could find out what they were. When the supply of US records dried up, the sound system bosses started recording local artists, and that led to ska and the Jamaican record industry.
Notable acts
Tom the Great SebastianOne of the first big Kingston sound systems.
Coxsone DoddRan the Downbeat sound system, later founded Studio One.
Duke ReidRan The Trojan sound system, later the Treasure Isle label.
Prince BusterWorked Coxsone’s dances, then ran his own Voice of the People sound. Ska pioneer.
Sources: Sound system (Jamaican) · Clement “Coxsone” Dodd · Duke Reid
Photos: Tom the Great Sebastian: via RADII / Soundboks, fair use · Coxsone Dodd: via Wikipedia, fair use · Duke Reid: via Yaawd Media, fair use · Prince Buster: Yerpo, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Late 1960s–70s
Dub
Engineers strip tracks back to drum and bass, add echo and space, and turn the mixing desk into an instrument. The bassline moves to the front.
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Dub grew out of the “version”: B-sides with the vocals taken off, made for sound system deejays to toast over. Engineers pushed it further, dropping instruments in and out and drenching what was left in echo and reverb.
King Tubby worked on a modified mixing desk in his small Kingston studio and played his cuts out on his own Home Town Hi-Fi sound. The bass and drums moved to the front and the studio became an instrument.
Notable acts
King TubbyEngineer and sound system man, widely credited with inventing dub.
Lee “Scratch” PerryProducer behind the Black Ark studio and its deep, strange dub.
Augustus PabloMelodica player; “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown”.
ScientistTubby’s protégé, known for his early-80s dub albums.
Sources: Dub music · King Tubby · Lee “Scratch” Perry
Photos: King Tubby: via Wikipedia, fair use · Lee “Scratch” Perry: pitpony.photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Augustus Pablo: artist SoundCloud, fair use · Scientist: artist SoundCloud, fair use
- 1980s
Going digital
Jamaica goes digital: the Sleng Teng riddim puts dancehall on drum machines. In the UK, sound systems like Jah Shaka's take root, with sub-bass you feel in your chest. The 808 and the late-80s rave boom add the electronic side.
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In 1985 King Jammy’s studio built a riddim from a Casio keyboard preset: Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng”. Within months dancehall went digital, with drum machines and synth bass in place of live bands.
In the UK the children of the Windrush generation ran their own sound systems: Jah Shaka’s roots and steppers sessions, Saxon Studio’s MCs, clashes and the Notting Hill Carnival. In New York, “Planet Rock” (1982) put the Roland TR-808 on the dancefloor, and by 1988 acid house and rave had swept the UK.
Notable acts
King JammyProducer of “Sleng Teng” and the digital dancehall sound.
Wayne SmithSang “Under Mi Sleng Teng” (1985).
Jah ShakaSouth London sound system, famous for heavy steppers dub.
Mad ProfessorUK dub producer, founded the Ariwa label.
Afrika BambaataaBronx DJ; “Planet Rock” (1982).
Roland TR-808The drum machine behind electro’s booming kick.
Sources: Under Mi Sleng Teng · Jah Shaka · Planet Rock · Roland TR-808
Photos: King Jammy: E. Yamaguchi, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wayne Smith: via Wikipedia, fair use · Jah Shaka: Wwwhatsup, CC BY 3.0 · Mad Professor: Chris Williams, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Afrika Bambaataa: Mika Väisänen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roland TR-808: Bryan Pocius, CC BY 2.0
- Early 1990s
Jungle
In the UK, sound system bass meets breakbeats and rave. Fast drums, deep sub-bass.
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Out of the UK rave scene, producers sped up breakbeats, the Amen break above all, and set them over sound system sub-bass and ragga vocals.
Pirate stations like Kool FM and specialist record shops spread it, and dances ran on dubplates cut for a single night. By 1994 jungle was the sound of London.
Notable acts
Shy FX“Original Nuttah” with UK Apachi (1994).
Congo Natty (Rebel MC)Roots and ragga jungle, “Junglist”.
M-BeatProducer of “Incredible” (1994), a jungle chart hit.
General LevyThe voice on “Incredible”.
DJ HypeDJ and producer, co-founder of Playaz.
Sources: Jungle music · Amen break · Shy FX
Photos: Shy FX: Addictco1, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Congo Natty (Rebel MC): Saverios1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · M-Beat: artist SoundCloud, fair use · General Levy: artist SoundCloud, fair use · DJ Hype: Adam J Roberts, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Mid 1990s
Drum & bass
Jungle sharpens into drum & bass, and the sub becomes the centre of the mix.
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Jungle’s ragga edge gave way to a cleaner, more musical drum & bass: rolling breaks, Reese basslines, jazz and ambient textures.
Labels like Metalheadz and Good Looking set the tone, and in 1997 Roni Size and Reprazent won the Mercury Prize with “New Forms”.
Notable acts
GoldieFounded Metalheadz; “Timeless” (1995).
LTJ BukemGood Looking Records and atmospheric drum & bass.
Roni SizeReprazent; Mercury Prize for “New Forms” (1997).
GrooveriderPioneering DJ, from the Rage nights with Fabio.
FabioPioneering DJ, Rage and the Swerve night.
PhotekPrecise, intricate drum programming.
Alex Reece“Pulp Fiction” (1995), a defining two-step roller.
Sources: Drum and bass · Goldie · Roni Size
Photos: Goldie: Alkivar, CC0 · LTJ Bukem: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Roni Size: Eoindkelly, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grooverider: Alkivar, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Fabio: Dilvie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photek: Faria Raji, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alex Reece: artist SoundCloud, fair use
- Early 2000s
Dubstep
South London. Half-time weight, space and sub-bass made to be felt on a big system. Within a few years it crosses to the US: Dub War in New York, then SMOG and Low End Theory in Los Angeles.
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In Croydon and South London, producers took UK garage and 2-step, stripped the beat to a half-time pulse and pushed the sub-bass forward. Big Apple Records, the FWD>> night and Rinse FM were the hubs.
DMZ, started in Brixton in 2005, made it sound system music again: “Come meditate on bass weight.” The same year Dub War opened in New York, and SMOG and Low End Theory followed in Los Angeles.
Notable acts
Mala (DMZ) & Joe NiceDigital Mystikz and DMZ; Joe Nice co-founded Dub War, New York.
Skream“Midnight Request Line” (2005).
Kode9Founded the Hyperdub label.
BengaCroydon producer, early dubstep with Skream.
LoefahCo-founded DMZ with Mala and Coki (Digital Mystikz).
BurialAnonymous South London producer; “Untrue” (2007).
Sources: Dubstep · Joe Nice / Dub War · Low End Theory
Photos: Mala (DMZ) & Joe Nice: Seckle, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Skream: drown (Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kode9: basic_sounds, CC BY 2.0 · Benga: Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0 · Loefah: artist SoundCloud, fair use · Burial: Untrue album cover, via Wikipedia, fair use
- 2010s
Bass music
Dubstep explodes in America at festival scale while the underground keeps building. The genres blur into one bass music culture of producers, selectors, builders and crowds.
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Dubstep went global and loud. In America it reached festival scale, and in 2012 Skrillex won three Grammys.
Trap, future bass and halftime branched off, and producers mixed hip-hop, dubstep and drum & bass freely. Underground, LA’s Low End Theory and beat-scene artists like Flying Lotus pushed experimental low end, and West Coast crews built their own deep bass culture.
Notable acts
SkrillexTook dubstep to US festivals; three Grammys in 2012.
Flying LotusLA beat scene, founded Brainfeeder.
Daddy KevCo-founded Low End Theory, LA (2006–2018).
James BlakeTook dubstep’s space into songwriting.
ExcisionHeavy festival dubstep, from Canada.
CharlestheFirstDeep, organic bass music, from the late 2010s.
Sources: Skrillex · Low End Theory · Flying Lotus
Photos: Skrillex: Carl Pocket, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flying Lotus: Kolby Ari, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Daddy Kev: Coinslot, CC BY-SA 4.0 · James Blake: PhilipRomano, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Excision: Christian Bordeau, CC BY 2.0 · CharlestheFirst: artist SoundCloud, fair use
- Now
Deep bass music
Slower, deeper, more spacious. Still built around the system, felt as much as heard. This is where 1hz lives.
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Slower tempos, lots of space, detailed sound design and sub-bass you feel through the body: music made for a well-tuned system rather than a loud one.
A network of producers, crews and festivals, many on the US West Coast, keeps it growing. 1hz builds the systems and the community it needs.
Notable acts
G JonesSanta Cruz–born experimental bass producer.
EpromSan Francisco–born bass producer.
Of The TreesDeep, spacious bass music.
MurkuryDeep dubstep down in the infrasub range.
Photos: G Jones: CousinRyan5280, CC0 · Eprom: JasonUnbound, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Of The Trees: artist SoundCloud, fair use · Murkury: artist SoundCloud, fair use