Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
An engineer mans the expansive mixing board inside the studio.

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

'Yuh hear fi mi voice coming through di speaker
'But it sound sweeter wid di echo chamber.'

So said Papa Levi in Mi God Mi King.

It is within the walls of a studio that the sweetest melodies are recorded. In the midst of instruments, inspiration sparks in the echo chambers and creates a musical fire. The Sunday Gleaner continues its new series looking at various influential studios across the island with a visit to Marcus Garvey Drive.

Standing tall, the walls of Tuff Gong Studio on Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston, protect a legacy of great Jamaican music.

Tuff Gong has garnered international acclaim with its affiliation with reggae superstar Bob Marley and his family. It is one of the biggest recording studios in the Caribbean. Artistes, musicians, producers and tourists travel from all over the world to see and use it.

Formerly Federal Records

Tuff Gong International, which was founded by Bob Marley in 1965, moved to the offices at 220 Marcus Garvey Drive, which was previously known as Federal Records, where Bob and Rita used to record before he died. According to Norman 'Bulpus' Bryan, Tuff Gong International's product and sales manager, Rita Marley bought Federal Records after Bob's death and made it Tuff Gong International's base.

The company includes a recording studio, mastering room, stamper room, pressing plant, cassette plant, wholesale record shop and booking agency, as well as offices for Rita Marley Music. Tuff Gong studios stretch far across the lot and are plastered with the legend's image, so that visitors and regulars can feel Marley's presence in a place he often visited.

It was at this studio that Bob recorded definitive versions of No Woman No Cry, Trench Town Rock, Stir It Up, Concrete Jungle, Redemption Song, Buffalo Soldier and Could You Be Loved, just to name a few. Since its inception, Bob Marley and Tuff Gong International have sold millions of records and continue to do so.

Combines modern and old

Well kept, vibrant and obviously in constant use, the studio combines touches of the modern age with a feel for the old. In a large open area to vibe, play and sing stands an old organ, which is one of a kind, as well as a microphone, percussion, drum area and a piano. In the mixing room, new technology mingles with the old as a 24-track recording machine and a DA88 stand as tribute to the past, even as Bob's vocals echo through the room.

According to Bryan, in the early days almost all the greats passed through and recorded hits at Tuff Gong. They include Ernie Smith, Shaggy, Pluto Shervington, Third World, Garnett Silk, Bunny Wailer, Ken Boothe, Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths and countless others. Today, Tuff Gong is where reggae artiste Tarrus Riley recently completed his smash album Parables. It is also where the Marley sons continue their musical heritage.

Bryan commented that "this is the best recording for live sessions. The sound is what most people come here wanting. Even Don Corleone works here. A variety of other people come here as well. You really get a feel for the music here, the base, everything. It has that '60s old-time feel in the music".

Everything done there

The Tuff Gong studios are different from others in that you come here with a talent for singing and can leave with an entire record - made and distributed. "You come here with your voice and leave with a record. It's a complete recording company - everything is done here," Bryan reiterated. Step by step Bryan showed The Sunday Gleaner team the process from idea to material. From the studio where you voice and record it into the Gong mastering and digital audio building. According to Bryan, this is where you bring your sound to be edited, mastered and fine-tuned. Engineers were on the job making records for promotional processes.

From there, it is on to where the vinyl records (still a hot commodity in Japanand Europe), cassettes and stamps for the records were made. With the rumblings of the various machines, the process is almost complete. At the record store that is also by the studio, there are posters of local artistes as far as the eye can see.

Tuff Gong International is the distributor for Universal Records in the Caribbean. As such, there are many albums on sale from artistes across the globe, along with local artistes.

Buzzing with a sense of purpose, Tuff Gong Studio remains a symbol of clean and pure music.