Breakbeat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the electronic music genre. For the musical element, see Break (music). For the record label, see Breakbeat Kaos.
Breakbeat
Stylistic origins
  • nu-funk
Fusion genres

Breakbeat is a broad type of

drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage styles (including 2-step, breakstep and dubstep).[1][2]

Etymology

The origin of the word "breakbeat" is the fact that the

Think Break (from "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins).[1][2]

History

1970s—1980s: Classic breaks and hip hop production

Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s,

Grand Wizard Theodore.[4][dubious – discuss] This style was extremely popular in clubs and dancehalls because the extended breaks compositions provided breakers
with more opportunities to showcase their skills.

In the late 1970s, breakbeats had attained a large presence in hip hop. In the 1980s, the evolution of technology began to make sampling breaks easier and more affordable for DJs and producers, which helped nurture the commercialization of hip hop. Through early techniques such as pausing tapes and then recording the break, by the 1980s, technology allowed anybody with a tape recorder to find the breakbeat.[5]

1990s: Evolution as electronic dance genre

In the late-1980s, breakbeat became an essential feature of many genres of breaks music which became popular within the global dance music scene, including

acid breaks, electro-funk, and Miami bass, and a decade later big beat and nu skool breaks
.

In the early 1990s, acid house artists and producers started using breakbeat samples in their music to create breakbeat hardcore.[6] The hardcore scene then diverged into subgenres like jungle and drum and bass, which generally was faster and focused more on complex sampled drum patterns. An example of this is Goldie's album Timeless. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave"[7] because the ever-changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out, trance-like state that the standard, steady 4/4 beats of house enabled.

"Amidst the Raindrops"
A clip of downtempo progressive breaks music.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Incorporating many components of those genres, the Florida breaks subgenre followed during the early-to-mid 1990s and had a unique sound that was soon internationally popular among producers, DJs, and club-goers.

In 1994, the influential techno act Autechre released the Anti EP in response to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, deliberately using advanced algorithmic programming to generate non-repetitive breakbeats for the full duration of the tracks, in order to subvert the legal definitions within that legislation which specified in the section creating police powers to remove ravers from raves that "'music' includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats".

In the late 1990s, another style of breakbeat emerged, funky breaks, a style that was incorporating elements of

Mo'Wax Records imprint. The genre had commercial peak in 1997, when such music was topping in pop charts and often featured in commercials. The most notable artists of the sound were The Prodigy, Death in Vegas, The Crystal Method, Propellerheads.[8]

Characteristics

The tempo of breaks tracks, ranging from 110 to 150 beats per minute, allows DJs to mix breaks with a wide range of different genres in their sets. This has led to breakbeats being used in many

hardcore tracks. They can also be heard in other music, anywhere from popular music to background music in car and clothing commercials on radio or TV.[9]

The "Amen break"

Main article: Amen break

The Amen break, a drum break from

royalties for third-party use of samples of the break recorded on their original music release.[11]

Sampled breakbeats

With the advent of digital sampling and music editing on the computer, breakbeats have become much easier to create and use. Now, instead of cutting and splicing tape sections or constantly backspinning two records at the same time, a computer program can be used to cut, paste, and loop breakbeats endlessly. Digital effects such as

pitch shifting
can be added to the beat, and even to individual sounds by themselves. Individual instruments from within a breakbeat can be sampled and combined with others, thereby creating wholly new breakbeat patterns.

Legal issues

With the rise in popularity of breakbeat music and the advent of digital audio samplers, companies started selling "breakbeat packages" for the express purpose of helping artists create breakbeats. A breakbeat kit CD would contain many breakbeat samples from different songs and artists, often without the artist's permission or even knowledge.[12]

Subgenres

Acid breaks

"Acid breaks" or "chemical breaks" is acid house, but with a breakbeat instead of a house beat. One of the earliest synthesizers to be employed in acid music was the Roland TB-303, which makes use of a resonant low-pass filter to emphasize the harmonics of the sound.

Big beat

Main article: Big beat

Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Cut La Roc, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in common with established forms of electronic dance music such as techno and acid house.

Progressive breaks

Progressive breaks or prog breaks, also known as atmospheric breaks, is a subgenre of breaks that is essentially a fusion of breakbeat and

BT, Way Out West, Digital Witchcraft, Momu
, Wrecked Angle, Burufunk, Under This and Fretwell.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Mullen, Matt; Truss, Si; Williams, Stuart (2022-09-15). "The history of breaks in music production". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  2. ^ a b "Breakbeat Music Guide: 3 Characteristics of Breakbeat". MasterClass. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  3. ^ Necroguttural (2016-12-07), Hip-Hop Evolution - "Grandmaster Flash" The Origin of Scratching on Vinyl, archived from the original on 2021-11-17, retrieved 2017-12-09
  4. ^ a b Modulations: A History of Electronic Music, Peter Shapiro, ed. New York: Caipirnha Productions Inc., 2000, p. 152
  5. ^ Schloss, Joseph (2004). History in Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University. p. 40.
  6. ^ Thomas, Gideon. "Breakbeat Hardcore - Your Ultimate Guide". Core Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  7. ^ Generation Ecstasy, Simon Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 1999, p. 253
  8. ISBN 0-87930-628-9
    .
  9. ^ "Nate Harrison". nkhstudio.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  10. ^ "10 Most Sampled Breakbeats". blog.whosampled.com.
  11. ^ a b "Musical history: Seven seconds of fire". The Economist. The Economist Newspaper Limited. 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  12. ^ Goodyer, Tim (March 1992). "Criminal Record?". Music Technology. United Kingdom: Music Maker Publications (UK). pp. 54–59. Retrieved 2020-01-20.

External links

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