Laoban Soundsystem

Icon (url)
Oneliner	A Soundsystem for China
Location	Beijing, China
Affiliations
Status	Active
Role	Founder
Collaborators	Matt Hope
Tags	soundsystem, event, party, music, media, china, beijing, bass, dub, experimental
Wiki	http://fabricatorz.com/wiki/Laoban_Soundsystem
Type	Community

1.0
Updated May 14, 2010
2.0
Free and Open Sound System Made in China, All Copylef Hardware
Active, Updated July 29, 2010, Official Site
Laoban Soundsystem 2.0 is a 6,000 watt full-range 4-way sound system fabricated in China - the plans for which are 100% copyleft and available under a Creative Commons share-alike license. Essentially, Laoban is qi hardware. All steps needed to build the devices are documented and the knowledge to reproduce the sound system is made available to anyone who wants it. At the same time an engineering feat, an art project and a public experiment, Laoban explores a context for sharing, expanding on the original concept of sound systems growing out of the ghettos of Kingston and UK garages -- and bringing this platform in order to produce massive, spontaneous parties in China. The idea is to use the sound system for uncovering unique and experimental content by Chinese artist and specifically to strengthen the free culture movement in China. The plans for the software and hardware can be taken to any factory in China and be reproduced, all the way from the speakers to the plywood boxes. The Laoban Soundsystem 2.0 has a large throw - 1.5 meters high. It includes four boxes: 2 big sub woofers and 2 full range boxes -- and can be set up and assembled rapidly for a party of upwards of hundreds of people. With the Laoban Soundsystem 2.0 we aim to throw three large scale events at three unique locales in China. Each event will build off the previous one and will explore a new form of production and investigate large-scale sharing culture and will be documented online at http://laoban-soundsystem.com Past events with Laoban Soundsystem 1.0 and 1.5 have included the following Chinese artists:long2, Ren Linxiao, D4Q1N, Xu Tao, Cai Kai and RayDesign. The most well known Laoban event is the Boycott the Chinese Internet Day with Ai WeiWei.

[ SVG File of the Logo (Thanks to Andy for type) ]

Highlights

Laoban Soundsystem Summer Planning Event in CaoChangDi

Laoban Soundsystem 1.0 Holiday Mixing Event

Our first event, Laoban Soundsystem 1.0 Holiday Mixing Event at CPU:798 went quite well and featured these artists.

long2, Audio Visual Artist, http://www.youtube.com/pulpozone, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbee/
Ren Linxiao, Video Artist, http://www.youtube.com/user/linxiaoren
delboy (dj)
D4Q1N (VJ & font designer www.dudesign.org)
Xu Tao (dj), http://www.myspace.com/vervexu
Cai Kai (VJ), http://www.reel1981.com/blog/article.asp?id=155
RAYDESIGN (RAY + PENNYsound system), http://www.raydesign.cn
granier benoit, http://www.granierb.com (composer, artists, professor)
Deer Fang, Video
Jon Phillips and Matt Hope, Upcoming Laoban 2.0 Soundsystem Open Speaker Plans
Matt Hope will DJ late night
Famous Special Guests To Be Announced
WE WANT YOU! Bring what you are working on and put it into the MIX!

What to do an event?

Please contact us if you want to make a Laoban soundsystem, have us make one for you, or do an event!

What is it?

Laoban Soundsystem is an open sound system. The plans for all speakers are available on-line. The events the soundsystem participates in are media events that generate further media. Anyone who attends the events, creates the speakers, or produces content for them, please tag your work with laoban.

The Laoban Soundsystem events are a new type of media event where all are welcome to join, bring media, laptops, video players, cameras, and other recording devices. The goal is to mix media, explore what artists, DJs, musicians, designers, and architects are working on RIGHT NOW — successes, failures, and rough edges are welcome at Laoban events! The ultimate plan is for consumers to be producers by both mixing media, and by tagging any recordings they have with “laoban” when posting onto twitter.com, flickr.com, or other places.

TAGS: laoban, beijing, experimental, art, music, dubstep, media, sharing, freebeer

这是一个新的媒体活动尝试，欢迎大家带上你们的手提电脑、摄像机、播放器或其它录制设备来参加活动。我们的目的是混合媒体，并了解艺术家、DJ、音乐家、设计师、建筑师正在进行的工作和项目，无论是成功的、失败的还是未完成的项目。计划的最终目的是通过媒体的混合，以及通过在纪录的内容（照片，视频等）上添加“老板”的标签（tagging) 并上传到 twitter.com, flickr.com 和其它地方，从而使消费者成为生产者。

参加者：艺术家、音乐家、软件/网络发展人，朋友

标签：老板、北京、实验、艺术、音乐、媒体、dubstep、共享、免费啤酒

Who’s in the crew?

Simo Chau, Matt Hope, Jon Phillips, Phil Dunn, Yang Tao, Lu Jia, Robin Peckham, Venus Lau, Shasha Liu, Benoit Granier

If you want to be in the crew, hook up some events, come DJ on the stack or help us build it up more!

Speaker Plans

Laoban 1.0

12″ Scoop Plans (PDF) under CC BY-NC 3.0 License
12″ Scoop Model with Cutaways (PDF) under CC BY-NC 3.0 License

Laoban 2.0

The second part of the Laoban Soundsystem is to getting two large bass scoop bins produced. They are currently being fabricated in HeBei outside of Beijing with a distinctive Chinese styling (think about the v1 Laoban Logo!)