Tag Archives: the Night Times

The Valve Sound System and Hospitality at Custard Factory.

Andy C, High Contrast, Dillinja, London Elektricity, Nu:Tone, Cyantific, Lemon D, Mistabishi, Survival and Bryan G

Even though I had this night on my calendar for quite a while, it was 7pm before my press pass was confirmed, but Ric from the Night Times came though as always. At 10pm Chris and I and headed down to the Custard Factory in Digbeth. After experiencing the cultural wonder that is the number 50 bus on a Friday night, we reached the venue. Why do camera cases always puzzle doormen so much? It’s very rare that i get excited about going to see DJs play. However Hospital Records have been putting out some stuff recently that has made me sit up and take notice, mainly through hearing Chris pumping out the Hospital Podcasts from below my bedroom floor. For anyone who has not heard the London Elektricity track “All Hell is Breaking Loose” (you have to check the music video – posted at the bottom of the page) it’s one of the main reasons I was going to this event. The other main focus was the mighty Valve Sound System. Every time i hear this thing go i am gobsmacked that this is legal. Its LOUD, and EXTREMELY NAUGHTY, and takes the phrase ‘feel the music’ to a whole new level. How can something so heavy be invisible? Loudness is not its special feature (though at 96,000 watts it’s not to be sniffed at), but rather the frequencies it pushes out. It retains the title of the Only drum & bass sound system in the world.  I am not normally a massive fan of D & B, but when stood in front of the Valve, it’s stunning.

Links:

The Night Times

Custard Factory

Valve

Hospital Records

My Full Gallery Link

Some interesting stuff on the Valve system from Wiki,

The Valve Sound System is a touring sound reinforcement system specifically designed for the playback of drum and bass music. Created by UK artists, Dillinja and Lemon D, the system has a total power output of 96kW. The system consists of 52 subwoofers (designed and built for the valve system) as well as Mid-High cabs made by Funktion One. The full system is not used in smaller venues. It was designed exclusively for drum and bass acoustics and as such is the first of its kind.

The inspiration for the system came from the reggae sound systems which were popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Growing up in the 80s, Dillinja was turned on by the reggae sound through the systems of such artists as King Tubby of Jamaica and Jah Shaka of the UK. Later, as a DJ, producer, and label boss, he came to be frustrated at the lack of quality at many of the club sound systems when DJing around the UK and abroad, particularly with respect to the deep bass sounds often present in drum and bass. Today, Dillinja refuses to play even ‘standard’ club systems believing them to be inadequate to fully reproduce the bass frequencies to his levels.

The whole system has to be carried around in three 7.5 tonne lorries and is generally arrayed as 6 speaker stacks, each around 18 feet wide and 9 feet high.

Notable appearances

The Valve Sound System, which debuted at London nightclub Fabric in 2001, has toured the UK extensively, completing a six-month residency at Brixton’s Mass in 2003^{[citation needed]}. Given that the venue (the former St. Matthew’s Church) was not designed specifically as a nightclub, a crew of no less than fifteen^{[citation needed]} was needed just to get it in and out of the building, those carrying equipment having to negotiate four flights of winding stairs.

Around this time the Guinness Book of Records showed an interest in the system and wanted to test it for the “Loudest Sound System in the World” category; this sparked additional public interest, even though, when asked about the Guinness Book of Records, Lemon D indicated his opinion that “it’s not about being the loudest, it’s about being the best.”^{[citation needed]}

Dillinja and Lemon D were invited to bring the system onto Channel 4′s popular “The Big Breakfast” show, but when they discovered they would have to haul the sound system into the show’s garden at 4am, with inadequate protection from the weather, they politely declined.

The Valve Sound System provided 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. Nevertheless, the tent was still the most popular at the festival^.