The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae • Hacker News Board

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#21

Post by gunfighthacksaw » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 6:47 PM UTC

lelandfe wrote: post #14

teachrdan wrote: post #4

For those who don't know, "Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word 'rhythm'. In the context of reggae and dancehall it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section... A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances." The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting…

> The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears Dub and reggae are a part of the so-called soundsystem culture. That booming bass line is meant to be heard over an enormous PA system (often home built) designed to rattle your bones!

I remember not getting dubstep (also derived from dub before it’s export to the US and commercialization) because I was listening to it on my PC speakers.

When I finally played it through my hifi it was like a whole sonic landscape suddenly appeared and only then did I finally get it.

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#22

Post by tibbydudeza » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 6:52 PM UTC

What an awesome article - from Japan to the shores of Jamaica.

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#23

Post by pfarrell » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:01 PM UTC

And now she's working on a prototype "Holophonor".

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#24

Post by cat199 » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:09 PM UTC

lelandfe wrote: post #14

teachrdan wrote: post #4

For those who don't know, "Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word 'rhythm'. In the context of reggae and dancehall it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section... A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances." The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting…

> The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting to my American ears Dub and reggae are a part of the so-called soundsystem culture. That booming bass line is meant to be heard over an enormous PA system (often home built) designed to rattle your bones!

seen .. much bettern to hear the song in context in a soundsystem live tape (several on yt) - and possibly with cough cough sacrament - e.g. coxsone, killmanjaro, etc.

<3 the 'digital raggae' electronic pre-dancehall sound

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#25

Post by zuminator » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:15 PM UTC

This is a beautiful example of why people shouldn't be too quick to tag cultural borrowings as "appropriation." They often result in a back-and-forth cross-pollination that bears novel hybrid fruit we can all enjoy.

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#26

Post by dave_sid » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

Absolutely love this.

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#27

Post by dieselerator » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:26 PM UTC

It is an interesting read. I find inspiration in this story of composer Hiroko Okuda. When you work at doing your part to get the product to market you can't predict all the ways customers might use the product.

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#28

Post by narag » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:26 PM UTC

bravura wrote: post #7

The Sleng Teng riddim is one of my favorite reggae riddims. Americans might best know it as the bassline from Sublime's Caress Me Down ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_LP4IU6XD4 ). But you might really love the lyrics of Tenor Saw's Pumpkin Belly, which a song of the "old time proverbs": "Whatsover you want / You have to work very hard to gain." https://genius.com/Tenor-saw-pumpkin-belly-lyrics

Another ressemblance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dR1tKo1n5I

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#29

Post by twism » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:26 PM UTC

Simon_O_Rourke wrote: post #8

There's no decent reggae after the early 1980s, apart from UB40 knock off bands. Give me the Pioneers, Dave and Ansel Collins or Justin Hinds any day.

Beres Hammond, Jah Cure, Gyptian, Bitty mcLean ... ? I could go on. Relatively newer artists but on dub (old school) style riddims

Re: The Casio employee behind the “Sleng Teng” riddim that revolutionized reggae

#30

Post by mtalantikite » Tue, Feb 01, 2022, 7:28 PM UTC

teachrdan wrote: post #4

For those who don't know, "Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word 'rhythm'. In the context of reggae and dancehall it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section... A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances." The actual riddim sounds completely uninteresting…

> But the novelty and catchiness obviously connected to millions of people at the time.

And also spawned a huge amount of music: https://www.whosampled.com/Wayne-Smith/Under-Me-Sleng-Teng/s...