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An Examination of Three Different Styles
of Reggae
Mike Turk
miket@vermontel.net
There are a number of different musical sub-styles, or genres, that
have each had a significant and unique influence on the development of the
bigger umbrella category of music
known as Reggae. This paper will
examine the musical similarities and differences between several selected
sub-styles of Reggae. First, musical style itself will be defined, and some
general characteristics that serve to delineate one style from another will
be highlighted. Then, the general characteristics of all Reggae music that
separate it from other styles will be discussed. The paper will go on to describe the chosen sub-styles and
analyze the unique roles the instruments play in each one. Finally, some of the possible rhetorical
devices used by each genre will be explored and some of their possible connotative
meanings suggested.
The selected styles were all originally considered Roots Reggae styles. They're names are: Nyabingi Reggae, One
Drop Reggae, and Rockers Reggae. All
of these genres reached their greatest popularity in the 1970s, but were later
versioned in both dub and dancehall, and a variety of lyrical topics were
applied.
The dictionary defines style as the following:
[1]
style n. 1.
The way in which something is said, done, expressed, or performed:
a style of speech and writing. 2.
The combination of distinctive features of literary or artistic expression,
execution, or performance characterizing a particular person, group, school,
or era. 3. A quality of imagination
and individuality expressed in one's actions and tastes: does things with
style. 4. The fashion of the
moment, especially of dress; vogue.
5. Mode of expressing thought in language, whether oral or written;
especially, such use of language in the expression of thought as exhibits
the spirit and faculty of an artist; choice or arrangement of words in discourse;
rhetorical expression. 6.
Mode of presentation, especially in music or any of the fine arts; a characteristic
of peculiar mode of developing in idea or accomplishing a result.
The definition of Genre is as follows:
[2]
Genre\ (zh[aum]N"r'), n. 1. (Fine Arts) A style of painting,
sculpture, or other imitative art, which illustrates everyday life and manners.
2. a kind of literary or artistic work 3. a style of expressing yourself in writing [syn: writing
style, literary genre] 4. a class of artistic endeavor having a characteristic
form or technique
Roget's Thesaurus offers these synonyms for genre:
type, brand, category, character, class, classification, fashion,
genus, group, kind, school, sort, species, style
The following quotes
might help to further define style.
[3]
High style, as when that men to kings write. --Chaucer.
Style is the dress of thoughts. --Chesterfield.
Proper words in proper places make the true definition of style. --Swift.
It is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work. --I.
Disraeli.
The ornamental style also possesses its own peculiar merit. --Sir
J. Reynolds.
What is a Musical Style?
Musical styles are often difficult to precisely define. The website known as MP3.com has a home page, (http://genres.mp3.com/music/genres.html), that offers over 150 different genres of music to choose from, including the following subcategories under the reggae umbrella: Dancehall Reggae, Dub Reggae, and Roots Reggae. Even though many more styles and sub categories exist that are not listed here within the category of Reggae, the length of the overall list suggests the incredible amount of different types of music that are available in the modern world. This fact makes defining any genre of music for purposes of examination, an inexact science.
What makes a single musical style or genre unique and identifiable?
In order to properly define a style of music, a person must look at both the
style's history, as well as its physical characteristics. Specific aspects of the music such as: singing style, lyrical
subject matter, rhythm, meter, tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, the prominence
or roles of the individual instruments, and other musical nuances, must be
examined in order to try and make generalizations about any single category
of music. Making it even more difficult to identify any given example is the
fact that there are often more examples of, so called, crossovers or fusions,
that incorporate elements of several styles, than there are examples of the
pure form of any given style.
So, how does a musical
style grow to become unique? Musical
styles are not born, in the same sense that a human or animal can have an
exact moment of birth. They evolve
gradually over time and as a result of many influences acting upon and shaping
their development. Just as it is difficult to precisely classify a single musical
example, it is also equally hard to identify exactly which songs are a style's
first historical examples that are officially and authentically that style.
Before they earn a new label, a fledgling genre resembles the styles
that most influenced them just preceding their emergence as a brand new style. Afterwards, they usually follow a natural progression towards
being more or less autonomous and independent from other styles, although
many original seed elements may remain. Later, as a style reaches maturity, it begins to further
evolve and incorporate new influences that either help to define its uniqueness,
or stretch the definition of that style, until once again a new name is warranted.
In the 1950s in the U.S. for example, Rock and Roll developed and had
many influences that helped bring about its creation. So called, Race Music,
later referred to as Rhythm and Blues of the late 1940s and early 1950s, represented
by artists such as Louis Jordan and Big Mama Thorton, sounded a lot like Rock
and Roll would eventually sound. However,
it was not until this sound combined with certain country, hillbilly, and
folk elements, that Bill Haley first used the words "Rock and Roll."
In Jamaica, early Reggae was still called Rock Steady, which was influenced
by the Ska music that came before it, which in turn was influenced by Mento
prior to that. It was not until
Rock Steady underwent certain significant changes that it was officially called
Reggae for the first time in The Maytals' 1968 hit entitled, "Do the
Reggay."
[4]
This is true even though other songs preceding
the use of the word are often cited as examples signaling the change to Reggae.
Besides speeding up the tempo from most Rock Steady tunes, the highly
identifiable guitar "chop," or "skank," or "chukka
chukka" sound became prominent. From there, many other different sub-styles
of Reggae began to emerge. Some of these sub-styles, such as Dub and Dancehall
versions, had characteristics that were created by economic forces that encouraged
the producers to try to do as much as they could with little resources.
A multitude of factors can influence a style's evolution, not the least
of which are new performers and musicians with different backgrounds trying
out the musical style. Newcomers
to any given genre, usually begin by emulating a favorite artist, but often
later give the style a particular personal twist.
For example, DJ Style reggae artist Dillinger imitated Alcapone, and
the Roots Style singing group Culture imitated Burning Spear.
[5]
Each of them went on to contribute their
own uniqueness to the music, establishing themselves as innovators in their
own right and helping to stretch the boundaries of what Reggae music is.
What Defines Reggae as a Unique Style?
regágae
[6]
n. [Jamaican English, ultimately from
rege-rege, ragged clothing, probably from rag1.] Popular music of Jamaican
origin having elements of calypso and rhythm and blues, characterized by a
strongly accentuated offbeat.
Reggae
[7]
n : popular music originating in the West
Indies; repetitive bass riffs and regular chords played on the off beat by
a guitar
It is interesting
to note that Ragtime music used the same root word as Reggae to refer to the
ragged or chopped up rhythms utilized by the interplay of the left hand stride
bass and the right hand melody as exemplified in the early 1900s by artists
like Scott Joplin.
[8]
This could be indicative of the African rhythmic influence on both
styles.
As stated previously,
any musical style is difficult to define. Even if both the history and certain musical characteristics
of a style are clearly identified, there is still often ambiguity amongst
critics. This is true within
a huge umbrella style like Reggae, and more so with subcategories and genres
such as One Drop, or Rockers. Specific
individual examples may have some of the identifying characteristics of Reggae
and not others, thereby making labeling a matter of subjective opinion.
When a White group such as "Ace of Base" covers a reggae
tune such as "Don't Turn Around," with mostly electronic instruments,
is it still considered Reggae? When
Bob Marley writes and performs any song, is it automatically Reggae because
it is Bob? One may consider "Redemption Song"
and "Reggae on Broadway" for example, to be Reggae, while both of
those songs have a number of characteristics that would not be considered
associated with the style. "Redemption
Song" is more like a Folk song in its instrumentation and it's rhythm,
(acoustic guitar and vocal), while "Reggae on Broadway" sounds almost
like Disco.
There are many characteristics that constitute Reggae, but a majority of these musical
aspects working in conjunction with each other would have to be present in
order to call a given example Reggae. There generally isn't any one, absolute
element that signals Reggae. However,
there are elements that could be considered necessary requirements. For example,
all Reggae is in 4/4 time or Meter. One might be inclined to say, that any
given example needs to have a majority of the definable characteristics in
order to be considered within the boundaries of that style.
Purists might argue that it has to be all or nothing.
I tend to agree with the former method of assessment in that I accept
the use of words like reggaish or reggae like to describe crossover
or fusion music.
Reggae's African Roots
No study of any modern,
western, Black cultural music would be complete without a mention of the tremendous
influence the remembering of African drum rhythms had on the slaves in North
America and the subsequent Black cultural styles of music that developed afterwards.
If the roots of African drum rhythms in the United States were being
traced, then a logical strategy might be to look at Work Songs, Gospel, Cake
Walks, and Ragtime, followed by Country Blues, Urban Blues, Dixieland, and
Big Band Jazz, and lastly the more recent, Rock and Roll, Funk, and Hip Hop. In Jamaica, the examination of Work Songs
and Chants, Nyabingi Drumming, Gospel and Denominational Church music, followed
by Mento, Calypso, Ska and Rock Steady, eventually arriving at the many sub
genres of Reggae would be appropriate. All of the styles that will be examined
in this essay are no exception to this in that they too have their roots in
African drum rhythms.
To consciously or
unconsciously utilize these African rhythms is to make a rhetorical statement
about Black cultural roots. That
is to say, the presence of distinctly African influenced rhythms suggests
a pride in the heritage of that culture.
What are some distinctly unique characteristics that set Reggae apart
from other African influenced styles such as Jazz, Blues or R&B?
Reggae's Eight Main Identifying Characteristics
1) Vocal Style - As the definition
says, Reggae music is a style of music that originated in Jamaica. As such, it is fair to say that a Jamaican
accent, or what is known as Patois, is one characteristic of original Reggae.
This alone, however, is not enough to identify a given example as Reggae.
2) Lyrical Content - This is a broader
characteristic in that so many topics have become acceptable, as Reggae has
matured. Roots topics such as
the religious philosophies of Rastafarianism, Garveyism and the need for Social
Reform have always been prevalent. Rudie
topics, and the concern of lovers have also been prominent topics in Reggae,
as well as songs about dancing and topics concerning the goings on at dancehalls.
Toasters have the reputation of bragging about themselves and putting down
the opposition, a characteristic that has also influenced rap and Hip Hop.
3) Meter - All Reggae styles and genres
are always found in the meter known as 4/4 time. This is probably the one most essential
defining musical characteristic of the style. Although many other styles other than Reggae utilize 4/4 time,
a 3/4 time, or 6/8 time song simply could not be considered Reggae, even if
that song had all of the other characteristics of Reggae.
On the Albums, "Fire On The Mountain, Reggae Celebrates the Grateful
Dead,"
[9]
and "Deadicated, A Tribute to The Grateful Dead"
[10]
two Dead songs which are originally in 7/4 time are covered
by Reggae artists. "Uncle
John's Band," is covered by Joe Higgs on the former album, and "Estimated
Prophets" is covered by Burning Spear on the latter release.
In each case, in order to make these songs into Reggae versions, the
artists had to force the song into 4/4 time. In both cases the transformation is successful in that the
songs are now clearly in the Reggae style.
4) Instrumentation - Most Reggae has
the same basic instrumentation as many Rock, R&B or Blues bands in the
U.S.: Drums, Electric Bass, Electric Guitars, and Keyboards, are almost always
present and form the rhythmic structure of the Reggae music. A variety of additional instruments have
come to be considered acceptable Reggae instruments. Some of them include: horn sections consisting
of any or all of the following, trumpet, trombone, and sax, (an element perhaps
left over from the Ska era and having influences from American R&B, Soul
and Jazz), and other solo instruments such as melodica, (Augustus Pablo),
and less often, flute, sax and others.
There are a variety of percussion instruments that can be acceptably
used in Reggae such as the traditional Nyabingi drums, like the repeater drum,
as well as traditional Afro Cuban drums, like congas and bongos. Many of the popular Latin and African hand percussion instruments
like wood blocks, scrapers, claves, quiccas, shekeres, djembes and others,
are often heard playing a lesser role in the rhythmic structure but are used
to spice up a song.
5) Tempo - Reggae music is usually
considered on the slower side of generally popular music, often falling between
the range of 80 and 120 BPMs, (beats per minute), with some exceptions.
6) Dance-ability - Although this characteristic
may be extremely subjective, I would have to say that it is still an essential
defining quality. Dancing to
Reggae is inseparably interwoven into its history. Reggae has always been first and foremost,
music that was tested on the dance floor before being released for listening
and radio airplay. The Jamaican
phenomenon of street dances and sound systems were used to test out new releases
to a live, and ready to dance audience. The irresistible beat of Reggae is one of the qualities that
have contributed to its continued success and longevity. This quality has mostly been achieved
by a combination of the dominant rhythmic structure of the music and by the
emphasis of drums and bass in the mix.
7) Rhythm - This characteristic is
perhaps the most important and is inexorably linked with three of the previous
characteristics: dance-ability, instrumentation and meter. Reggae is a music that tends to use what
I call the "Less is More" philosophy of rhythmic and instrumental
structure. This is in opposition
to what has been referred to as the "Wall of Sound" philosophy that
has become so familiar to American music.
In the "Wall of Sound" philosophy, as first labeled for the
production techniques of Phil Specter in the 1960s, every moment of music
is being filled with layers of sound and harmony, often by studio overdubs
of multitudes of instruments. In
Rock music, such as the music of bands like "The Who," the drums,
bass and guitar are attempting to overwhelm the listener with an a virtual
avalanche of notes and the sheer power of the layered effect.
An attempt is made to fill up every available beat with extra layers
on the strong beats. In Rock, the second and fourth beats, usually where the
snare drum is heard, are emphasized and are given extra amounts of sound and
power.
In Reggae, as in many African influenced forms of music, the attempt
is made to do what musicians might call "listen and fill holes." This technique is a different method of creating a large sound
by intermeshing the instruments into the various beats so that fewer of the
instruments can be heard on any give beat. Syncopation, another technique that musicians use to emphasize
beats that are normally the weak beat in a rhythm pattern, is often employed.
To a Reggae musician, it is as important, (or more), to know where
not to play as it is
to know where and when to play.
For example, in the style known as One Drop, the drums will kick and snare on the third beat,
and the guitar will chop on the two and four, leaving the first beat open, (thus
the name). This has the effect
on the listener of experiencing a pulsing of the beat, where different instruments
are coming in and out of attention creating the space for various poly rhythms
to be heard as they overlap, a distinctly African quality.
8) Dynamics - Dynamics, or the change
in volume of a piece of music, is essentially linked to the emotional force
that a piece of music has on the listener. In Reggae music, there is generally a more even, consistent,
and softer dynamic than Rock throughout the song, but there are often dynamic
changes within a song to aid and support in the emotional allure of the lyrics.
This is especially true of "Dub" style where the remixes
are often achieved by pulling out certain instruments and having them come
in again momentarily before once again receding to the background.
The Chosen Styles and their Similarities
and Differences
Taking into consideration
what has been stated about musical styles, and the difficulty in defining
them precisely, the categories of characteristics that have previously indicated
will be used as a guide to describe each of the three chosen genres of Reggae.
The intention will be to clarify their unique qualities and help to
differentiate them. Since all of the styles being examined
are considered some form of Reggae, they would necessarily need to have some,
or most of the above characteristics that have been assigned to all Reggae
music. The focus will mostly
be on the nuances that make each of them unique.
Nyabingi Reggae
Leonard Barrett says
that "Anyone who listens to Rastafarian music, be it the ritual Nyabingi
or the popular Reggae will detect in the lower beats, deep structural dissonance
which mirrors the social conflicts within the society."
[11]
Nyabingi, which is a ritual that includes drumming and
chanting, came from Africa and had an influence on the development of Reggae
music. As Barrett accurately describes, the lower
beat itself has rhetorical implications. In addition, since the beat is associated with Africa and with
the Rastafarian ritual, its use in a commercially released Reggae song would
naturally suggest both the dissatisfaction with current conditions and the
suggestion of repatriation as a solution.
In "The Rough Guide to Reggae," the authors describe Nyabingi
like this, "The drumming style originally included the use of a large
bass drum, beaten with a padded stick, and smaller "funde" and "repeater"
hand drums. Nyabingi drumming formed the basis of
the musical form for "Count Ossie's Mystic Revelation of Rastafari"
and "Ras Michael and the sons of Megus," but every now and then
appears on a commercial Reggae record.
[12]
The beat of Nyabingi is sometimes described as a heartbeat. In original Nyabingi drumming, the bass
drum defines the "" familiar to all of us, while the smaller hand
drums fill in the holes or spaces created in between each group of two bass strokes with
specific rhythmic answers. This style of drumming is in agreement with
the rhythmic quality of sparseness and filling holes I described earlier as
being typical of all Reggae. Chanting,
in Patois, such as the famous Rastaman chant, "Fly Away Home," is
usually used to accompany the drumming. Other instruments were rarely added in original Nyabingi.
After Reggae music started to gain popularity, Nyabingi was sometimes
adapted to the instrumentation of the more typical reggae styles. A good example of this combination of Reggae and Nyabingi is
Bob Marley's "Babylon System."
[13]
The website, bobmarley.com had this to say about the song:
Marley illustrates his view of
the system in a casual voice. The
wine press serves as a visual metaphor of Babylon. A reminder for current and future generations that without
equal opportunity in society, it is "sucking the blood of the sufferer,"
making it easier to lose hope for unity, peace, and freedom.
"Got to rebel."
Babylon System
(Lyrics by Bob Marley)
We refuse to be
What you wanted us to be
We are what we are
That's the way it's going
to be, if you don't know
You can't educate I
For no equal opportunity
Talking about my freedom
People freedom and liberty
Chorus
Yeah, we've been trodding
on
The winepress much too long
Rebel, Rebel
We've been trodding on the
Winepress much too long,
Rebel
Babylon System is the Vampire
Sucking the children day
by day
Me say the Babylon System
is the Vampire
Sucking the blood of the
sufferers
Building church and university
Deceiving the people continually
Me say them graduating thieves
and murderers
Look out now
Sucking the blood of the
sufferers
Tell the children the truth
Tell the children the truth
Tell the children the truth
right now
Come on and tell the children
the truth
(repeat)
chorus
We've been taken for granted
Much too long, Rebel
(repeat)
From the very day we left
the shores
Of our father's land
We've been trampled on,
oh now
Now we know everything we
got to rebel
Somebody got to pay for
the work
We've done, Rebel
As is evident from
these lyrics, a particularly Rastafarian viewpoint is being expressed which
coincides very well with the rhetorical connotations inherent in the Nyabingi
musical style. The themes of
dissatisfaction with the current conditions and the suggestion of repatriation
as a solution are evident.
Musically, some of the traditional Nyabingi drums are present on the
album recording, although they have taken a back seat to the more modern,
standard Reggae instrumentation of bass, guitars and keyboards.
In traditional Nyabingi
the bass drum plays the heartbeat on the first two eighth notes of the
one beat of the 4/4 time, (or the one and), as well as on the
first two eighth notes of the third beat, (three and), leaving the
second, and fourth beats available for the improvisational answers of the
hand drums. In the example of
Marley's song, these beats can also be heard.
In Nyabingi Reggae,
there can be traditional Nyabingi drums without the drum kit of modern reggae,
(known as the trap set), or a trap set can be included. In the album version of "Babylon
System" there is no trap, but on some live versions, and on the traditional
Nyabingi song "Fly Away Home," as performed by Marley and the Wailers,
the trap player is heard playing the kick drum on the first two eighth notes
to support the bass drum heartbeat, and clicking the snare, (using a technique known to drummers
as side-stick), on the second and fourth beats, thereby helping to support
the Nyabingi rhythm while maintaining a definite Reggaeish feel.
The bass guitar in the studio recording is also supporting the downbeat
of the heartbeat, (alternating between hitting just the first eighth note
and hitting both), but then continues the pattern with a more Roots Reggae-like
line, leaving some space to be filled by other instruments.
The rhythm guitar has chosen one of the few empty beats left, the eighth
note on the and following beat four, or the up beat just before the down
beat of the one. The keyboard
has chosen a very reggae-like role of chopping on the second and fourth beats. A picture of the notation would look something
like this:
Nyabingi Notation Example
As is evident in this except, instruments play on the same beats less often
than Rock Music or other forms of modern western music.
One Drop
One Drop is a style
of Roots Reggae that dominated the music of most of the Reggae Artists in
the 70s, (especially early to mid 70s), including many of the most familiar
Bob Marley songs like, "Three Little Birds" and "One Drop". It was subsequently very often versioned,
dubbed, and toasted to, thereby merging or helping to create new crossover styles. As previously mentioned, the name refers to
dropping out the first beat of a measure and not emphasizing it. In most other
forms of music, the downbeat, or first beat of a measure, is the strong beat,
which is followed by three weaker beats.
This method of de-emphasizing a traditionally strong beat, (a subcategory
of a musical technique known as syncopation), is loaded with rhetorical connotations.
If the traditional beat has lost its power, than a symbolic statement
is being made that the down-pressers are not as important as the massive, or the average people.
The lyrics were most often Roots and Culture topics, but occasionally
might be on other subjects such as lover's interests, rude boy exploits, and
dancehall lingo.
One musical dead give away signaling the One Drop style is that the
drummer always uses the side-stick snare method, (mentioned in the Nyabingi
section), on the third beat of the measure with the additional emphasis of
the kick on the same beat. In
this method, the drummer places the fat end of the drumstick on the snare
head and slaps the side of the upper portion of the stick against the metal
rim of the snare drum. The effect is that of a metallic, clicking
sound that when combined with the kick drum, creates a huge span of pitch
frequency from high to low, coming down simultaneously on the third beat.
The side stick is also used in combination with the Hi-Hat cymbals
to create complex improvised rhythmic patterns within the other available
beats.
The use of the Hi-Hat cymbals is very important, and makes up some
of the most intricate and difficult patterns that the One Drop drummer uses. Typically there is a 6/8 feel to the Hat,
with occasional sixteenth notes and triplet fills. The toms and timbales are also used for
fills and are often hit as rim shots for extra accents
in the music. A rim shot is another
sticking technique involving slapping the tip of the stick against the skin
of the drum at an angle that allows the side of the stick to strike the metal
rim of the outside of the drum, at the same time. The resulting effect is that of a loud
pop, or sometimes a series of gun like rat-a-tats.
The bass guitar, which is always equalized to favor very low frequencies,
will often start on the first beat, but then leave it out every other measure,
as exemplified in the notation for "Three Little Birds." The bass usually has a specific, repetitive bass line that
leaves holes in the pattern for other musicians to fill. As a result, a listener
who is unfamiliar with the style could easily get confused as to where the
measures begin.
The rhythm guitar player usually plays a double, down-up, eighth note
chop either on the two-and, and the four-and beats with the accent on the upstrokes, or
just single strokes on the two and four alone. Bob himself would often take this role with the Wailers.
Another guitar technique that is also an important rhythmic element
to help identify One Drop is the percussive strum.
This unique sound of the rhythm guitar is accomplished by slightly
lifting the fingerboard hand from the strings, thereby emphasizing the percussive
aspect of the instrument. Sometimes
a guiro with reverb is substituted for the guitar in the same position in
the measure, having an almost identical effect. A guiro is a Latin Percussion
instrument, made of wood, usually shaped like a fish with ribs or ridges along
its back, and is played with a metal forklike object which is scraped along
the ridges, creating an effect much like a guitar pick scraping across the
strings.
There is often a second guitar player who doubles up on the bass line
notes, while muting the strings with the heel of his or her picking hand. This method, sometimes referred to as
the perc, helps to more clearly define the upper pitches of the bass line,
while adding a percussive effect to it that sharpens the definition of where
each bass note begins and ends.
The second guitar player could also play more traditionally rock type
of improvised leads, sometimes with distortion and other effects. This position in the band would have previously been taken
up by written out horn lines in Ska and Rock Steady, but was absorbed from
the influences of American and British Rock musicians and producers such as
the production techniques of Chris Blackwell.
In the Wailers, Junior Marvin took up this role with exceptional poise.
The keyboards are also very important in One Drop style. They most often take the place of what used to be horn lines,
as in the song "Three Little Birds," where they are heard answering
Bob's lyrics, "Don't' Worry," with a little melody of its own. They are also often used to support the
second and fourth beats that the rhythm guitar is emphasizing, either with
a piano sound or a perc-organ tone.
One Drop Notation Example
The similarity to the Nyabingi style is evident in this example.
Rockers
The style known as
Rockers began in the mid 1970s created mostly by the then Studio One, house
band called "The Revolutionaries."
[14]
What became known as the Rockers Rhythms were essentially
modernized versions of Rock Steady classics from Studio One from the previous
decade. Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, the
bass player and drummer, went on to perfect the Rockers as a more militant
style than the popular One Drop. Soon others were copying this harder, more
militant and more mechanical sonding rhythmic style. The dynamic duo of Sly and Robbie continued to build their
fame by backing artists like Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru with their aggressive
rhythmic style. They eventually
formed their own record label known as Taxi Productions.
[15]
The Rockers style was accompanied by a variety of lyrical subject matter,
but tended to be more militant and direct than most One Drop lyrics, to go
along with the harder feel. The
team also had quite a few commercial hits including the Mick Jagger/ Peter
Tosh hit, "Walk and Don't Look Back."
The hard style also lent itself very well to dub versions, and riddims
that were eventually to become classic Dancehall riddims for DJs and toasters
to rap over, thereby helping to further evolve those styles.
The drums are played harder in Rockers with a full regular snare drum
clap instead of a side stick. The
snare was often played with the drumstick upside down, with the fat side of
the stick hitting the skin of the drum with a full smack on the third beat. The availability of microphones on each
drum gave the live sound engineer the freedom to add a variety of effects
to the snare drum, effectively dubbing a band live. The kick drum is most often covering both the first and the
third beats and sometimes, for an even more militant effect, on all four,
quarter note beats. The Hi-Hat
is more often played as straight eighth notes or even sixteenths, but sometimes
with a 6/8 feel.
In Rockers, the drums work directly with the bass creating a unique
riddim that drives the song forward with insistence on every beat and usually
at a faster tempo than most One Drop songs.
The bass player still usually covers the first and second beats with
steady quarter and eighth notes and usually leaves some beats open, which
fits in with the characteristic of open space rhythm that works for all types
of Reggae.
The rhythm guitar player, like in One Drop style, is chopping on the
second and fourth beats, sometimes with a double stroke but more often with
a single stroke. The lead guitarist often has the freedom
to riff improvisationally around the empty spaces. The result of all the insistent rhythms
is that Rockers are driving dance beats, which also contributed to their success.
The keyboard plays an important role in Rockers as well. It can sometimes skank or chop on the second and fourth beats
along with the rhythm guitar. A
piano voice is usually used here. Other times it can be used with a synth sound instead of horns,
(saves money). It can even play
bass lines, especially in dancehall.
Another unique rhythm that is strictly for keyboards is referred to
as The Bubble. The Bubble seems to say "The Bubble,"
(or a-bubble). Usually the keyboardist
will be playing the bubble in such a way as to appear to be hitting the keys
like you would a hand drum, with a left-right-left staccato motion.
The strongest beat is the middle one, or the high, triad chord which
lands on the second and fourth beats like the guitar.
It can be counted, and-two-and, and-four-and. This rhythm acts like another layer, taking its position, slightly
apart from the other instrument roles.
If the One Drop, with the usual strong first beat left out, suggests
that the Babylon system has no real power, than Rockers seems to suggest that
the oppressed people themselves are beginning to have equal power to the oppressors,
by having more of the beats almost equal to each other. Giving each beat equality and strength
represents the newly found confidence in Jamaican independence and the worldwide
growing acceptance and respect for Reggae and The Rastafarian culture.
Peter Tosh's Bush Doctor is a good example
of the militant Rockers style. Demanding
that Marijuana be legalized in Jamaica and claiming himself as the Bush Doctor,
you can hear the confidence and pride that goes well with the Rockers style.
You can also hear the use of some electronic sounds on the keyboards,
which fit in well with Sly and Robbie's style, which was often perceived as
almost mechanical sounding. They
later began to incorporate electronic drums, which led the way towards Ragga
and other electronic Dub styles.
Rockers Notation Sample
Evident in this example is a movement towards regimentation and more
notes than the previous two while maintaining the necessary requirements for
the Reggae definition.
Reggae music, and the wide variety of sub-styles and genres that fall under the Reggae umbrella, is indeed a multifaceted form of music and self-expression. The Jamaican culture that gave birth to Reggae has played an important role in allowing the development of the tremendous variety of sub-styles in this hot bed of musical creativity. The cultural atmosphere of the island has always been supportive of the ever changing, yet always prolific, sheer output of musical expression. The examining of the three sub-styles of Nyabingi Reggae, One Drop, and Rockers, can only scratch the surface of the intricacies and musical nuances in all of the sub-styles of Reggae coming from Jamaica, let alone the rest of the world. In attempting to define and describe these three styles, this essay has tried to put under a microscope, just some of the intricacies out of the vast array of details that make Reggae music what it is.
Likewise, in attempting
to suggest some of the rhetorical meaning behind the three genres, this report
has merely scratched the surface of possibilities. Indeed, each genre, artist, song, or even
individual musician in a group, might be intending some particular message,
aimed at some particular goal that is either hidden or unique to the individual
artist. What has been accomplished
is to reveal some general connotations that are inherent in these styles,
which may serve to further suggest the infinite possibilities, which may arise
on a case-by-case analysis.
Finally, in illuminating some of the details of the technical musical interplay of instruments in each of these styles, the essay has suggested that a listener might try to listen more deeply to a variety of genres with a more discerning ear. Like a philosopher, we can all benefit from experiencing the world from many viewpoints, and to hear something not with just one, but with many pairs of ears.