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Breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often 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).
The origin of the word "breakbeat" is the fact that the drum loops that were sampled occurred during a "break" in the music – for example, the Amen break (a drum solo from "Amen, Brother" by the Winstons) or the Think break (from "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins).
Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop turntablists such as DJ Kool Herc began using several funk breaks in a row, using drum breaks from jazz-funk tracks such as James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and the Winstons' "Amen, Brother", to form the rhythmic base for hip-hop songs.
DJ Kool Herc's breaks style involved playing the same record on two turntables and playing the break repeatedly, alternating between the two records. Grandmaster Flash perfected this idea with what he called the "quick-mix theory": he would mark the points on the record where the break began and ended with a crayon, so that he could easily replay the break by spinning the record and not touching the tone arm. This style was copied and improved upon by early hip-hop DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore.[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.
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. 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" 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.
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.
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Breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often 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).
The origin of the word "breakbeat" is the fact that the drum loops that were sampled occurred during a "break" in the music – for example, the Amen break (a drum solo from "Amen, Brother" by the Winstons) or the Think break (from "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins).
Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop turntablists such as DJ Kool Herc began using several funk breaks in a row, using drum breaks from jazz-funk tracks such as James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and the Winstons' "Amen, Brother", to form the rhythmic base for hip-hop songs.
DJ Kool Herc's breaks style involved playing the same record on two turntables and playing the break repeatedly, alternating between the two records. Grandmaster Flash perfected this idea with what he called the "quick-mix theory": he would mark the points on the record where the break began and ended with a crayon, so that he could easily replay the break by spinning the record and not touching the tone arm. This style was copied and improved upon by early hip-hop DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore.[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.
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. 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" 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.
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.