Genre of the Week (34) “Drum & Bass”

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“Drum and Bass” (commonly abbreviated to “D&B” or “DnB”, occasionally “DaB”) is a type of rave music which emerged in the mid 1990s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats (typically between 160–190 bpm, occasional variation is noted in older compositions), with heavy bass, sub-bass lines, and occasional infra-bass lines. Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the United Kingdom rave scene of the very early 1990s. Over the first decade of its existence, the incorporation of elements from various musical genres led to many permutations in its overall style.

History

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a growing nightclub and overnight outdoor event culture gave birth to a new electronic music style called Rave music, which, (similarly to hip-hop, combined sampled syncopated beats or breakbeats, other samples from a wide range of other musical genres, occasionally samples of music, dialogue and effects from films and television programmes, strong bass sounds and a faster tempo than that of house music, typically around [Read more...]

160 beats per minute. From as early as 1991, musical tracks made up of these high-tempo breakbeats were referred to as “jungle techno” and later just “jungle”, which became recognised as a separate musical genre popular at raves and on pirate radio in urban Britain.

By 1994 jungle had begun to gain mainstream popularity and fans of the music (often referred to as junglists) became a more recognisable part of British youth subculture. By this point the genre was incorporating and fusing elements from a wide range of existing musical genres, including the raggamuffin sound, dancehall, MC chants, dub basslines, and increasingly complex, heavily edited breakbeat percussion. Despite its associations with the ecstasy-fuelled rave scene, Jungle also inherited some associations with violence and criminal activity, from the gang culture that had affected the UK’s hip-hop scene and as a consequence of jungle’s often aggressive or menacing sound and themes of violence (usually reflected in the choice of samples). However, this developed in tandem with the often positive reputation of the music as part of the wider rave scene and dancehall-based Jamaican music culture prevalent in London. Whether as a reaction to, or independently of this cultural schism, some jungle producers began to move away from the ragga-influenced style and create what would become collectively labelled, for convenience, as drum and bass.

As the genre became generally more polished and sophisticated technically, it began to expand its reach from pirate radio to commercial stations and gain widespread acceptance (circa 1995-1997). It also began to split into recognizable subgenres such as jump-up and Hardstep. As a lighter and often jazz-influenced style of drum and bass gained mainstream appeal, additional subgenres emerged including techstep (circa 1996-1997) which drew greater influence from techno music and the soundscapes of science fiction and anime films.

The popularity of drum and bass at its commercial peak ran parallel to several other homegrown dance styles in the UK including big beat and hard house. But towards the turn of the millennium its popularity was deemed to have dwindled as the UK garage style known as speed garage yielded several hit singles. Speed garage shared high tempos and heavy basslines with drum and bass but otherwise followed the established conventions of house music, with this and its freshness giving it an advantage commercially. Despite this, the emergence of further subgenres and related styles such as liquid funk brought a wave of new artists incorporating new ideas and techniques, supporting continual evolution of the genre. To this day drum and bass makes frequent appearances in mainstream media and popular culture including in television, as well as being a major reference point for subsequent genres such as grime and dubstep and successful artists including Tinie Tempah and Australia’s Pendulum).

Musicology of drum and bass

There are many views of what constitutes “real” drum and bass as it has many scenes and styles within it, from the highly electronic, industrial sounds of techstep through to the use of conventional, acoustic instrumentation that characterise the more jazz-influenced end of the spectrum. It has been compared with jazz where the listener can get very different sounding music all coming under the same music genre, because like jazz, it is more of an approach, or a tradition, than a style. 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. One common, though by no means universal, element is a prominent snare drum falling on the 2nd & 4th beats, with a less regular kick pattern around it.

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.

For the already mentioned reasons, the musicology of drum and bass is difficult to precisely define; however, the following key characteristics may be observed:

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 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, more experienced producers spend a great deal of time preparing their tracks.

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 timbres in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. Bass lines exist in many forms, but most notably they originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Bass lines performed with a bass instrument, whether it is electric, acoustic or a double bass, are rare. An example of drum and bass played live with an electric bass can be found in the work of bands such as NERVE, Shapeshifter, Squarepusher, Sonic Recreation, Roni Size, Sub Machena and STS9. 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 effects, including standard techniques such as dynamic compression, flanger, chorus, over-drive, equalization, etc. and drum and bass specific techniques such as the “Reese Bass”, a distinctive synthesized bass sound comprising layered ‘clashing’ sawtooth waves. Kevin Saunderson’s 1988 classic “Just Another Chance” is widely recognised as the earliest example of the use of this technique.

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.

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 dubs from Soundman and dubs from 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.

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. 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.

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.

Tempo

Drum and bass is usually between 160-190 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 forms of drum and bass clocked in at around 130 bpm in 1990/1991, speeding up to around 155-165 BPM by 1993. Since around 1996, drum and bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 170-180 range. Recently some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (i.e. in the 150s and 160s), but the mid-170 tempo is still the hallmark of the drum and bass sound.

A track combining the same elements (broken beat, bass, production techniques) as a drum and bass track, but with a slower tempo (say 140 BPM), might not be drum and bass but a drum and bass-influenced breakbeat track.

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.

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.

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. These rules do not apply to a production from single drums (i.e., drum machines, sequencers, sliced beats.)

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

Pendulum playing the Valve Sound System with MC IC3 at the Tuesday Club, Sheffield 05/03/06
For the most part, drum and bass is a form of dance music designed to be heard in clubs. It exhibits a full frequency response which can only be appreciated on sound systems which can handle very low frequencies. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparatively sparse arrangements of drum and bass tracks allowing room for basslines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Consequently, drum and bass parties are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy sound systems.

There are however many albums specifically designed for personal listening. The mix CD is a particularly popular form of release, with a big name DJ/producer mixing live, or on a computer, a variety of tracks for personal listening. Additionally, there are many albums containing unmixed tracks, suited for home or car listening.

Many mixing points begin or end with the “drop”. The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognizable build section and “breakdown”. Sometimes the drop is used to switch between tracks, layering components of different tracks, though as the two records may be simply ambient breakdowns at this point, though some DJs prefer to combine breakbeats, a more difficult exercise. Some drops are so popular that the DJ will “rewind” or “reload” by spinning the record back and restarting it at the build. “The drop” is often a key point from the point of view of the dancefloor, since the drumbreaks often fade out to leave an ambient intro playing. When the beats re-commence they are often more complex and accompanied by a heavier bassline, encouraging the crowd to dance. The name of a genre of drum and bass, “jump up” initially referred to the urge for those seated to dance at this point.

DJ support (that is playing a track) in a club atmosphere or on radio is critical in track success, even if the track producer is well known. To this end, DJs will receive dubplates a long time before a general release of a track, sometimes many months before, in order to spark interest in it as well as benefit the DJ (exclusive and early access to tracks is a hallmark of DJ success, i.e. the case of Andy C). Sometimes a DJ will receive versions of tracks that are not planned for general release, these are so-called VIP mixes.

DJs are often accompanied by one or more MCs, drawing on the genre’s roots in hip hop and reggae/ragga.

The role of MCs in the music cannot be overestimated but they do not generally receive the same level of recognition as producer/DJs. There are relatively few well-known drum and bass MCs, MC GQ, Dynamite MC, MC Fats, MC Conrad, Shabba D, Skibadee, Eksman, Bassman, MC Stamina, MC Fun, Harry Shotta MC DUB 2, MC MECHA and Stevie Hyper D (deceased) as examples.

Subgenres

Recently, smaller scenes within the drum and bass community have developed and the scene as a whole has become much more fractured into specific sub-genres. The generally accepted and major sub-genres of drum and bass include:

Dancefloor (often referred to tracks that combine Jump-Up and Liquid funk.)
Darkstep (or “Darkside” or “Dark”, the return of the old skool sound of Drum and bass made with new technology – Equinox, Breakage ext)
Drill and Bass (characterized by extremely complex and detailed drum programming)
Halfstep (or drumstep is half beat drum and bass. The term drumstep in particular is often confused with Dubstep.)
Drumfunk (or “Choppage”, “Edits” – atmospheric drum and bass with heavy emphasis on break-styled drum loops, occasionally broken up by drumless atmospheric passages)
Hardstep
Intelligent (or “Atmospheric” or “Ambient”)
Jazzstep (or “Jazz and Bass”)
Jump-Up
Liquid funk (or simply “Liquid”)
Sambass (or “Brazilian Drum and Bass”)
Techstep (or “Tech”)
Techno-DNB (or “Techno Drum and Bass”)
Neurofunk (or “Neuro” is the progression from Techstep)
The following are to a lesser and great degree, arguable subgenres, they would generally be described as separate genres by their proponents:

Breakcore (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre, with many differences)
Darkcore (both a precursor and a descendant of drum and bass since modern darkcore productions share much with darkstep
Raggacore (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre, with many differences)
Ragga jungle (arguably a different genre, not a subgenre – a modern sound which shares most if not all characteristics with early jungle music – difficult to differentiate – perhaps through frequent mention of H.I.M. Haile Selassie and other Rastafarian themes)
As with all attempts to classify and categorize music, the above should not be treated as definitive. Many producers release albums and tracks which touch into many of the above styles and there are significant arguments as to the classification of tracks as well as the basic defining characteristics of subgenres. The list of arguable subgenres in particular should not be treated as definitive.

The modern distinctive ragga jungle style (arguably subgenre or even separate genre) is a direct throwback to the 1994-1995 style of drum and bass production. However, many modern drum and bass mainstream productions contain ragga, dancehall and reggae elements, they are just not as dominant as previously.

Clownstep is not as it commonly misconceived to be, a derisory term for varieties of drum and bass not appreciated by certain listeners. “Clownstep” – is a term which was popularised by Dylan to jokingly describe how “Swing-beat” tunes like Bodyrock by Andy C made him think of clowns.

Jungle vs. Drum and Bass

Presently the difference between jungle (or oldschool jungle) and Drum and Bass is a common debate within the “junglist” community. There is no universally accepted semantic distinction between the terms “jungle” and “Drum and Bass”. Some associate “jungle” with older black sounding material from the first half of the 1990s (sometimes referred to as “jungle techno”), and see Drum and Bass as essentially succeeding Jungle. Others use Jungle as a shorthand for ragga jungle, a specific sub-genre within the broader realm of Drum and Bass. In the U.S., the combined term “jungle drum and bass” (JDB or JDNB) has some popularity, but is not widespread elsewhere.

Proponents of a distinction between jungle and drum and bass usually argue (slightly incorrectly) that:

Drum and Bass has an integrated percussion and bass structure while jungle has a distinct bass line separated from the percussion.
The relatively simple drum break beats of modern Drum and Bass (generally a two-step beat) are less complex than the ‘chopped’ ‘Amen’ breakbeats of jungle.
The usage of ragga and reggae vocals differentiates Drum and Bass from Jungle, but then again not all jungle has ragga/reggae vocals, some have other samples and some have no vocals.
The truth is more complicated than this, however. An often mistaken view of the difference between jungle and drum and bass, is that of making a distinction between two-step beat drum and bass and amen breakbeat drum and bass. This is really a distinction between tech-step drum and bass and the new style of drum & bass which occurred especially late-1994 and 1995. Drum and Bass really first referred to the increased attention to breakbeat editing. Perhaps the first track to explicitly use the term “drum and bass” to refer to itself as a different style was released in 1993. The producer The Invisible Man described it:

“A well edited Amen Break alongside an 808 sub kick and some simple atmospherics just sounded so amazing all on its own, thus the speech sample “strictly drum and bass”. A whole new world of possibilities was opening up for the drum programming… It wasn’t long before the amen break was being used by practically every producer within the scene, and as time progressed the Belgian style techno stabs and noises disappeared (thankfully!) and the edits and studio trickery got more and more complex. People were at last beginning to call the music Drum and Bass instead of hardcore. This Amen formula certainly helped cement the sound for many of the tracks I went on to produce for Gwange, Q-Project and Spinback on Legend Records. After a while, tracks using the Amen break virtually had a genre all of their own. Foul Play, Peshay, Bukem and DJ Crystal among others were all solid amen addicts back then too.”

Since the term jungle was so closely related to the reggae influenced sound, DJs and producers who did not incorporate reggae elements began to adopt the term “drum and bass” to differentiate themselves and their musical styles. This reflected a change in the musical style which incorporated increased drum break editing. Sometimes this was referred to as “intelligence”, though this later came to refer to the more relaxed style of drum and bass associated with producers such as LTJ Bukem.

Towards late 1994 and especially in 1995 there was a definite distinction between the reggae and ragga sounding jungle and the tracks with heavily edited breaks, such as the artists Remarc and The Dream Team on Suburban Bass Records. Ironically, one compilation which brought the term to the wider awareness of those outside the scene, ‘Drum & Bass Selection vol 1′ (1994), featured a large amount of ragga influenced tracks, and the first big track to use the term in its title (Remarc’s ‘Drum & Bass Wize’, 1994) was also ragga-influenced.

The Dream Team consisted of Bizzy B and Pugwash; Bizzy B did however have a history of complex breakbeat tracks released before any real notion of a change in genre name. The genre change coincided with an increase of the use of the Reese bassline (Reese Project, Kevin Saunderson), as first featured on “Just Want Another Chance” by Kevin Saunderson (also famous for the group Inner City) released in 1988. Mid-1995 saw the coincidentally named Alex Reece’s “Pulp Fiction” which featured a distorted Reese bassline with a two-step break, slightly slower in tempo, which has been credited as an influence in the new tech-step style which would emerge from Emotif and No U-Turn Records.

“Pulp Fiction was (and still is) a seriously badass tune, it was highly original at the time, and of course it will remain in the classic oldskool bag for many years to come. It was also the track that spawned hundreds of immitators of its “2-Step” style which unfortunately also lasted for many years to come…. hmmm… oh, and because the 2-step groove generally sounds slower, DnB then began to speed up way beyond 160bpm… say no more.”

This has also led to the confusion of equating the “tech-step” sub-genre with drum and bass, as distinct from jungle, but “drum and bass” as a style and as a name for the whole genre already existed in 1995 before the release of Dj Trace’s remix of T-Power’s “Mutant Jazz” which appeared on S.O.U.R. Recordings in 1995 (co-produced by Ed Rush and Nico). Also note that Trace (artist), Ed Rush and Nico already had a history of producing jungle/drum & bass and hardcore in a variety of styles.

Another explanation for the name change is that the scene was running into problems because of violence blamed on the ragga part of the music, the media was full of stories condemning jungle and the violence it brought, so it was this bad media hype that resulted in the name change, which coincided with, and was made possible by the progression of the genre’s sound.

Confusion is increased by the term “jump up” which initially referred to tracks with a had a change in style at the drop, encouraging people to dance. Initially these new drum and bass style tracks had breakbeat-heavy drops, but producers of around the same time were creating tracks with hip-hop style basslines at the drop. This would become a new sub-genre Jump-Up, though many of the early jump-up tracks incorporated edited amens at the drop. Influential artists include DJ Zinc, DJ Hype, Dillinja and Aphrodite (artist) amongst many others. The Dream Team would also produce jump-up tracks, usually under the name Dynamic Duo on Joker Records, in a style with similarities and differences to their Suburban Bass releases. Notice also the early use of the term “jump up jungle” rather than “jump up drum and bass”. The pigeon-holes for genres changed so quickly that jump-up was quickly also called drum and bass even as a sub-genre.

Opponents of a distinction would argue that there are many modern drum & bass productions with separated basslines, complex breakbeats and ragga vocals. This comes, however, from a mistaken distinction between tech step and drum and bass as outlined above, probably from interest in the music after mid-1995 when there was the creation of a variety of new styles or sub-genres, including Roni Size’s more jazz-influenced drum and bass, tech step and jump-up.

Probably the widest held viewpoint is that the terms are simply synonymous and interchangeable: Drum and Bass is jungle, and jungle is Drum and Bass.

“At the end of the day I am an ambassador for Drum and Bass the world over and have been playing for 16 years under the name Hype… To most of you out there Drum and Bass will be an important part of your lives, but for me Drum and Bass/Jungle is my life and always has been… We all have a part to play and believe me when I say I am no fucking bandwagon jumper, just a hard working Hackney man doing this thing called Drum and Bass/Jungle.” DJ Hype.

Promotion

Drum and Bass is widely promoted throughout the world using different methods, methods such as: Youtube, Blogs, Radio, and TV (very rarely)

Influences on drum and bass

Drum and bass music, born in samplers, has been and is heavily influenced by other music genres, though this influence has perhaps been lessened in the shift from jungle to drum and bass and the intelligent drum and bass and techstep revolution. It still remains a fusion music style.

Miles Davis has been named as one the most important influences, and blues artists like Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters & B.B King have also been cited by producers as inspirations.

As a musical style built around a funk or syncopated rock & roll beat, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Temptations, Jackson 5, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, the Supremes, the Commodores, George Clinton, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Herbie Hancock, James Brown and even Michael Jackson, are funky influences on the music.

A very obvious and strong influence on jungle and drum and bass is the original dub and reggae sound out of Jamaica, with pioneers like King Tubby, Peter Tosh, Sly & Robbie, Bill Laswell, Lee Perry, Mad Professor, Roots Radics, Bob Marley and Buju Banton heavily influencing the music. This influence has lessened with time but is still evident with many tracks containing ragga vocals.

Early hip-hop is an extremely important influence on drum and bass, with the genres sharing the same broken beat. Drum and bass shares many musical characteristics with hip-hop, though it is nowadays mostly stripped of lyrics. Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata, De La Soul, 2 Live Crew, Jungle Brothers, Kool Keith, Run DMC, Public Enemy, Schooly D, N.W.A, Kid Frost, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr Dre, Mos Def, Beastie Boys and the Pharcyde are very often directly sampled, regardless of their general influence.

Even modern avant-garde composers such as Henryk Gorecki have influenced drum and bass.

Many tracks belonging to other genres are ‘remixed’ into drum and bass versions. The quality of these remixes varies from the simple and primitive adding of broken beats to a vocal track or to complete reworkings that may exceed the original in quality and effort put into them. Original artists will often ask for drum and bass remixes of their tracks to be made in order to spark further interest in their tracks (e.g. Aphrodite’s remix of Jungle Brothers’ “Jungle Brother”).

On the other hand, some tracks are illegally remixed and released on white label (technically bootleg), often to acclaim. For example, DJ Zinc’s remix of The Fugees’ “Ready or Not”, also known as “Fugee Or Not”, was eventually released with the Fugees’ permission after talk of legal action, though coincidentally the Fugees’ version infringed Enya’s copyright to an earlier song. White labels along with dubplates play an important part in drum and bass musical culture.

One of the most influential tracks in drum and bass history was Amen Brother by The Winstons, containing a drum solo which went on to be known as the “Amen break”, which after being extensively used in early hip hop music, went on to become the basis for the rhythms used in drum and bass.

Direct influence

In mentioning drum and bass influences, special mention needs to be given to a few scenes and individuals.

The first is the US rank scene which emerged in the 1980s, the most famous artist being NYC’s Frankie Bones whose infamous ‘Bones Breaks’ series from the late ’80s onwards helped push the house-tempoed breakbeat sound (especially in the UK) and can be said to be a direct precursor to the UK breakbeat/hardcore scene.

The second is Kevin Saunderson, who released a series of bass-heavy, minimal techno cuts as Reese/The Reese Project in the late ’80s which were hugely influential in drum and bass terms. One of his more infamous basslines was indeed sampled on Renegade’s Terrorist and countless others since, being known simply as the ‘Reese’ bassline. He followed these up with equally influential (and bassline-heavy) tracks in the UK hardcore style as Tronik House in 1991/1992. Another Detroit artist who was important for the scene is Carl Craig. The sampled-up jazz break on Carl Craig’s Bug in the Bassbin was also influential on the newly emerging sound, DJs at the Rage club used to play it pitched up (increased speed) as far as their Technics record decks would go.

The third precursor worth mentioning here is the Miami, USA Booty Bass/Miami Bass scene, first popularised by 2 Live Crew in the mid to late ’80s. There are clear sonic parallels with drum and bass here in the use of uptempo synths and drum machines in producing bass-heavy party music.

Both the New York breakbeat and the Miami Bass scenes were strongly influenced by the ‘freestyle’ sound of New York, Chicago and Miami in the 1980s which incorporated electro, disco and Latin flavours, and which was in turn a key influence on the UK’s acid house/hardcore/rave scene.

Samples

Drum and bass tracks often contain many direct samples from other tracks, some examples are listed below:

Afrika Bambaataa’s eponymous “Planet Rock” – the beat is sampled in Hypnotist’s “Pioneers Of The Warped Groove” (Rising High)
Beastie Boys’s highly influential “The New Style” – the word “drop” is sampled in Lemon D’s “Break It Up” (Reinforced)
Cypress Hill’s searing “I Wanna Get High” – the horn loop beat is sampled in Shy FX Feat. UK Apache’s “Original Nuttah” (Sound Of Underground Recordings)
De La Soul’s “The Game Show” – the vocal “now, here’s what we’ll do” is sampled in DJ Krust’s “Guess” (V)
Rankin Joe’s “Step it Pon da Rastaman Scene” (taken from the Easy Star All-Stars’ Dub Side of the Moon) – the vocal line is sampled in the DJ Fresh and Pendulum collaboration “Babylon Rising” (Breakbeat Kaos)
Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” is heavily sampled in High Contrast’s “Days Go By” (The Contrast)
Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It” is sampled in Shy FX’s “Plastic Soul” (BINGO)
Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” is sampled in Chase & Status’ “Smash TV”
Drum and bass also samples other media, including film and television:

Apocalypse Now – The phrase “And for my sins they gave me one” is sampled in Hyper On Experience’s “Ouiji Awakening” (Moving Shadow)
Blade Runner – The phrase “The angels fell” is sampled in Dillinja’s “The Angels Fell” (Metalheadz)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory – The song sung by Willy Wonka during the boat scene is sampled in Pendulum’s “Through The Loop”
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – “And I wandered through the weird and lurid landscape of another planet” Is used by Pendulum in “Another Planet” and “What’s that flare? See it? A green flare, coming from Mars, kind of a green mist behind it. It’s getting closer. You see it, Bermuda?” is sampled by Logistics in “Thunderchild” (NHS96)
Spider-Man 2 – The phrase spoken by Alfred Molina’s character as he turned into Doctor Octopus “Ladies and Gentlemen… fasten your seat-belts!” is used in Pendulum & The Freestylers’ song “Fasten Your Seatbelt”
Goodfellas – The introduction narration “One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother’s groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect. .” is sampled in Shy Fx Feat. UK Apachi’s “Original Nuttah” (Sound Of Underground Recordings)
Robocop – The phrase “You’re gonna be a bad muthafucker” in A Guy Called Gerald’s “Cyber Jazz”
The Krays (film) – The phrase by the twins in the violent snooker hall scene “and you go back and tell um no one fucks with us” is sampled by R33CE.COM featuring Buju Banton the murderer smash hit released by Jet Star.
Scarface – The phrase “All I have in this world are my balls and my word… and I don’t break ‘em for no-one” in DJ Hype’s “True Playaz Anthem” (Parousia)
Anchorman – Noisia – Cannonball – Intro to the song is directly copied from the film, with the ‘cannonball’ shout being the first drop.

Influenced by drum and bass

Jungle/drum and bass has and continues to influence many other musical genres, thanks to its variety, experimentation and producer (borderline obsessive) professionalism.

Speed garage and 2step in the UK were born at the height of the popularity of jungle, copying the bass-lines, fast tempo (though much slowed down), ragga vocals (with frequent MC accompaniment) and production techniques. They may be referred to as descendants of drum and bass and at one time drove drum and bass into relative obscurity. Grime and dubstep, their descendants, have driven these genres underground whilst drum and bass has survived and evolved. Dubstep combines sounds of 2step with the deep basslines and the reggae vibe of early jungle.

Born at the end of the millennium, breakcore shares many of the elements of drum and bass and to the uninitiated, tracks from the extreme end of drum and bass, may sound identical to breakcore thanks to speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density combined with musical experimentation. Raggacore resembles a faster version of the ragga influenced jungle music of the 1990s, similar to breakcore but with more friendly dancehall beats (dancehall itself being a very important influence on drum and bass). Darkcore a direct influence on drum and bass, is itself heavily influenced by drum and bass, especially darkstep. There is considerable crossover from the extreme edges of drum and bass, breakcore, darkcore and raggacore with fluid boundaries.

Despite never gaining the mainstream popularity of speed garage and 2step, drum and bass’ impact in musical terms has been very significant and the genre has influenced many other genres like jazz, metal, hiphop, big beat, house music, trip hop, ambient music, techno, hardcore and pop, with artists such as Bill Laswell, Slipknot, Incubus, Pitchshifter, Refused, Linkin Park, The Roots, Tabla Beat Science, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney, MIDIval Punditz, Jedi Mind Tricks, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Pharell, Fat Boy Slim, Lamb, Underworld, The Streets, The Freestylers, Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie (the last two both using elements of Goldie’s “Timeless”) and others quoting drum and bass and using drum and bass techniques and elements. This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of impact and influence. The USA has adopted the sound with a genre called Ghettotech which have synth and basslines similar to drum & bass.

Drum and bass globally

Despite its roots in the UK, which can still be treated as the “home” of drum and bass, the style has firmly established itself around the world. There are strong scenes in other English-speaking countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. It is popular throughout continental Europe, and in South America. São Paulo is sometimes called the drum and bass Ibiza. Brazilian drum and bass is sometimes referred to as “sambass”, with its specific style and sound. In Venezuela and Mexico, artists have created their own forms of drum and bass combining it with experimental musical forms. Asia also has a drum and bass scene in countries and cities like Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Shanghai and Singapore. Established international drum and bass producers and DJ’s include names such as, Roni Size (England), B-Complex (Slovakia), DJ Marky (Brazil), D.Kay (Austria), Noisia (Netherlands), Netsky (Belgium), Hive (United States), Dieselboy (United States), Shapeshifter (New Zealand), Black Sun Empire (Netherlands), Counterstrike (South Africa), XRS (Brazil), Teebee (Norway), Evol Intent (United States), Makoto (Japan), Mutated Forms (Estonia), Concord Dawn (New Zealand), Camo & Krooked (Austria) and Muffler and Physics (Finland).

Appearances in the mainstream

“I’ll keep you in safety, forever protect you. I’ll hide you away from, the world you rejected. I’ll hide you, I’ll hide you.” – Kosheen “Hide U” (Moksha) 1999

“Shotter, hitter, serial killer! Go a your funeral and all drink out your liquor, when you are bury, we a stand next to vicar. Fling on some dirt and make you bury little quicker, shouldn’t test the youth dem in the Tommy Hilfiger.” – Pendulum & MC Spyda & Tenor Fly “Tarantula” (Breakbeat Kaos) 2005

Certain drum and bass releases have found mainstream popularity in their own right, almost always material prominently featuring vocals.

Perhaps the earliest example was Goldie’s Timeless album of 1995, along with Reprazent’s Mercury Music Prize-winning New Forms in 1997, 4hero’s Mercury nominated Two Pages in 1998, and Pendulum’s Hold Your Colour in 2005 (the biggest selling Drum And Bass album of all time.) Tracks such as Shy FX and T-Power’s “Shake UR Body” gained a UK Top 40 Chart placing in 2005.

Video game tracks, particularly Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto series have contained drum and bass tracks. The MSX/MSX 98 radio station by DJ Timecode in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, played drum and bass exclusively.

The genre has some popularity in soundtracks, for instance Hive’s “Ultrasonic Sound” was used in the Matrix’s soundtrack and the E-Z Rollers’ song “Walk This Land” appeared in the film “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. Ganja Kru’s “Super Sharp Shooter” is heard in the 2006 film Johnny Was.

The Channel 4 show Skins uses the genre in some episodes. Notably in Series 1 – Episode 3 (Jal) Shy-Fx and UK Apachi – Original Nutta is played in Fazers club.

Drum and bass often makes an appearance as background music, especially in Top Gear and television commercials thanks to its aggressive and energetic beats. Cartoon Network’s Toonami programming block also employs it for television spots and show intros,like the relaunch of SCI FI Channel (1997) segue music by Jungle Sky label. However, due to the relative obscurity of the genre, most listeners would not recognize the music as drum and bass.

Record labels

Drum and Bass as a whole is dominated by a small group of “hardcore” record labels. These are run mainly by some of the scene’s most prominent DJ–producers, such as Roni Size’s Full Cycle Records, London Elektricity’s Hospital Records, Andy C’s Ram, Goldie’s Metalheadz , Dj Fresh’s Breakbeat Kaos and DJ Hype, Pascal and DJ Zinc’s True Playaz.

In the Southwestern United states, in Los Angeles, From 2000 to Present, Nitrous Oxide Entertainment A small but very important record label to Drum And Bass, has been bridging the Gap Between Mainstream music through One of their Jungle Tools DJ Break albums Being Used in A Slipknot song “EyeLess” (Or it could be the opening few bars to the 1996 song on “Back 2 Basics” called “Ease Yourself”, by “The Collective”). The break is the basic amen but is used to start and mixed in with Heavy Metal N2o Was also known for their Heavy Ragga/Dub influence on the LA Underground Scene.artists on the label include; DJ STARSCREAM, B-BOY 3000,CRYLIC, GENERAL MALICE,DJ 3D,DJ SHIRO,HED PE,DIALEKT. All Well Known in the Los Angeles Scene, B-boy 3000 Crylic and N8 Released The DJ Break albums “JUNGLE TOOLS 1,2,3,4 & 3.5 (a Single 45′” almost essential to D&B Historians.

The major international music labels such as Sony Music, Universal have shown very little interest in the drum and bass scene though there has been a few signings, most recently Pendulum’s In Silico LP to Warner. Roni Size’s Full Cycle Records, which played a big,or if not the biggest part in the creation of Drum and Bass,with their dark, baseline sounds. V.Recordings was also a massive part of the development of Drum and Bass. With Roni Size, Krust and Dj Die producing different, great tracks which were considered to be the first Mainstream Drum and Bass tracks. In recent times Andy C’s label Ram Records (UK) is pushing the boundaries of drum and bass further into the mainstream. Artists like Chase & Status as well as Pendulum are already hovering in the mainstream and singles like “DJ Marky and XRS – LK” have in the past topped the UK charts.

Accessing drum and bass

Purchasing

Drum and bass is mostly sold in 12-inch vinyl single format. With the emergence of drum and bass into mainstream music markets, more and more albums, compilations and DJ mixes are being sold on CDs. Still, purchasing drum and bass music can involve searching for new releases in specialized record shops or using one of the many online vinyl, CD and MP3 retailers.

Drum and bass can also be purchased in the form of “tape packs”, which are a collection of recordings recorded at a selected rave or party. Each tape contains the set by one DJ at that particular rave/party including the MCs.

Most tape packs contain 8 tapes with sets from different DJs. More recently tape packs have become available on CD as tape cassettes are being phased out and recordable CD media is more available, although the CD packs still retain their traditional name of “tape packs”. Most of these packs contain 6 CDs.

Distributors (Wholesale)

The bulk of drum and bass vinyl records and CDs are distributed globally and regionally by a relatively small number of companies such as SRD (Southern Record Distributors), ST Holdings, & Nu Urban.

“Live” Drum and Bass

Aphrodite at 2009 Moscow action of the Pirate Station: Immortal. World’s largest drum and bass festival.
Many music groups and musicians (such as Roni Size’s Reprazent, Jojo Mayer’s Nerve, Pendulum, Shapeshifter, E-Z Rollers, STS9, KJ Sawka London Elektricity, Chase & Status, Johnny Rabb’s BioDiesel, The Disco Biscuits, Lake Trout ….) have taken drum and bass to “live” performances, which features an acoustic drum kit, synthesizers, bass (upright or electric), and other instruments. Samplers have also been taken live by playing samples on drum pads or synthesizers, assigning samples to a specific drum pad or key. MCs are frequently featured in live performances. Some acts such as Fragment use a lineup of a guitarist, bassist, at least one keyboardist, and an acoustic drummer, even if none of these instruments are present in the actual song, simply to give it a “thicker live sound”. DJ FU and the Jungle Drummer also feature predominatly in modern day live d’n'b. Their show features them battling live on stage in a DJ v drummer scnario. With Jungle Drummer drumming at speeds up to 180 bpm. Other acts to take note of on the ‘live’ drum and bass scene include Pendulum and Chase & Status, both of whom perform their tracks live. This has given both of these bands a way to access the mainstream, giving drum and bass a more commercial edge.

Media presence

Radio

The two highest profile radio stations playing drum and bass shows are The Drum and Bass Show with Fabio and Grooverider on BBC Radio 1, simulcast in the US and Canada on Sirius XM, and DJ Hype on Kiss 100 in London. The BBC’s “urban” station BBC 1Xtra also features the genre heavily, with DJs Bailey and Crissy Criss as its advocates. The network also organises a week-long tour of the UK each year called Xtra Bass. London pirate radio stations have been instrumental in the development of Drum and Bass, with stations such as Kool FM (which continues to broadcast today having done so since 1991), Don FM (the only Drum and Bass pirate to have gained a temporary legal license), Rude FM, Origin FM and Eruption amongst the most influential.

Since 1999, drum and bass continues to be featured 24/7 on www.bassdrive.com and www.bassdrive.co.uk with live DJ’s from around the world. With a roster that includes A-sides, Ash-a-Tack, Stunna, Jamie Smith, Flaco, Fusion, DFunk, Will Miles, Overfiend, Reflect, Spinn, Operon, big bud, Komatic, Carl Matthes, Mixmaster Doc, Random Movement, Calculon, Dan Marshall, Andy Sim, Paul SG, and many more added each year along with new upcoming internet radio stations like www.noisemonster.fm and www.KrisisDNB.com.

In North America, XM Satellite, 89.5 CIUT (Toronto), Album 88.5 (Atlanta) and C89.5fm (Seattle) have shows showcasing drum and bass. Seattle also has a long standing electronica show known as Expansions on 90.3 FM KEXP. The rotating DJ’s include Kid Hops, whose shows are made up mostly of drum and bass. In Columbus, Ohio WCBE 90.5 has a two hour electronic only showcase, “All Mixed Up,” Saturday nights at 10pm. At the same time WUFM 88.7 plays its “Electronic Playground.” Also, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s rock station, 104.5 The Edge, has a two hour show starting at 10:00PM Saturday nights called Edge Essential Mix mixed by DJ Demko showcasing electronic and drum and bass style. While the aforemention shows in Ohio rarely play drum and bass the latter plays the genre with some frequency. In Tucson, Arizona 91.3 FM KXCI has a two hour electronic show known as “Digital Empire”, Friday nights at 10pm (MST). Resident DJ Trinidad showcases various styles of electronica, with the main focus being drum and bass, jungle, & dubstep. Founded in 2002, Digital Empire features weekly guest DJs and producers, as well as an extensive online playlist and live webstream at KXCI’s website.

In New Zealand, Aeon hosts a 4 hour Drum & Bass show called System Bypass on 105.4 BOPFM (Tauranga) every Sunday night from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, featuring some of New Zealand’s, and the world’s, latest Dnb tunes. Aeon also hosts a Dubstep show every Thursday on BOPFM.

In Australia, Spikey Tee plays an hour long Drum and Bass show, every Saturday night at 2am on 97.7 fm Sbs Radio Alchemy(Sydney).

In the Philippines, 103.5 Max FM has “The Bass Hour” every Saturday at midnight that caters to nothing but bass music.

In France, the American University of Paris has a two-hour Drum and Bass program called “Jungle B Eyrie” hosted every Wednesday at 6pm +1GMT.

In Belgium, the national radio station “Studio Brussel” has a weekly show called “Jungle Fever” the radio show is hosted by Murdock, one of the famous Drum n Bass dj’s in Belgium.

In Estonia, Radio 2 has two shows, which play DnB – “Tramm ja Buss” (hosted by dj/producer S.I.N & the legend in Estonian D’n'B sceen Raul Saaremets) and “Tjuun In” (hosted by Qba, To-Sha and L.Eazy).

Magazines

The best known drum and bass publication was Kmag magazine(formerly called Knowledge Magazine) before it went completely online in August 2009. Other publications include the longest running drum and bass magazine worldwide ATM Magazine, and Austrian-based Resident. Toronto-based Rinse Magazine, dedicated to the North American drum and bass scene, was established in 2002 by publisher John Tan, ran for 28 issues, ending in 2007. The editor was Richard Yuzon.

Literature

A History of Rock Music, 1951-2000 by Piero Scaruffi (ISBN 978-0595295654), nonfiction in HTML form
All Crews: Journeys Through Jungle / Drum and Bass Culture by Brian Belle-Fortune (ISBN 0-9548897-0-3), nonfiction
“Roots ‘n Future” in Energy Flash by Simon Reynolds, Picador (ISBN 0-330-35056-0), nonfiction (British edition)
Generation Ecstasy : Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture by Simon Reynolds, Routledge. (ISBN 0415923735), nonfiction (American edition)
Rumble in the Jungle: The Invisible History of Drum and Bass by Steven Quinn, in: Transformations, No 3 (2002), nonfiction (ISSN 1444-377) PDF file
State of Bass: Jungle – The Story So Far by Martin James, Boxtree (ISBN 0-7522-2323-2), nonfiction
The Rough Guide to Drum ‘n’ Bass by Peter Shapiro and Alexix Maryon (ISBN 1-85828-433-3), nonfiction
King Rat by China Miéville (ISBN 0-330-37098-7), fiction

Online

Drum and bass has a very strong, important and vocal online presence with many dedicated portals, forums, communities and internet radio stations – the internet has to much degree superseded the role of pirate radio stations in spreading and popularising the genre, as the stations have switched to newer genres. Internet sites are a source of the latest mixes (professional or amateur) and tracks by unsigned producers Drum and Bass for unsigned artists. The dominant and most popular websites are Dogs On Acid and Drum and Bass Arena.

Dancing

A style of rave dance named ‘X-Outing’ developed in Eastern Europe during the late 2000s. The street dance involves quick step-like movements, whereby the dancer hops between their heels and toes in a rapid motion, from leg to leg. The dancer would also often rock forwards and back on their heels and toes with one of their legs in front. The core ‘stepping’ move is usually called the ‘X-Step’ by many dancers. Involving many different flavors of body movements, the dance is also danced to breakcore and certain other types of freetekno and rave music. Many X-Outing dancers upload videos of themselves performing the dance to the popular video-hosting website ‘YouTube’. X-Outing dancers often participate in underground social competitions of the dance amongst other dancers on the streets of moscow. Tecktonik is also often danced to the music.

As a musical genre that has recently emerged, drum and bass music has not been the subject of much academic or printed study. As such, reference materials are generally primary (particularly interviews with music producers, DJs, record label owners and listeners) and online.

“The early development of drum’n’bass had occurred in a seeming journalistic vacuum due to its perceived affiliation with the critically-dismissed sounds of rave. Once it had achieved the traditional markers of success, its emergence was rewritten into the pages of musical history.” – Steven Quinn, Rumble In the Jungle, the Invisible History of Drum ‘n’ Bass

List of jungle and drum’n'bass artists

This is a list of jungle and drum and bass artists. This includes artists who have either been very important to the genre or have had a considerable amount of exposure (such as in the case of one that has been on a major label, but not limited to such).

0-9

* 2 Bad Mice
* 4 Hero
* 1.8.7

A

* A Guy Called Gerald
* Adam F
* AFX
* AK1200
* Alex Reece
* Alix Perez
* Alpha Omega
* Amon Tobin
* Andy C
* Apex
* Aphex Twin
* Aphrodite
* Aquasky
* Arcon 2
* Axiom
* Asian Dub Foundation
* Artificial Intelligence

B

* B-Complex
* Bad Company
* Baron
* Black Sun Empire
* Blu Mar Ten
* Blue Stahli
* Brainshocker
* Breakbeat Era
* Brown Brigade
* Brockie
* Brokenspud
* bryan g
* BOBBU
* Bailey
* Breakage
* Bachelors of Science
* Brookes Brothers
* Brother
* Break
* Blame
* Bulletproof

C

* Calibre
* Calyx
* Capital J
* Cause 4 Concern
* Chase & Status
* Cooh
* Chris Lake
* Commix
* Concord Dawn
* Congo Natty
* Corrupt Souls
* Counterstrike
* Crissy Criss
* Crystal Clear
* Current Value
* Cyantific
* Chris.SU
* cru-l-t
* Current Value

D

* Dirtyphonics
* Danny Breaks
* Danny Byrd
* Dara
* Decoder
* D.Kay
* DeeJay Delta
* DJ Hype
* DJ Hazard
* Dextrous
* Die
* DJ Spice
* Dieselboy
* Dillinja
* Dom & Roland
* Donny
* Doubleclick
* Dwarf Electro
* Delta 9
* Drumagick
* Doc Scott
* D-Bridge
* Dylan

E

* Ed Rush
* Enduser
* Equinox
* Evol Intent
* Exile
* Eye-D
* EZ Rollers
* Electrosoul System
* Eveson

F

* Fabio
* Felon
* Flashbulb
* Food
* Freaky Flow
* Fresh
* Friction
* Future Cut
* Future Engineers
* Future Prophecies
* Fourward
* Freestyle
* Flight

G

* Goldie
* Greg Packer
* Gridlok
* Grooverider

H

* Hidden
* High Contrast
* Hive
* Hybrid
* Hyper-On Experience
* Hype
* Hyphen

I

* Ill.Skillz
* Idoleast
* Icicle
* Instra:mantal
* Ink

J

* Jamie Myerson
* J Majik
* Jojo Mayer’s Nerve
* Jonny L

K

* Keaton
* Kemal
* Kemistry
* Kemistry & Storm
* Kenny ken
* Keltech
* Kjell
* Klute
* Kosheen
* Krazy Josifer
* Krust
* Kubiks
* K-Tee
* Konflict

L

* Lamb
* Lemon D
* Leviticus
* Limewax
* Lighterman
* Logistics
* Lomax
* London Elektricity
* LTJ Bukem
* Lynx
* Lenzman
* Loxy

M

* Makoto
* Marky
* Mark F.
* Matrix
* Micky Finn
* DJ Muffler
* Mistabishi
* Mutt
* Marcus Intalex
* Methodus

N

* Netsky
* Nobukazu Takemura
* Noisia
* Nucleus
* Nu:Logic
* Nu:tone
* Naibu
* Niskerone

O

* Omni Trio
* Optical
* Original Sin

P

* Panacea
* Panda
* Paradox
* Pascal
* Patife
* Paul B
* Pendulum
* Peter Nice Trio
* Phace
* Photek
* pH10
* Plug
* Polar
* Prolix
* Peyo
* Paul SG
* PFM
* Proket

Q

* Q Project
* Quoit
* Qemists

R

* Raiden
* Ram Trilogy
* DJ randall
* Rap
* Red
* Red Snapper
* Remedy
* Renegade Soundwave
* Reprazent
* Resonance
* Richard D. James
* RocksteadyUK
* Roni Size
* Rregula
* Random Movement
* Rockwell
* Redeyes
* Ron Kinderz

S

* Seba
* Shapeshifter
* Shy FX
* Shimon
* Source Direct
* Slipmatt
* Spor
* Spice
* Spring Heel Jack
* Squarepusher
* SS
* Stamina MC
* Step 13
* Stratus
* Starscream
* MC Skibadee
* Sub Focus
* System 7
* Sylo
* Spectrasoul
* Subterra
* Stunna
* Simon Bassline Smith
* Stakka
* Skynet
* Storm
* Sabukuro
* Switch
* S.P.Y
* State of Mind

T

* Tabla Beat Science
* Tiki Taane
* Tech Level 2
* Teebee
* Temper D and K-Fire
* Timecode
* Total Science
* T-Power
* Trace
* Typecell
* Theo B
* TC
* Tech Itch

U

* UFO!
* Ulterior Motive
* Utah Jazz
* Usual Suspects
* Upbeats

V

* Vector Burn
* Venetian Snares
* Vicious Circle
* Vinyl Fatigue

W

* Wickaman
* Witchman
* Whisker Twister

X

* XRS
* Xample

Z

* Zinc
* Zippy Kid
* Zero T
* Zyon Base

Copyright: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia music articles and other sources pertaining to this post’s subject matter.