BLACK AMERICAN SOUND SYSTEM @blackamericansoundsystem - Tumblr Blog

SONIC FLOW YOGA: Yoga + Live Listening Experience

by @blackamericansoundsystem

Guided by: @rondyoga @blacktoyoga

Live Sound and Sonics: @ddeonbrown

📍 Oakland Public Library – Main @oaklibrary

125 14th St, Oakland, CA

🕰 6–8PM

3.26.26

Part of “Soul, Sonics & Sound Systems” on view until April 26

breathe. stretch. listen.

inside the archive.

free.

The Cornbread Listening Room (2026)

Black American Sound System (B.A.S.S.)

Oakland Public Library, Oakland, California

Designed by: @ddeonbrown

Fabrication and Construction Assistance: @__vanclee

Concert Artifacts and Ephemera: @oaklandhistorycenter

Curatorial + Archival Assistance: @kai.wavy @jasthemuse @samirahosborne

The Cornbread Listening Room is a sonic installation and archival environment created by artist, producer, and sound system designer Deon Brown as part of the exhibition “Soul, Sonics, and Sound Systems.” The work transforms a section of the Oakland Public Library into an intimate listening space inspired by the intergenerational Black living room, what I describe as “turning the space into Grandma’s house.” The pieces seeks to reclaim space and sound as an expression of freedom, in institutions where silencing, censorship and expression are at the forefront. At the center of the installation is the Cornbread Sound System, a custom-built speaker 4 point array with 8-ohm compression horn driver (model H02SN08) rated at 90 watts RMS / 180 watts peak, manufactured in Japan, designed for high-efficiency use in churches, clubs and live music venues. The room features archived Soul CDs, original mid century furniture from the Oakland Library and Butterscotch Candies (a staple on Black Homes).

Through sound, architecture, and archive, The Cornbread Listening Room invites visitors to experience listening as a shared cultural ritual and a living expression of freedom.

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Scenes from “Soul, Sonics and Soundsystem” Opening Night at @oaklibrary

Shot by: @checkurenbox @samirahosborne

#blackamericansoundsystem #hifi #cornbreadlisteningroom

MIXING THE ARCHIVES: To supplement the listening room, my team and I had the extreme privilege of compromising an archival display of Black Soul Music and Sonic experimentation here in the Bay Area and beyond. This included CDs, Literature and Vinyl from my personal collection and the selection available at @oaklibrary. Archive displays are rotating, here are February’s Picks:

Books:

- Appen, Rudolf E., ed. The Psychology of Music. New York: Academic Press, 1972.

- Friedlander, Paul. The Birth of Rhythm and Blues. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

- Kernodle, Tammy L. Soul in Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004.

- Sluby, Patricia Carter. The Inventive Spirit of African Americans: Patented Ingenuity. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.

- Williams, Jack, ed. African American Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2000.

- Wilson, Sondra Kathryn, ed. Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem. New York: Random House, 2000.

Audio Recordings:

- Al Green. Greatest Hits. Hi Records, 1975.

- D’Angelo. Brown Sugar. EMI Records, 1995.

- Hayes, Isaac. The Best of Isaac Hayes. Stax Records, 1999.

- Stone, Angie, Black Diamond. Arista Records, 1999.

- SWV, It’s About Time. RCA Records, 1992.

- Sylvester, Mighty Real Greatest Hits. Fantasy Records, 1999.

- Heatwave, Too Hot Too Handle, GTO Records, 1976.

Contributions from Archival and Curatorial Assistants @kai.wavy @jasthemuse and @oaklandhistorycenter

LISTENING SCHEDULE: Black American Sound System presents the Cornbread Listening Room, a four point high-fidelity sound installation handbuilt in Oakland by Deon Brown and Black American Sound System. Installed inside Oakland Public Library Main as part of the exhibition “Soul, Sonics & Sound Systems,” the Cornbread System transforms the library into a space for deep listening, archival reflection, and community gathering.

Listening sessions take place select weekends from February through April, 2–5PM.

See the calendar above for full dates.

Free and open to the public.

Oakland Public Library — Main Branch

Now on view through April.

#BlackAmericanSoundSystem #CornbreadSoundSystem #SoulSonicsSoundSystems #OaklandPublicLibrary #ListeningRoom

MIXING THE ARCHIVES: To supplement the listening room, my team and I had the extreme privilege of compromising an archival display of Black Soul Music and Sonic experimentation here in the Bay Area and beyond. This included CDs, Literature and Vinyl from my personal collection and the selection available at @oaklibrary. Archive displays are rotating, here are February’s Picks:

Books:

- Appen, Rudolf E., ed. The Psychology of Music. New York: Academic Press, 1972.

- Friedlander, Paul. The Birth of Rhythm and Blues. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

- Kernodle, Tammy L. Soul in Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004.

- Sluby, Patricia Carter. The Inventive Spirit of African Americans: Patented Ingenuity. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.

- Williams, Jack, ed. African American Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2000.

- Wilson, Sondra Kathryn, ed. Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem. New York: Random House, 2000.

Audio Recordings:

- Al Green. Greatest Hits. Hi Records, 1975.

- D’Angelo. Brown Sugar. EMI Records, 1995.

- Hayes, Isaac. The Best of Isaac Hayes. Stax Records, 1999.

- Stone, Angie, Black Diamond. Arista Records, 1999.

- SWV, It’s About Time. RCA Records, 1992.

- Sylvester, Mighty Real Greatest Hits. Fantasy Records, 1999.

- Heatwave, Too Hot Too Handle, GTO Records, 1976.

Thank you all for the incredible opening reception at @oaklibrary. We are immensely grateful for the honor of bringing “Soul, Sonics and Soundsystems” into the Oakland Public Library for this 3 month exhibition. So many people continue to pour in to witness @blackamericansoundsystem in person and myself, my community, the team that supports this work/vision are humbled and held by the love.

To see the Cornbread Sound System and black music archives living inside this institution among books, elders, families, and community is beyond meaningful. This is truly black history. Thank you to everyone who came to the opening reception, who listened deeply, who shared stories, who stayed for the artist talk, who felt the frequencies.

This work is about memory, about migration, about BASS as archive. It was powerful to connect with elders and speak openly about the lineage that brought us here.

The Cornbread Listening Room and the Soul Sonics & Sound Systems exhibtion are now on view through April 28. Come sit. Come listen. Come be inside the sound. Upcoming programming and Listening Session updates available via our website or oaklibrary.org.

“Soul, Sonics, and Soundsystems”

On View: February 26th - April 30th, 2026

Location: Oakland Main Library

Visit our website in our bio or oaklandlibrary.org for more details.

“Soul, Sonics and Soundsystems” marks the first solo exhibition presented by Black American Sound System @blackamericansoundsystem and singer/composer Deon Brown @ddeonbrown in partnership with the Oakland Public Library @oaklibrary in honor of the library’s 75th anniversary and 100 years of Black History. This historic three month exhibition establishes the library as a site of communal listening, where sound functions as sacred practice, cultural memory, and a living archive in the city of @oakland. The space will feature a high fidelity listening room, curated Bay Area music archives on display and community programming through April 2026.

At the center of the exhibition is the Cornbread Sound System, presented in its most recent high fidelity form as a dedicated listening room. The work gives homage to the recycled, soulful ingenuity of guerrilla sound systems shaped by the Great Migration, while tracing the lineage of Black soul music, 1970s–1990s car audio and sound system culture, and Black sonic experimentation in the city of @oakland across the Bay Area and greater California.

“Soul, Sonics, and Soundsystems”

On View: February 26th - April 30th, 2026

Location: Oakland Main Library

Visit our website in our bio or oaklandlibrary.org for more details.

FIRST TEST, POWER ON, SOUND ON, + CHICKEN GREASE: it’s in the process! Turn the sound up and witness the first power on and sound off of the cornbread sound system v1. I enjoy building and designing sound systems yes, (and this was a challenge in creating something much more compact and less bass heavy), but there is nothing like the feeling of hearing the first sound come out something built by you,and what better way to commend its birth with the track “Chicken Grease” by none other than heavens newest ancestor D’angelo via Voodoo Vinyl. It’s important to show the process of fine tuning, limit testing and volume capacity when birthing diy sound systems. Making sound system are a lot like pancakes and gardens, not only will many iterations exist, but it lives and breaths and requires constant testing. Also, this is a home system (firsts time building such a system that is not optimized for raves, concerts etc) so power and sound are compact and concentrated. Puny highs and low lows signal a change a voltage, sound travel is dependent on cabinet bracing and air. Since then, these design edits have been underway, but the process is just as important. Come join me in listening to the final tuned version of the behemoth that is the cornbread sound system @stlight_gallery and to hear more about the processsssss #blackamericansoundsystem #soundsystem #sounddesign #hifi

AFTER SCENES FROM THE SOLD OUT CORNBREAD HOME LISTENING ROOM (12/2025). Thank you all for experiencing the system in such a beautiful way last month. Folks did not want to go home! The Cornbread Home Sound System is evolving ever more and I am honored for the outpour of support for the first iteration of such an intimate (smaller) and intentional project. What a beautiful challenge in design and intention. Grateful to @stlight_gallery for the uplifting, intimate space to host such an event. Sold the joint out, played the project with community all ears witnessing the moment from a sound system made with my hands, guided by spirit. The way it should be. We have more in store, stay tuned. #blackamericansoundsystem #soundsystem #hifi

#Instagram

DA SKILLET AND DA MASKS: These are the pieces that inspired the Cornbread Sound System. the horn faces of the two full-range stacks sonically create a height experience: lows grounding from the bottom and highs speaking to you from your vantage. The matte black recalling the texture of a cast-iron pan. Also I love how the faces mirror these masks, faces of sound that both look back and project forward. The rod-clad horns mimic ritual architecture; black grounding symbolizes bass and the low notes; I was in some shiiiiii, but truly a student of this work.

#blackamericansoundsystem #hifi #soundsystem

HARVEST DA HORN: What’s up yall, thank you for all the love on the first version/iteration of the Cornbread Home Sound System living @stlight_gallery. Digital rendering for the cornbread spiral horn addition to the sound system and it’s coming along beautifully. The material for use for this 42 in horn is being toyed with whether it be from birch plywood or cork, but either way it will be a dope feat. What better way to exemplify sound sovereignty and sacredness in a physical form. Had a reminder that this “work” is less about projecting than it is about doing cool shit for ourselves. Hence the harvest. More to come! #blackamericansoundsystem #soundsystem #hifi #diy

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