SYSTEM EXPERIMENT
Jun 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Lily Moayeri
The legend of Western Britain — based music collectives (aka “sound systems”) has reached mythical proportions. The most notable is the Wild Bunch, which spawned Massive Attack; however, it is Three Stripe Sound System that gave birth to Bristol's Smith & Mighty. Joining together 15 years ago, the trio — Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and Peter D. Rose — have carried the sound-system aesthetic throughout all of their work.
By sound system, Smith & Mighty don't mean speakers, subwoofers, mixers and the like. “It's more the style of how we handle our setup,” says Rose. “We have MCs, play rhythms; we like to have a lot of bass and effects going over the top of what we do. In that way, it's a sound-system-styled performance.”
“The live feel that sound systems have — the MCs and singers do a lot of interacting with each other and the crowd — which makes it spontaneous,” says Smith. “They'll vibe off each other, which is the total wicked ingredient you used to get from the old sound system.”
Having experimented with full live interpretations of their material in the early days, Smith & Mighty's current focus is representing the studio style of production from their latest album, Life Is … (K7, 2002). Using live mixing desks, as well as the staple MCs, singers, decks and effects they've always used, the group combines electronic and live elements onstage.
The full Smith & Mighty experience can also be had with their DJ sets. Ranging from dub to breakbeat to drum 'n' bass (from their own More Rockers label), the sets take audiences on a wide-reaching journey. Even in their DJ sets, Smith & Mighty take a sound-system approach, using a synth through a 4-channel DJ mixer with the three other channels devoted to decks.
Life Is … carries the Smith & Mighty sound further, incorporating a multitude of styles, including UK garage, drum 'n' bass and soul, all with a dub base. Almost every track features a different vocalist, among them: Tammy Payne, Nigi 40, Rudy Lee, MC Kelz and Hazel. The three members each have their own studio setups, working individually on tunes and then passing material around for input from the other two members. All three work together during the mixing stage.
Rose works on an Atari (soon to be updated to an Apple Mac G4), an Akai S3000XL sampler, Alesis compressors and effects units, a Novation bass drum station, Alesis SR-16 and Yamaha RX-7 drum machines, a Roland SH-101 sound module and a 24-track Soundcraft desk. Smith works on a PC using Sonic Foundry Acid, Steinberg Cubase and Propellerhead Reason. The majority of his tools are virtual, but he mixes through a Studiomaster board. Mighty's studio is a combination of computer equipment and hardware, and the heart of it is a Yamaha digital desk with total recall.
Technological progress hasn't had much of an effect on Smith & Mighty's production process. “I'm running five tunes at the same time,” Smith says. “I can chop, change, go back and work on them as I'm going along; that's the main change.” Rose concurs: “The basis of my setup is still the same. The change for me was, I could be the brains of the sound sources. One of the main reasons I want to change to computer-based is to make working more efficient. If I've got an idea, I've got to leave it till the track I'm working on is finished to the last mix. I don't solely want to work in a digital domain; I want to complement the two, to maximize with analog alongside the digital.”
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
