My piece on Colombia’s Picó sound systems.  Originally appeared in Ableton blog

In Barranquilla, Cartagena and other cities and towns on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, huge outdoor sound systems pump lively champeta, salsa, calypso, cumbia, zouk and soukous tracks to throngs of amped-up dancers. Colorful lasers and pulsing lights zip over the crowds and illuminate psychedelic hand-drawn paintings of dragons, musicians, soldiers and otherworldly figures that adorn the speakers and stage.

Each set has its own distinctive brand (“The Monster of Sound”, “El Solista—King of the Dance Floor”) represented by these kaleidoscopic drawings. This is the picó experience: a Latin American rave-meets-Jamaican sound system party, with DJs, live musicians, and devoted organizations making it all gel. And you need a dedicated crew given the size of some of these party machines.

The Latin Brothers’ “El Picotero” is an homage to the picós and features images of many famous sound

The picó sound system rigs range from smaller mobile DJ set ups to enormous woofer and tweeter boxes rising four rows high and several wide. Like their Jamaican counterparts, the picó phenomena began in the ‘60s in predominantly Afro-Caribbean communities on the north east Colombian coast as a means to offer locals inexpensive entertainment and play music that people loved but had little access to hear on the radio or at live concerts. The music styles played on the sets has gone through many transitions over the decades, but always featured danceable African sounds such as Congolese rhumba, afropop, zouk and soukous.

The African music link is as important to picós as the American R&B influence is in Jamaican sound system culture. African rhythms form the basis for Colombia’s modern cumbia and champeta forms. The mix you hear on picó sound systems is vibrant, colorful and cool; they fuse the unmistakable, four-four beat and guitar-driven sounds of Central and East African music, with bright Caribbean soca and percussive South American flavors. Picós sets have even spawned a number of artists, like Systema Solar, who capture the energetic aesthetic in their recordings.

36 year-old Colombian Harvey Cubillos saw an opportunity to bring the lively picó aesthetic to a wider audience. Cubillos, an Ableton Certified Trainer and seasoned electronic music producer, teaches at DJProductor academy in Madrid. It was there that he came up with the idea for an Ableton device that would capture the vibe, sounds and rhythms heard in picó.

Cubillos recorded traditional instruments, created original synth sounds and even sampled local picó DJ personalities for a little authentic mic flavor. The resulting picó Pack is free to download and Cubillos hopes users will “have fun, create interesting new things, and use Colombian Caribbean music to make interesting rhythms.”

Read more on Ableton

Download the free Picó Pack