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Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated to '''d&b''', '''DnB''', '''dnb''', '''d'n'b''', '''drum n bass''' and '''drum & bass''') is a type of Electronic Dance Music also known as '''jungle'''. Emerging in the early 1990s , the genre is characterised by fast tempo broken beat drums (generally between 160–180 Beats Per Minute ) with heavy, often intricate basslines. Today, drum and bass is still considered an underground musical style, but its currents of influence run throughout popular music and culture. Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the United Kingdom breakbeat hardcore and rave scene of the late 1980s, and over the first decade of its existence there have been many permutations in its style, incorporating elements from ragga, dancehall, electro, funk, hip hop, house, jazz, heavy metal, reggae, rock, techno and trance. HISTORY See Also: History of drum and bass See Also: Oldschool jungle For the detailed history of drum and bass music, please refer to the History Article which details the origins of this genre in UK rave culture alongside the origin of the name jungle, the appearance of junglist subculture, the change in name and musical evolution to drum and bass and its development through its short-lived mainstream popularity, subsequent crisis and post-millennial rebirth. Summary The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the development of a musical style and scene (referring to the social aspects around the music) known as Acid House in the UK. The music of acid house combined regular beats alongside broken, syncopated beats, strong basslines and a faster tempo than the regular house music tempo. As time drew by, musical tracks containing only broken beats began to be known as "jungle" and began to constitute a recognisably separate musical genre (circa 1991-1992) popular at Raves and on pirate radio in urban Britain. These tracks often combined Ragga vocal tracks with broken beats and basslines. By 1994 jungle began to gain mainstream popularity and fans of the music (known as Junglist s) became a recognisable part of British youth subculture. At this time jungle began to be associated with criminals and criminal activity and perhaps as a reaction or perhaps independently of this, producers began to draw away from the ragga style and create what they labelled drum and bass. There is no clear point at which jungle became drum and bass, though most jungle producers continue nowadays to produce what they call drum and bass. As the music style became more polished and sophisticated, it began to shift from pirate to commercial radio and gain widespread acceptance (circa 1995-1997). It also began to split into recognisable subgenres such as Jump-up . As a Lighter Sound of drum and bass began to win over the musical mainstream, many producers continued to work on the other end of the spectrum, resulting in a series of releases which highlighted a dark, technical sound which drew more influence from techno music and the soundscapes of science fiction and anime films, this sub-genre became know as Techstep (circa 1997-1998). Whilst evolving musically, drum and bass found itself suddenly upstarted by the UK Garage sound, which drew part of a key part of its inspiration from drum and bass. This genre quickly eclipsed drum and bass in popularity and nearing the turn of the millennium, statements were made to the effect that "drum and bass is dead". Drum and bass however survived this event and the turn of the millennium has seen a revival in its popularity and continuing development, i.e. the appearance of the Liquid Funk subgenre which draws its inspiration from house and disco alongside a new wave of artists, joining the "jungle" pioneers. It remains a fairly unknown musical style but makes frequent unrecognised appearance in the mainstream as well as being highly influential on other musical styles and some of its artists, notably Goldie , are widely known. It remains most popular in its birthplace in the UK but has spread worldwide over the short period of its existence.For references, see History Of Drum And Bass article. MUSICOLOGY OF DRUM AND BASS , one of the most recognizable drum and bass artists.1]] There are many views of what constitutes "real" drum and bass as it has many scenes and styles within it, from heavy paranoid vocal free techstep beats to the relaxed singing vibes of liquid funk. It has been compared with jazz where the listener can get very different sounding music all coming under the same music genre, because like drum and bass, it is more of an approach, or a tradition, than a style.2 The sounds of drum and bass are extremely varied - and to a person unfamiliar to them, there may seem to be little connection between the subgenres. Drum and bass could at one time be defined as a strictly electronic musical genre with the only 'live' element being the DJ's selection and mixing of records during a set. 'Live' drum and bass using electric, electronic and acoustic instruments played by musicians on stage has appeared and is a growing aspect of the genre.New Dawn - City Clubs Take Back The Night article, Village Voice, February 27, 200134 For the already mentioned reasons, the Musicology of drum and bass is difficult to precisely define; however, the following key characteristics may be observed: Defining characteristics Importance of drum and bassline elements The name "drum and bass" should not lead to the assumption that tracks are constructed solely from these elements. Nevertheless, they are by far and away the most critical features, and usually dominate the mix of a track. Despite the apparent simplicity of drum and bass productions to the untrained ear, an inordinate amount of time is spent on preparing tracks by the more experienced producers. The genre places great importance on the "bass line", a deep Sub-bass musical pattern which is felt physically as much as it is heard. There has also been considerable exploration of different Timbre s in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. Bass lines exist in many forms, but most notably they originate from Sampled sources or Synthesizer s. Bass lines performed with a bass instrument, whether it is electric, acoustic or a Double Bass , are rare. Sampled basslines are often taken from double bass recordings or from publicly available loops. Synthesized bass lines are however just as common. In drum and bass productions, the bass lines are subjected to many and varied Sound Effect s, including standard techniques such as dynamic compression, flanger, chorus, over-drive, equalization, etc. and drum and bass specific techniques such as the "Reese Bass", in fact not a technique per se, but the degrees of processing, distortion and filtering placed upon a widely-used sample of Kevin Saunderson 's most infamous 'Reese' bass line sample - from 1988's classic "Just Another Chance". Of equal importance is the "808" kick drum, an artificially pitch-downed or elongated Bass Drum sound sampled from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, and a sound which has been subject to an enormous amount of experimentation over the years.5 These bass techniques are fully appreciated in a club or rave environments where high quality woofers and powerful amplifiers are required to fully reproduce the eponymous basslines at high volume levels. This has led to the creation of very large and intensely loud touring soundsystems by producers wishing to show off their tracks, such as Dillinja's Valve Sound System . This does not mean, however, that the music cannot be appreciated at home or accurately reproduced on personal equipment. The complex Syncopation of the drum tracks Breakbeat , is another facet of production on which producers spend a very large amount of time. A drum phrase lasting seconds may often take a day or more to prepare, depending on the dedication of the producer. The Amen Break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in drum and bass.6 It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that drum and bass (at least in its early days) was a style built around a single broken beat element which was a single sample, the Amen, but other samples have had a significant impact, including the Apache break, the Funky Drummer , and others.7 The Funky Drummer has perhaps superseded the Amen in modern productions. A commonly used break is the Tramen , a combined beat that is perhaps the ultimate statement on the fusion of musical styles in drum and bass as it combines the Amen, a James Brown funk breakbeat ("Tighten Up" or "Samurai" break) and an Alex Reece drum and bass breakbeat.8 The very fast (objectively) drum beat forms a canvas on which a producer can create tracks to appeal to almost any taste and often will form only a background to the other elements of the music. However, without a fast & broken beat, a drum and bass track would not be a drum and bass track but could be classified as a Gabber , Techno , Breaks or House Music track.9 Tempo Drum and bass is usually between 160-180 BPM, in contrast to other forms of Breakbeat such as Nu Skool Breaks which maintain a slower pace at around 130-140 BPM. A general upward trend in tempo has been observed during the evolution of drum and bass. The earliest old skool rave was around 125/135 bpm in 1989/1991, early (late 1992-1993) jungle/breakbeat hardcore was around 155-165 BPM. Since around 1996, drum and bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 173 to 180 range. Recently some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (ie. in the 150s and 160s), but the mid-170 tempo is still the hallmark of the drum and bass sound.10 11 A track combining the same elements (broken beat, bass, production techniques) as a drum and bass track, but with a slower beat (say 140 BPM), would not be drum and bass but a drum and bass-influenced breakbeat track.12 The speed of drum and bass is not however only characterised by that of the broken beat. Drum and bass has a bassline, which will typically play at half the speed of the drums, bringing its speed down to that of, for instance, a laid back hip-hop track. A listener or dancer can concentrate on this element rather than the faster drums. It should be noted that the speed of music is subjective. An aggressively produced track with a complicated beat and synthesizer sounds may 'sound faster' than one with a sampled double bass bassline, guitar riffs and simpler beat, however the second track may be in strict BPM terms faster. Radio friendly tracks like Shy FX's "Shake Ur Body" often have higher BPMs than ominous techstep productions which might eject the uninitiated very quickly from a dancefloor. It is interesting to note that the faster a track is in BPM terms, the less complex its drum patterns can be because at higher step the elements cease to be heard separately, turning them into a wall of sound. A faster drum and bass track will therefore generally have a less complex drum pattern than a slower one. Live performances of drum and bass music on electric and acoustic instruments will often entail a drop in relative BPM (though not necessarily), unsurprising in light of the complexity of drum patterns and the high exertion required of a drummer. Context playing the Valve Sound System with MC IC3 at the Sheffield Octagon 05/03/06]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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