Valve Sound System
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The Valve Sound System is a touring sound system specifically designed for the high fidelity playback of drum and bass music. Created by UK artists, Dillinja and Lemon D, the Valve Sound System has a total power output of 96 kW. Consisting of 52 subs in total, the Valve Sound System is designed exclusively for drum and bass acoustics and was the first system designed to this purpose [1]. It is still the largest.
The whole system has to be carried around in three 7.5 ton lorries and consists in total of 6 speaker stacks, each around 18 feet wide and nine feet high.
The inspiration for the sound system came from the legendary reggae sound systems which were popular in the 1970s and 80s. Dillinja grew up listening to the sound systems of King Tubby, Jah Shaka and the like in the 1980s. Dillinja and Lemon D were often called upon to DJ at venues both in the UK and abroad, but they were usually left disappointed by the system they had to play on at those clubs. Hitherto, sound systems could not produce the deep bass that drum and bass requires.
The Valve Sound System has toured the UK extensively. The Valve Sound System also had a six month residency, ending in 2003, at South London’s Mass Club. However, the residency demanded huge levels of effort from the system and its crew, with its four flights of winding stairs (lift out of order), a crew of no less than fifteen or so men was needed just to get it in and out of the building. Although the residency came to an end in the early part of 2003, much good came out of it. It was around this time the Guinness Book of Records showed an interest in the system and wanted to come down to test it for its "Loudest Sound System in the World" category; sparking additional public interest, even though, when asked about the Guinness Book of Records, Lemon D would say "it's not about being the loudest, it's about being the best."
Dillinja and Lemon D were invited to bring the system onto Channel 4's popular "The Big Breakfast" show, but when they discovered they had to haul their sound system into the show’s garden with no protection from the elements at 4am, they politely declined.
The Valve Sound System was requested to provide the sound for the drum and bass tent at the huge annual Gatecrasher festival in June 2002. Months of hard work was put in to ensure the sound system was ready for this big event, but the British environmental health authorities stopped the system from being played at full power. However, the tent it was in was the most popular at the festival .
[edit] External links
- History and point of reference for Valve Sound System Homepage
- Documentary on YouTube about Valve Sound Systems - featuring interviews with Dillinja and Lemon D
