Rocksteady

[congoman]

Can you tell me what is the difference between Reggae and Rockstead, to me they sound very similar even the same

[capp]

Usually a slower rhytm and and more vocal harmonies.

It´s not a huge difference,though. You can say that rocksteady is form of reggae, a sub-genre.

[congoman]

thank you capp,

one love

[jahsteppa]

One of the main distinguishing features of early reggae ('68 - '70) that differs from rocksteady was the use of organ as a percussive addition to the overall reggae sound. So you would have a "chugging" type of sound coming from the organ driving the beat along. If I'm not making myself clear then worth listening to tunes like "Bangarang", "Everybody Needs Love", and stuff from that era....

[hot milk]

right, the organ shuffle is a big part of it. also, the Studio One band Sound Dimension used a piece of equipment on the guitar that made the rhythm down stroke echo back, essentially, creating a double "chick" sound. the rocksteady sound only had the downstroke, while reggae (typically) has more of a "chick eh" sound.

[AnorakTrev]

@ capp

Rocksteady came first , early reggae grew from it

[jahsteppa]

Milk, yeah i agree, the "chick eh" sound (I like to call it the "Check It" sound!) as perfected by Peter Tosh is another feature that distinguishes reggae from rocksteady.
We have to also take into account the drum beats proliferated by the early reggae drummers. Where the rocksteady typically employed a one-drop system, early reggae drum patterns were far more varied and creative.

Take for instance Lloyd Robisons "Cuss Cuss" - now you can definitely tell that is not a rocksteady. I would say that beat is something like a "proto-steppers" if u get my drift.
Or John Holt's "Love I Can Feel" from Studio 1, almost a steppers beat.
Then again, when reggae dominated the JA scene, rocksteady never really went away, its always there in the music. Even if not at the forefront, it rears its head regularly even up until now, so when people write that rocksteady died a quick death, i would say that is a myth...........

[Rocker Johnny]

For me rocksteady is usually
bum wa bum wa bum wa bum wa (wa = skank)
often very focused on this rhythm/sound. the skank has a lot of room in the songs.

wheres reggae is more of
shika bum shika, shika bum shika
reggae flows more, skank often not as focused as rocksteady often more "highpitched". more complex rhythm patterns be it drums, congas or other percs (or organ)

But sometimes the two go very close to each other.

[Balughetto]

Rocksteady has a lot of brass instruments, generally all throughout the songs. really, much more brass than in reggae (less than in the ska era indeed but still prominent).

Often, rocksteady will have all the instruments play all throughout the track (each instrument plays on every bar), where as reggae gives more "room" for each instrument (sometimes the skank is there, sometimes the organ is there, congos and brass here and there... but they dont have to be played all the time).

For me it gives an impression of a more "flying" soung, it feels it has more space in it, creates this specific atmosphere. (thats even more true about dub, and dub originated from early reggae)

I believe reggae tempo is slightly higher than rocksteady one. (capp says otherwise). edit: i just checked my barrow & dalton bible. Here is what i read:
"Yet, it's too simple to say that reggae was all about quick tempo, for alongside the faster rythm most associated with early reggae were a few records that were slower paced than rocksteady. In fact, jamaican music now took on a greater diversity than it had ever displayed before". So... i believe the tempo argument is inconclusive.

I remember reading a long time ago, that the 'dissapearance' of brass gave prominence to singers and voice (as replacement of said brass)
Dont get me wrong, rocksteady has singers (and awesome ones!), its just that the vocals feel less important because they are drown into the mass of instruments.
This would permit the rise of vocal trios, harmony groups and chorus, that are characteristic of the 70's (--> also participating in this flying feeling).

As mentionned, the "tshak" sound of the rythm guitar, with the echo, is a big difference. May be also, generalization of the elctric bass, and the drum and bass couple which is now even more 'core' to the song. (even if first electric bass was i believe byron lee's fender, brought in in 57 or so.)

Anyway, just my two cents, i dont guarantee 100% accurate tho as i am not a musician. Counter examples can be found but i believe that is correct regarding the global evolution.

ps: i see we have trouble refering to the guitar echoed sound, chick eh, check it, shika, tshak...
Is there a designed word to refer to this?
Also, this began with coxsone's sound dimension echo chamber, but as not everyone could have access to the facility, and not all producers had echo chambers (yet), musicians learnt to 'manually' imitate this (i mean as a playing technique)?
Who were those musicians? can someone point me out a few characteristic songs where the tshak is done without the use of echo?

[nickfa]

A lot of the early rocksteady had little if any brass/horn sections and later een when horns etc were present they seemed a lot sparcer than in ska
Nick