seshaudio

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A little kitchen session with the speaker. YouTube Preamp extension to control the frequency bands/delay/dub siren. To be honest the speaker actually sounds best with dub played through the youtube pre - some other styles of music just don't suit it at all. Convenient!!

#sound system #reggae #dub #preamp #amplifier #jah shaka #Steppas #UK dub #UK Steppas #omnidirectional #omnidirectional speakers #Experimental audio #DIY audio #DIY speakers #MBL Radialstrahlers #Duevel #Hifi #Stereo #Audio engineering #acoustics #Totem Pole #Speaker Design #DIY Speaker #MBL Xtreme #MBL 101 #MBL #Channel one Sound System #Jah Shaka Sound System #Aba Shanti #Aba Shanti Sound System

[seshaudio]

Omnidirectional build Mk0

I got hold of a cheap little driver in London for £15. It's rated for 200W peak power, 40Hz-10kHz (so sadly not much high frequency once the lamellae are attached!) I removed the rubber sleever and the dust-cap

Next I used some grocery-store plastic sheeting (what they put up promotion signs/prices with) that can be moulded using hot water. I used a metal grille bent into a curve to make curves out of the plastic, then cut them into roughly the right shape. I made the paper shape guide by just rotation a ruler held at one end - this was totally eyeballed and could've been done much better, more precisely etc.

Then I attached some sticky-backed weather stripping to each of the lamellae (aka petals), and used double-sided tape to stick them onto the speaker cone. I used a log with a notch cut into it, attached through the speaker magnet's central hole with a long screw, to hold the tops of the lamellae.

Then with a bit of wiggling and more double-sidede tape I attached all the lamellae together at the top. I used some washing up gloves cut into strips as (very makeshift) gaskets to mostly seal the gaps between the lamellae. Again, I used double sided tape to do this. To be honest that was the most fiddly part. Washing up gloves cut with scissors are not an ideal Radialstrahler gasket material!

And there it is! It doesn't sound terrible on its own, but as the driver is only rated up to 10kHz (and who knows what impact the radialstrahler build has on the theoretical frequency response!) I had to wire it in to an old bookshelf speaker's tweeter to get a bit more high-end.

I'll make another post with a few more videos of it playing, along with some discussion of what I've learned so far to take forward to the next prototype!

#sound system #reggae #dub #preamp #amplifier #jah shaka #Steppas #UK dub #UK Steppas #omnidirectional #omnidirectional speakers #Experimental audio #DIY audio #DIY speakers #MBL Radialstrahlers #Duevel #Hifi #Stereo #Audio engineering #acoustics #Totem Pole #Speaker Design #DIY Speaker #MBL Xtreme #MBL 101 #MBL #Channel one Sound System #Jah Shaka Sound System #Aba Shanti #Aba Shanti Sound System

[seshaudio]

Reviving this tumblr page 10 years down the line, to post some updates on my upcoming Omnidirectional speaker project

In brief: I want to design and build a set of speakers that play high-fidelity, omnidirectional sound, for the primary purpose of running UK/Jah Shaka style dub and reggae sessions.

I'm currently most set on Awassa Sound System, but really like the relevance and cheekiness of Omniscience Sound/Hifi. I think Awassa has a better ring to it, and an air of mystique, even.

Here's a breakdown of the plan so far:

As for order of operations: Step 1:

Make a cheap and cheerful prototype of the MBL drivers. I just want to cut my teeth on the hardest part, to start building familiarity with the materials, principles, and manufacturing processes that will be involved in the build of the larger, final version.

If my friend who's into CAD and CNCing is willing, have him whip up some test lenses.

Use recycled drivers from old, cheap speakers as much as I can to keep initial exploratory costs down.

Find an active cossover unit that I can use to test different crossover frequencies with the different driver designs

Step 1 will be considered finished when I either have a working, not-awful-sounding radialstrahler, or have decided to abandon that aspect and am comfortable focusing on other methods for making omnidirectional sound.

Step 2:

Work on the other parts of the tower, namely the horn-loaded lens tweeter, the mid-bass lens, and the lower cabinet (lots of flexibility for internal design with the cabinet).

The cabinet (and maybe the horn lenses) will require learning to use a speaker simulation software

The bass scoops can come later, as there's not a lot of point building small/low-power scoops

As soon as I have a sense of what the appropriate crossover frequencies will be, order a custom dub preamp such as the RasFX Mini Pre

Get a set of relatively affordable power amps to drive the whole thing. 4 channels for a single tower to start with

Step 2 will be considered complete when I can gift (for cost of materials) a MK1 pair of these speakers to a friend of mine who's into sound system too - and of course build a set for myself!

Step 3:

Assuming everything goes smoothly in Step 2, work on scaling everything up. Size, power levels, etc. The rough goal is to be able to power a party with around 100-200 people. Maybe more, eventually

Try to figure out a way to be able to retain the functionality of a dub preamp for playing reggae, but also run the system in stereo for when I want to play

Build a set of scoop style subwoofers. The more, the bigger, the better!

Step 3, and thus the main body of the project will be considered complete when I have a fully functional, high-power sound system able to at least impress, though maybe not directly 'compete with', the current generation of younger sound systems like Indica Dubs, Ital Power, Creation Rebel, King Majesty, Sinai, and other such outfits.

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Step 4:

If everything up until this point has gone very well, and I feel confident with the various technologies, try to develop the designs to a point where it can stand as a single 'totem pole' style tower that can play to a decently-sized crowd of people.

I picture taking something like that to e.g. Boomtown Festival, and decorating it in all sorts of wacky space-age or mystical art. I think the fung shui of a single, central sound source would be really unique in a festival setting.

The big barrier is that omnis, when places inside, rely on walls and surfaces to create the feeling of 'omnipresence'. Outside, I'm not sure that'd work at all, let alone

Step 4 being complete would inherently require my sound to be powerful enough, high-enough-fidelity, and well-known enough to be included when people talk about "well-established" sound systems. The totem pole thing is a bit of a gimmick, let's be honest.

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Imaginary step 5: If my work on this project can inspire more people to think outside the proverbial speakerbox when it comes to building reggae sound systems, I'd be a happy camper!

#sound system #reggae #dub #preamp #amplifier #jah shaka #Steppas #UK dub #UK Steppas #omnidirectional #omnidirectional speakers #Experimental audio #DIY audio #DIY speakers #MBL Radialstrahlers #Duevel #Hifi #Stereo #Audio engineering #acoustics #Totem Pole #Speaker Design #DIY Speaker #MBL Xtreme #MBL 101 #MBL #Channel one Sound System #Jah Shaka Sound System #Aba Shanti #Aba Shanti Sound System

[seshaudio]

Some new slows to get you nice n outta the mood to party

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Finally made a recording on my controller, using a Mix Pro II and Serato instead of just my laptop lol

some nice sunday afternoon beats xxxx

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First heard in the Melt Yourself Down - Sticks and Stones mixtape

I so so so dig that synth that comes in around 2:20

also this video is inCREDIBLE

I’ve been looking for this song for nearly a year now

fuck yeah

#atoms for peace #before your very eyes

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My homie felix did a thing with some sample and a Nas track..

So I did a thing with the Nas track and the thing he did

Here is that thing

#Slowed By Joe #DJ SCREW #chopped n screwed #chopped and screwed #instrumental hip hop #RIP SCREW #Nas #One Time 4 Your Mind #sbj #pedlar

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floating points - king bromeliad

the legitimacy of this record goes deep

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the second half of a super bakey late night chop session. didn’t record the first couple tracks, but that’s life

wassup wassup im back up in it with some fresh slows!

have a listen xxxx

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im 19 now.

happy screwing xx

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floating points - king bromeliad

the legitimacy of this record goes deep

#Foating Points #king bromeliad #sunny day #house #funk #drums

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RIP SCREW

i did a thing when rap music is slower than normal

yes

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listen to this screwface generator, a true jungle beast by my homie felix

#jungle #breaks #felix parry #murder sound #screwface

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This is going to be unbelievable, that’s a truly prolific 4 acts to have in the same place, in one night

hoping Nanci & Phoebe will wana kick it again, they got us into a show with congo a couple weeks ago in colchester, it was beautiful

but THIS, fucking THIS

#congo natty #mungos hi fi #mala #dillinja

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this is an apex break track.

can't believe the flow that comes out of such syncopated rhythms

L Double & Younghead - New Style

#L double #Younghead #New Style #Jungle #breaks #drums #dnb

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Bin There Drummed That

the drumming group I used to be a part of. unfortunately we were all too young to play glastonbury so they got together a band from the sixth form at the time (still pisses me off they took all our songs and glory)

I think this is the only surviving recording of us/them playing. a real shame, thems were some sweeeet rhythms 

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this whole tape is gold

yasiin never, ever fails to deliver. beautiful use of beautiful samples

it's a fine-crafted ode to 90's hiphop that's seldom done so accurately, one that neither finds itself departing too much nor getting stuck in a rut

#Yasiin Bey #Yasiin Gaye #The Depature #hiphop #samples #Marvin Gaye #motown