Drum and bass (drum n bass, drum'n'bass, DnB, d'n'b) is an electronic music style. Electronic music is a loose term for music created using electronic equipment. ...

Originally an offshoot of the United Kingdom breakbeat hardcore and rave scene, it came into existence when people mixed reggae basslines with sped-up hip hop breakbeats. Pioneers such as Fabio, Grooverider, Andy C, Roni Size, DJ SS, Brockie, Mickey Finn, Kenny Ken, Goldie, Velocity and other DJs quickly became the stars of drum and bass, then still called jungle. Jump to: navigation, search Breakbeat hardcore (or rave) is a style of electronic music. ... Jump to: navigation, search A rave party, more often called a rave and sometimes called a free party, is typically an all-night dance event where DJs and other performers play electronic dance music and rave music. ... Jump to: navigation, search Reggae is a style of music developed in Jamaica. ... A bassline is a series of notes with tones that are low in pitch or frequency. ... Hip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban African American youth in New York and has since spread around the world. ... This article is about breakbeat, the genre. ... Fabio is a drum and bass DJ and producer from the UK. He presents a show on Radio 1 in conjunction with Grooverider, and runs the Creative Source record label. ... Promotional shot of DJ Grooverider Grooverider (born Raymond Bingham) is the stage name of a drumnbass DJ from London. ... Promotional shot of DJ Andy C Andy C, real name Andrew Clarke, is a British DJ and producer. ... Roni Size, real name Ryan Williams, is a Bristol-based drum and bass producer known for working as part of Reprazent with Krust, DJ Die, Suv, and MC Dynamite. ... Mickey Finn is a slang term for a drug-laced drink, given to someone without their knowledge in order to incapacitate them. ... Goldie at a rave in Springfield, Massachusetts (taken in 2003) Clifford Price, better known as Goldie (born December 28, 1965 in Wolverhampton) is a British electronic music artist, disc jockey, and actor. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about velocity in physics. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search Jungle music (or just Jungle) is a term for a genre of music also known as drum and bass. ...

There is no universally accepted semantic distinction between the terms "jungle" and "drum and bass". Some associate "jungle" with older material from the first half of the 1990s, and see drum and bass as essentially succeeding jungle with the newer, post-techstep developments. Others use jungle as a shorthand for ragga jungle, a specific sub-genre within the broader realm of drum and bass. In the USA, the combined term "Jungle Drum and Bass" (JDB) has some popularity, but is not widespread elsewhere. 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 - although many drum and bass or jungle fans will debate this belief.

History

Beginnings in the UK

Early jungle was an offshoot of rave (US readers may think of this as techno music but "rave" is very different from the stripped-down Detroit "techno" sound) music that focused on the breakbeat. Although jungle music originated largely within Britain's Afro-Caribbean communities, it benefited from the diverse influences of many racial and cultural groups, often brought together in the inclusive ecstasy-fueled atmosphere of the Acid House raves which exploded in popularity in the late eighties. The subculture which produced jungle remains one of the most racially-mixed musical cultures, and the proliferation of sub-genres within drum and bass often proceeds from the adoption of unexpected musical elements. The influence of Jamaican sound-system culture can be found in the use of basslines derived from Dub and Reggae music, alongside the fast breakbeats derived from hip-hop and Funk, alongside many production techniques borrowed from House and Techno music. Rhythm and blues (or R&B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Jerry Wexler at Billboard magazine, used to designate upbeat popular music performed by African American artists that combined jazz and blues. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced reggae music. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in the British and French colonial islands of the Caribbean at about the start of the 20th century. ... Jump to: navigation, search This page is about the musical style. ... This article is about the Jamaican music. ... Jump to: navigation, search The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Location of Kingston Kingston (population 600,000) is the capital of Jamaica. ... A musical instrument is a device that has been constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Yamaha BB400S Electric Bass A bass guitar is an electric or acoustic bass - a stringed instrument similar in design to the guitar, but with longer scale and tuned lower in pitch. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search The acoustic archtop guitar used in Jazz features steel strings The guitar is a stringed musical instrument. ... The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the western musical tradition, with a rich history connected with the Christian religion and civic ceremony. ... Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, a solid-solid solution. ... A Hohner melodica The melodica is a free-reed instrument similar to the accordion and harmonica. ... Jump to: navigation, search The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... Trip hop (also known as the Bristol sound) is a term coined by United Kingdom dance magazine Mixmag, to describe a musical trend in the mid-1990s; trip hop is downtempo electronic music that grew out of Englands hip hop and house scenes. ... The term Reggae is, in a proper sense, only supposed to cover the period in Jamaican music from 1969 to 1979 or 1985 (depending on how you look at it). ... Roots Reggae is the name given to Rastafarian reggae music from Jamaica, which evolved from Ska and Rocksteady and made famous by the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Marley. ... It has been suggested that Dub reggae be merged into this article or section. ... Dub Poetry is a form of performance poetry consisting of spoken word over reggae rhythms, that originated in Jamaica in the 1970s. ... For other meanings see Toast (disambiguation) Toasting, chatting, or DJing is the act of talking or chanting over a rhythm or beat. ... For the Sade album, Lovers Rock, see Lovers Rock Lovers Rock is Britains main contribution to reggae. ... Dancehall is a type of Jamaican reggae which developed around 1979, with artists such as Barrington Levy and others who went on to become the Roots Radics. ... Raggamuffin (or ragga) is a kind of reggae that includes digitized backing instrumentation. ... Jump to: navigation, search Reggaeton is a form of dance music which has become popular with Latin American youth during the late 1990s and has spread to North American and European audiences during the first few years of the 21st century. ... Seggae is a music genre invented in the mid 80s by the Mauritian rasta singer, Joseph Reginald Topize (Sometimes known as Kaya after a song title by Bob Marley) and is a fusion of sega and reggae. ... Ska punk is a fusion of Jamaican ska and British and American punk rock. ... Trip hop (also known as the Bristol sound) is a term coined by United Kingdom dance magazine Mixmag, to describe a musical trend in the mid-1990s; trip hop is downtempo electronic music that grew out of Englands hip hop and house scenes. ... Reggae is a kind of Jamaican popular music that has spread to much of the world, especially including Africa. ... Jump to: navigation, search Haile Selassie I Rasta, or the Rastafari movement of Jah people, is a religious movement that reveres Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as King of Kings, Lord of Lords and the Lion of Judah. ... Jump to: navigation, search His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I (Power of Trinity) (born Lij Tafari Makonnen, July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975), styled HIM Haile Selassie I, was the Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia. ... Jump to: navigation, search Marcus Garvey (far right) in parade Marcus Mosiah Garvey (August 17, 1887 – June 10, 1940) was a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, crusader for black nationalism and founder of the UNIA-ACL. He was born in Jamaica. ... Jungle music is one of the most deviant and punkish forms of electronic music, employing fast tempos (150-190 BPM is common), layering extended and mangled breakbeats on top of throbbing, authoritative basslines, originally borrowed from reggae. ... The RAVE Act (an acronym for Reducing Americans Vulnerability to Ecstasy) was a bill (S.2633) proposed, but not passed, during the 107th US Congress [1]. It was later passed (S.226) as the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act during the 108th US Congress, mostly unchanged and backed by the... Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the mid-1980s and primarily refers to a particular style developed in and around Detroit and subsequently adopted by European producers. ... Breakbeat (breakbeats or breaks), are a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, chiefly exemplified by drum and bass and jungle, usually characterized by a non-straighted 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house or trance). ... Acid house is a variant of house music characterized by the use of simple tone generators with tempo-controlled resonant filters. ... As understood in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a distinct set of behaviour and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. ... Dub can refer to: dub music, a sub-genre of reggae music a mostly-instrumental remix, usually without lyrics but still with chorus The IATA airport code for Dublin Airport, Dublin, Republic of Ireland dubbing, the process of recording or replacing voices for a motion picture dubbing, also the process... Jump to: navigation, search Reggae is a style of music developed in Jamaica. ... Hip hop is a cultural movement that began among urban African Americans and Latinos in New York City in the early 1970s, and has since spread around the world. ... Jump to: navigation, search Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e. ... See also list of house types. ... Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the mid-1980s and primarily refers to a particular style developed in and around Detroit and subsequently adopted by European producers. ...

As the speed of hardcore accelerated, the complex nature of the sampled funk breakbeats led to the adoption of basslines which had less in common with the simple patterns of house and techno music than with the complex phrasings of dub and hip-hop. Gradually, the bass and drum elements began to dominate to the music and, combined with the increase in speed, jungle became incompatible with house and techno and began to develop its own separate identity. This sonic identity became highly-distinctive for both the depth of its bass and the increasingly-complex, rapid-fire breakbeat percussion. New techniques of drum sampling and layering were developed by jungle producers to achieve these effects, resulting in a focus on the intricacies of drum production that continues to define the music. As the influences of reggae and dub became more prominent, the sound of jungle began to take on an urban sound which was heavily influenced by ragga and dancehall music as well as hip-hop, often incorporating the distinctive vocals and mc chants of these styles of music.

However, as the early nineties saw jungle break out from its underground roots and begin to win popularity with the general British public, many producers attempted to expand the influences of the music beyond the domination of ragga-based sounds. By 1995, a counter movement to the ragga style was emerging, dubbed "intelligent" jungle by the music press, and embodied by LTJ Bukem and his Good Looking label. Some say that the move to intelligent jungle was a conscious and concerted reaction by top DJs and producers against a culture that was becoming tinged with "gangsta" and violent elements, and stereotyped with the recognizable production techniques of the ragga-influenced producers. Intelligent jungle maintained the uptempo breakbeat percussion, but focused on more atmospheric sounds and warm, deep basslines over vocals or samples which often originated from Soul or Jazz music. From this period on, jungle would maintain the unity of a relatively-small musical culture, but one characterised by a competing group of stylistic influences. Although many DJs have specialised in distinctive sub-genres within jungle and drum and bass, the majority of artists within the genre remain connected via record labels, events and radio shows. Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Intelligent drum and bass (IDB) (or Intelligent jungle) is the widespread yet almost universally disliked term for the subgenre of jungle/drum and bass emphasising influences from lounge jazz and ambient music. ... LTJ Bukem is the stage name used by the drum and bass musician Danny Williamson (born 1967, London). ... Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). ... Jump to: navigation, search Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ...

Early Pioneers

Early heroes of dnb music include A Guy Called Gerald (seminal track "28 Gun Bad Boy") and 4hero ("Mr Kirk's Nightmare") who later developed their own styles, leaving the drum and bass mainstream. In contrast, producers such as Remarc, Mickey Finn, Goldie and Omni Trio continue to be active within the genre. The majority of the early producers and DJs still produce and play in today's scene, forming something of a jungle 'old guard'. A Guy Called Gerald is the stage name for Gerald Simpson, a musician, record producer and DJ, and perhaps best known for his early work in the Manchester ( UK) acid house scene in the early 1990s and the track Voodoo Ray. At that time, he specialised in techno music produced... 4 Hero is a musical group consisting of Mark Clair & Dennis McFarlane, aka Mark Mac and Dego. ... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ... Mickey Finn is a slang term for a drug-laced drink, given to someone without their knowledge in order to incapacitate them. ... Goldie at a rave in Springfield, Massachusetts (taken in 2003) Clifford Price, better known as Goldie (born December 28, 1965 in Wolverhampton) is a British electronic music artist, disc jockey, and actor. ... Omni Trio is the alias of producer Rob Haigh, known for a unique style of highly musical ambient drum and bass, and primarily associated with the Moving Shadow label. ...

Jungle to drum and bass

At the same time that intelligent jungle appeared, the ragga jungle sound mutated into a more stripped-down, hard percussive style known as Hardstep. Simultaneously, certain producers developed as more hiphop and funk influenced sister style known as Jump-Up, which was exemplified by artists like Mickey Finn and Aphrodite (with their Urban Takeover label), and the releases on the Ganja Kru's True Playaz label). Outside these genres, which became the most popular styles, other artists pushed a smoother, dubby style of music which had more in common with the jazzy and soulful interests of intelligent jungle. Records in this style were often referred to as rollers. Jump-Up is a subgenre of jungle and drum and bass music that was popular with fans of drum and bass in the late 1990s. ... Mickey Finn is a slang term for a drug-laced drink, given to someone without their knowledge in order to incapacitate them. ... Aphrodite, real name Gavin King, is an UK jungle and drumnbass DJ/producer, who works along with Micky Finn on their joint Urban Takeover label. ... a record label started by athrodite and mickey finn they have various hip-hop remixes ... True Playaz is a Drum and Bass and Jungle record label, collective and club night run by DJ Hype, DJ Zinc and Pascal. ...

Through 1996, Hardstep and Jump Up sounds were very popular in clubs and at raves, whereas Intelligent jungle was pushing a sound which was considered more accessible to the home listener, resulting in the popularity of the style with mainstream music magazines, as CD album releases by 4 Hero and Goldie were more readily-available than the underground dubplates which characterised the club-based styles. Stylistically, drum and bass began to adopt an ever more diverse range of influences, crossbreeding with many other forms of dance music to produce a series of hybrid sounds. In 1997, a sound which was influenced by the double-bass work of jazz musicians came to the forefront, producing a funky, accessible style which achieved mainstream success for artists such as Roni Size and Reprazent. The group's New Forms album won the UK's Mercury Prize, and their innovative live band helped drum and bass to break out of the DJ circuit, winning acclaim for performances at music festivals and on television shows. Jump to: navigation, search 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Comprised of Dego McFarlane, Mark Clair (Mark Mac), Gus Lawrence, and Ian Bardouille, 4 Hero are based in Dollis Hill, North London, from which they run their seminal Reinforced record label. ... Goldie at a rave in Springfield, Massachusetts (taken in 2003) Clifford Price, better known as Goldie (born December 28, 1965 in Wolverhampton) is a British electronic music artist, disc jockey, and actor. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roni Size, real name Ryan Williams, is a Bristol-based drum and bass producer known for working as part of Reprazent with Krust, DJ Die, Suv, and MC Dynamite. ... Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. ... The Mercury Music Prize is a music award given annually for the best British album of the previous 12 months. ...

Around this time, drum and bass also sealed it popularity by winning a Friday night slot on Radio One, the BBC's flagship radio station. Initially presented by a revolving groups of jungle luminaries, hosted by MC Navigator, the station eventually secured the presenting services of Fabio and Grooverider, two of the oldest and most-respected DJs in the scene. Radio One is a U.S. company which owns and operates 69 radio stations in 22 American cities, and programs a channel on XM Satellite Radio. ... Jump to: navigation, search Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ... Fabio is a drum and bass DJ and producer from the UK. He presents a show on Radio 1 in conjunction with Grooverider, and runs the Creative Source record label. ... Promotional shot of DJ Grooverider Grooverider (born Raymond Bingham) is the stage name of a drumnbass DJ from London. ...

The birth of techstep

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 and the soundscapes of science fiction and anime films. This style was championed by the labels Emotif and No U-Turn, and artists like Trace, Ed Rush and Optical, and Dom and Roland, and is commonly referred to as techstep. Techstep focused intensely on studio production and applied new techniques of sound generation and processing to older jungle appraoches. Self-consciously underground, and lacking the accessible influences of much other drum and bass, techstep is deeply atmospheric, often characterized by sinister or science-fiction themes, cold and complex percussion, and dark, distorted basslines. Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the mid-1980s and primarily refers to a particular style developed in and around Detroit and subsequently adopted by European producers. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Jump to: navigation, search A scene from Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime (アニメ) is Japanese animation, sometimes referred to by the portmanteau Japanimation. ... Ed Rush is a prominent techstep/jungle DJ, who often produces tracks in collabaration with Optical. ... Optical is the pseudonym of Matt Quinn, a renowned drum and bass producer and DJ from England. ... Dom and Roland is drum and bass producer Dominic Angas and, well, his Roland sampler. ... Jump to: navigation, search Techstep is a major subgenre of drum and bass, characterised by a dark, sci-fi mood, near-exclusive use of synthesised or sampled sound sources, and influences from industrial and techno music at the forefront. ...

As the 1990s drew to a close, drum and bass withdrew from mainstream popularity and concentrated on sounds which were popular in clubs, rather than on mainstream radio. Techstep came to dominate the drum and bass genre, with artists like Konflict and Bad Company amongst the most visible. As time went on, techstep was becoming more minimal, and increasingly dark in tone, and the funky, commercial appeal represented by Roni Size back in 1997 was waning. However, 2000 saw an increasing movement to "bring the fun back into drum and bass", heralded by the chart success enjoyed by singles from Andy C and Shimon (Bodyrock) and Shy FX and T Power (Shake UR Body). In the clubs there was a new revival of rave-oriented sounds, as well as remixes of classic jungle tunes that capitalised on nostalgia and an interest in the origins of the music. Many felt that jungle music had weathered the support, and then hostility, of the mainstream media (which had declared that "Drum and bass is dead" in the late 90s), and that the revival of chart success indicated that the style was more than a passing fashion. Fresh (left) and D Bridge of the drum n bass outfit Bad Company. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year 2000. ... Promotional shot of DJ Andy C Andy C, real name Andrew Clarke, is a British DJ and producer. ... Simeon or Shimon (שִׁמְעוֹן) is a Hebrew name meaning Hearkening; listening, Standard Hebrew Šimʿon, Tiberian Hebrew Šimʿôn) The Greek form of the name is Simon. ... Promotional shot of Shy FX Shy FX is the pseudonym of Andre Williams (born 1976), an English drum and bass musician. ...

Since 2000

Since the revival in popularity in 2000, the drum and bass scene has become very diverse, despite its relatively-small size, to the point where it is difficult to point to any one subgenre as the dominant style.

In 2000, Fabio began championing a form he called Liquid funk, with a compilation release of the same name on his Creative Source label. This was characterised by influences from disco and house, and widespread use of vocals. Although slow to catch on at first, the style grew massively in popularity around 2003-2004, and by 2005 it was established as one of the biggest-selling subgenres in drumnbass, with labels like Hospital Records and Soul:R and artists including High Contrast, Calibre, Nu:Tone, Marcus Intalex and Logistics among its main proponents. Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year 2000. ... Fabio is a drum and bass DJ and producer from the UK. He presents a show on Radio 1 in conjunction with Grooverider, and runs the Creative Source record label. ... Liquid funk is a style of drum and bass. ... Jump to: navigation, search Disco is an up-tempo style of dance music (generally between 110 and 136 beats per minute) that originated in the early-1970s, a derivative of funk and soul music, popular with audiences in larger cities all over the world, and derives its name from the... House music refers to a collection of styles of electronic dance music, the earliest forms beginning in the early- to mid- 1980s. ... Hospital Records is a drum & bass record label based in London, England, specializing in the softer and funkier side of the music known as liquid funk. ... High Contrast is the stage name of Welsh drum and bass DJ and producer Lincoln Barret. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ...

The decade also saw the revival of Jump-Up. Referred to as "Nu Jump Up", or pejoratively as Clownstep, this kept the sense of fun and the simplistic, bouncing basslines from the first generation of Jump Up, but with tougher, harder production values. Prominent Nu Jump Up artists include Twisted Individual, Generation Dub, and DJ Hazard. Jump-Up is a subgenre of jungle and drum and bass music that was popular with fans of drum and bass in the late 1990s. ... Clownstep is a pejorative term used to describe a certain type of sound found in the electronic music genre drum and bass. ...

Sales figures for 2004 suggest that liquid funk and Nu Jump Up combined probably account for a significant majority of the drum and bass market.

The period also saw the rise of a style known as Dubwise, which returned drum and bass to its reggae-influenced roots, combined with modern production techniques which had advanced immeasurably since the early days of jungle. Although the dub-influenced sound was not new, having long been championed by artists like Digital and Spirit, 2003-2004 saw a significant increase in its popularity and visibility, with new artists like Amit at the forefront.

Similarly, whilst there had long been a niche dedicated almost entirely to detailed drum programming and manipulation, championed by the likes of Paradox, the first half of this decade saw a revival and expansion in the subgenre known variously as Drumfunk, "Edits", or "Choppage". Major labels include Inperspective and the new wave of artists in this style include Fanu, Breakage, and Fracture and Nepture. A subgenre of drum & bass sometimes referred to as edits or choppage. The term came into widespread use ca. ...

The new millennium also saw a fresh wave of live drum and bass bands. The likes of Reprazent and Red Snapper had performed live drum and bass during the 1990s, but the re-creation of London Elektricity as a live band focussed renewed interest on the idea, with acts like The Bays, Keiretsu and Ultra-Violet pursuing this avenue. Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. ... Red Snapper are a British band founded in 1993, with a hard-to-categorise jazz-influenced breakbeat style. ... Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... London Elektricity is the stage name for drum and bass producer Tony Colman, along with Chris Goss until 2002. ... The Bays are a group of musicians that only play live improvised dance music. ... Jump to: navigation, search Keiretsu is a self described 11-piece live breakbeat fusionism band which plays live drum and bass style music. ...

The global scene in 2005

The other major development largely occurring since the turn of the millennium is geographical: from UK-oriented beginnings, drum and bass has firmly established itself worldwide. There are strong scenes in other English-speaking countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is popular across Europe, especially in The Netherlands. It is also popular in South America. São Paulo is sometimes called the drum and bass Ibiza. Brazilian drum and bass is sometimes called Sambass, although in Venezuela, artists like Zardonic, Jimmy Flamante or Cardopusher have created Industrial forms of Drum and bass, and also Drill N Bass / IDM, mixing also with latin rhythms like Salsa or Latin Jazz. World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Jump to: navigation, search This category has been nominated for merging into Category:Breakbeat. ... IDM, short for intelligent dance music, is an electronic music genre which began as a style of techno in the early 1990s and moved on to include the textures and sound manipulation methods of Musique concrète and early, true industrial bands such as Coil and Nurse With Wound. ... Salsa may mean: Salsa (sauce), any of various sauces of Spanish or Latin American origin, from the the Spanish word for sauce Salsa (music), a style of music of Caribbean origin Salsa (dance), a style of dance of Caribbean origin Salsa (film), a 1976 documentary film A spacecraft forming part...

List of notable drum and bass artists A compilation of notable drum and bass artists. ...

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 heavy pounding bass lines to the relaxed 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. As such, therefore, it is difficult to precisely define; however, the following key features may be observed. Liquid funk is a style of drum and bass. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... Jump to: navigation, search A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ...

Defining characteristics

Breakbeats

The breakbeat is what loosely speaking defines the music as drum and bass. A breakbeat, musically speaking, is characterised by an element of syncopation, in contrast to the straight 4-beat found in techno, trance and house. A break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time being a break from the main parts of the song or piece. ... Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the mid-1980s and primarily refers to a particular style developed in and around Detroit and subsequently adopted by European producers. ... Trance music is a subgenre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s. ... House music refers to a collection of styles of electronic dance music, the earliest forms beginning in the early- to mid- 1980s. ...

Many breakbeats are directly sampled or are produced from drum fills found in old soul, funk, blues, and jazz records. The "break" refers to the part of the song when vocals are cut out and the emphasis put on the rhythm and beat. However, since the mid-nineties, many producers use 2-step or other break beats programmed from individual drum samples that emulate the sampled funk breaks, but are often starker and heavier sounding. It is also common to create drum tracks using a combination of both techniques.

Particularly common breakbeats used within drum and bass include:

• The "Amen Break", by The Winstons (and its descendant, the tramen)
• Cold Sweat, Tighten Up and the "funky drummer", by James Brown
• Think, by Lyn Collins
• Apache, by the Incredible Bongo Band
• Assembly Line, by The Commodores

A collection of the most popular breaks used in drum and bass can be listened to at this site The Amen break (usually pronounced /ˈeɪmɛn/) is one of the most frequently used sampled drum loops in jungle and drum and bass music. ... The Winstons are a funk and soul music outfit from the 1960s who are most notable for recording a track called Amen, Brother (a B-side to the single Color Him Father edited in 1969). ... The tramen is drum loop which is very popular in drum and bass, made by combining several other classic breakbeats. ... The funky drummer break is one of the most used sampled drum loops in hip-hop and drum and bass music, together with the amen break, which is more related to drum-and-bass. ... Jump to: navigation, search James Brown, known variously as: Soul Brother Number One, the Godfather of Soul, Mr. ... Lyn Collins (12th June 1948 - 13th March 2005) was a soul / R&B singer best known for working with James Brown in the 1970s. ... The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viners Incredible Bongo Band was a project started by Michael Viner, a Canadian session musician and executive at MGM Records. ... The Commodores was a highly successful soul/funk band in the 1970s. ...

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 School rave and breakbeat-descended jungle was around 155-165 BPM, whilst 21st Century material rarely falls below 170BPM, and often hits 180BPM. Breakbeat (breakbeats or breaks), are a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, chiefly exemplified by drum and bass and jungle, usually characterized by a non-straighted 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house or trance). ... Nu Skool Breaks is a form of breakbeat. ... Jump to: navigation, search In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. ...

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 far and away the most critical features, and usually dominate the mix of a track. The genre places great importance on deep sub-bass which is felt physically as much as it is heard. There has also been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bassline region, particularly within techstep. In music, timbre (French, IPA /tæmbər/ as in the first two syllables of tambourine) is the quality of a musical note or sound which distinguishes different types of sound production or musical instruments. ... Jump to: navigation, search Techstep is a major subgenre of drum and bass, characterised by a dark, sci-fi mood, near-exclusive use of synthesised or sampled sound sources, and influences from industrial and techno music at the forefront. ...

Context

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 and physicality which often simply cannot be fully appreciated on home listening equipment. As befits its name, the bass element of the music is particularly pronounced, with the comparitively sparse arrangements of Drum and bass tracks allowing room for basslines that are deeper than most other forms of dance music. Consequently, special sound equipment is needed to fully appreciate Drum and Bass, and nights are often advertised as featuring uncommonly loud and bass-heavy systems. Dance music is music composed, played, or both, specifically to accompany social dancing. ... Jump to: navigation, search A nightclub (often shortened to club in both the UK and US) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. ... If a sound is said to have Full Frequency Response, then the sound is composed of sounds from across the entire audible spectrum. ...

Drum and bass is therefore typically heard via a DJ. Because most tracks are designed to be mixed by a DJ, their structure typically reflects this, with intro and outro sections designed for a DJ to use while beat-matching, rather than being designed to be heard in entirety by the listener. The DJ typically mixes between records so as not to lose the continuous beat. This is often referred to as the "mix and blend" style of DJing. In addition, the DJ may employ hip-hop style "scratching"," "double-drops" (where two tracks are synchronized such that both tracks drop at the same time), and "rewinds." DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ... Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique originated by Grand Wizard Theodore, an early hip hop DJ from New York (AMG). ... The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognisable build section and breakdown. ...

Most 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 recognisable build section and "breakdown". Frequently the drop is used to switch between tracks, layering components of different tunes. Some drops are so popular that the DJ will "rewind" or "reload" by spinning the record back and restarting it at the build. This is a technique which can easily be overused as it breaks the continuity of a set. The drop is the point in a track where a switch of rhythm or bassline occurs and usually follows a recognisable build section and breakdown. ... In Bluegrass_music, a Breakdown is a type of instrumental, such as a Hornpipe, a Jig, or a Reel_(dance) in Traditional Irish music. ...

DJs are typically accompanied by one or more MCs, drawing on the genre's roots in Hip hop and Reggae/Ragga. A Master of Ceremonies or MC is the host of a staged event or other performance. ... Hip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban African American youth in New York and has since spread around the world. ... Jump to: navigation, search Reggae is a style of music developed in Jamaica. ... Raggamuffin (or ragga) is a kind of reggae that includes digitized backing instrumentation. ...

Relationship to other electronic music styles

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. Some major sub-genres of drum and bass include:

• Clownstep
• Drumfunk (or "Choppage", "Edits")
• Hardstep
• Intelligent drum and bass (or "Atmospheric DnB")
• Jazz step (or Jazz'n'Bass)
• Jump-Up
• Jungle
• Liquid funk
• Techmospheric
• Techstep
• Neurofunk

As with all attempts to classify and categorize music, the above should not be treated as gospel. Many producers release albums which touch into many of the above styles. Clownstep is a pejorative term used to describe a certain type of sound found in the electronic music genre drum and bass. ... A subgenre of drum & bass sometimes referred to as edits or choppage. The term came into widespread use ca. ... Hardstep is a drumnbass style which started in 1996 and is characterized by fast speed beats, steelhard breaks, and thumping bass lines. ... Intelligent drum and bass (IDB) (or Intelligent jungle) is the widespread yet almost universally disliked term for the subgenre of jungle/drum and bass emphasising influences from lounge jazz and ambient music. ... Jump-Up is a subgenre of jungle and drum and bass music that was popular with fans of drum and bass in the late 1990s. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jungle music (or just Jungle) is a term for a genre of music also known as drum and bass. ... Liquid funk is a style of drum and bass. ... Jump to: navigation, search Techmospheric drum & bass is a new form of drum & bass, that evolved from the roots of Atmospheric (or Intelligent drum and bass), to become a sound of its own. ... Jump to: navigation, search Techstep is a major subgenre of drum and bass, characterised by a dark, sci-fi mood, near-exclusive use of synthesised or sampled sound sources, and influences from industrial and techno music at the forefront. ... Neurofunk is a sub-genre of the electronic music style of Drum and Bass. ...

Drill and bass, a sub-genre of Intelligent dance music (also known as "IDM"), popularized by Aphex Twin, features many of the same types of rhythms used in drum and bass and is generally focused on complexity in programming and instrumentation. Amongst its main proponents include Squarepusher, Amon Tobin, Boards of Canada, Venetian Snares and many others. Drill n Bass is a type of electronic music that emerged from Drum n Bass in the mid-1990s. ... Jump to: navigation, search Intelligent dance music (IDM) refers to a style of experimental electronic music with an emphasis on unconventional sequencing and processing. ... IDM, short for intelligent dance music, is an electronic music genre which began as a style of techno in the early 1990s and moved on to include the textures and sound manipulation methods of Musique concrète and early, true industrial bands such as Coil and Nurse With Wound. ... Jump to: navigation, search Aphex Twin (born Richard David James, August 18, 1971, Ireland) is a UK-based electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of IDM, techno, ambient, acid, drum and bass. ... Squarepusher, the performing pseudonym of Thomas Jenkinson, is a British electronic music artist (born in Chelmsford, Essex) signed to Warp Records. ... Amon Tobin performing live. ... Jump to: navigation, search Boards of Canada: Marcus Eoin and Michael Sandison Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo comprised of brothers Michael Sandison (b. ... Aaron Funk aka Venetian Snares Venetian Snares is the performing name of Aaron Funk, an electronic music producer and performer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. ...

Appearances in the mainstream

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 New Forms in 1997. More recently, tracks such as Shy FX and T-Power's "Shake Your Body" gained a UK Top 40 Chart placing. Hive's "Ultrasonic Sound" was also used on the first Matrix soundtrack. Goldie at a rave in Springfield, Massachusetts (taken in 2003) Clifford Price, better known as Goldie (born December 28, 1965 in Wolverhampton) is a British electronic music artist, disc jockey, and actor. ... Timeless is the debut album (1995) from Goldie, a groundbreaking release which is still often nominated as the finest album ever in drum and bass. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Promotional shot of Shy FX Shy FX is the pseudonym of Andre Williams (born 1976), an English drum and bass musician. ... Hive (born December, 1974) is a San Francisco-based DJ, producer, and record label owner who has contributed to dozens of recordings in the drum and bass musical genre. ...

On the other hand, pop music has also occasionally co-opted elements of drum and bass, albeit in watered-down fashion. Examples include Puretone and Girls Aloud. Drum and bass also often appears in advertising and TV. Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Puretone (an alias of musician Josh Abrahams) is an Australian electronica/drum and bass artist. ... Jump to: navigation, search Cover of their debut album. ...

Key record labels

The following are some of the major labels within drumnbass:

• 31 Records
• Black Sun Empire
• Breakbeat Kaos
• Certificate 18 Records
• Commercial Suicide
• Creative Source
• Formation Records
• Full Cycle Recordings
• Good Looking Organisation
• Hospital Records
• Metalheadz
• Moving Shadow
• No U-Turn
• RAM Recordings
• Reinforced Records
• Renegade Hardware (part of the Trouble on Vinyl group)
• Soul:R
• Subtitles Recordings
• Suburban Base Records
• Underfire Recordings
• V Recordings
• Violence Recordings
• Virus Recordings
• Rinse Proof Records

31 Records is a drum and bass record label owned by a performer known as Doc Scott aka Nasty Habits or DJ 31. ... Black Sun Empire is the stage name of a team of Dutch disc jockeys and drum and bass producers Rene Verdult and brothers Milan and Micha Heyboer . ... Formation Records A UK based label owned and run by Eidris Hassam and Leroy Small. ... Full Cycle Recordings is a record label based in Bristol, England which specialises in drum and bass. ... Hospital Records is a drum & bass record label based in London, England, specializing in the softer and funkier side of the music known as liquid funk. ... Metalheadz is a legandary, uk based drum and bass label. ... Moving Shadow is a drum and bass and Jungle record label that was started in 1990 by Rob Playford. ... Renegade Hardware is one of the pioneer record labels in the drum and bass music industry. ... Subtitles Recordings is a drum and bass record label founded by Norwegian producers Teebee and Polar in 2000. ... V Recordings is a Drum and bass record label, based in London. ... Violence Recordings is a drum and bass record label based out of San Francisco, USA. Hive is the owner. ... Virus logo. ...

Accessing drum and bass

Purchasing

Drum and bass is mostly sold in 12-inch vinyl single format, although some albums, compilations and DJ mixes are sold on CD. File downloads are also becoming increasingly available. Purchasing drum and bass can involve searching specialized record shops or using one of many online vinyl, cd and mp3 retailers, such as: 33⅓ LP vinyl record album The vinyl record is a type of gramophone record, most popular from the 1950s to the 1990s, that was most commonly used for mass-produced recordings of music. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s...

 * http://www.atsdigital.com/ * http://www.beatport.com/ * http://www.blazar.net/ * http://bleep.com/ * http://www.breakbeatscience.com * http://www.breakbeat.co.uk/ * http://www.chemical-records.co.uk/ * http://www.defcomstore.co.uk/ * http://www.dogsonacid.com/mp3/ - also on beatport.com * http://www.ganjakru.co.uk/ * http://shop.easyrecords.net/ * http://shop.hospitalrecords.com/ * http://www.imorecords.com/ * http://www.itunes.com/ * http://www.juno.co.uk/ * http://www.karmadownload.com/ * http://www.kinematicrecordings.com/ * http://www.movementradio.com/ * http://www.cc-radio.net/index.php * http://www.darkland-agency.com * http://www.shadybrain.net/ * http://www.strictly-digital.com/ * http://www.tovmusic.com/ * http://www.trackitdown.net/ * http://www.vibrationrecords.com/ * http://www.vitaminic.com/main/electronica_dance/ * http://www.darkland-recordings.net/ * http://www.epitonic.com/ * http://www.exegene.com/ * http://www.karmadownload.com/genre/?Drum%20&%20Bass * http://www.dnbsource.com/ * http://www.redeyerecords.co.uk/ * http://www.rykomusic.com/ (certificate 18) * http://www.movementinsound.co.uk/ * http://www.back2basicsrecords.com * http://www.djdownload.com 

Media

The best known drum and bass publication is Knowledge Magazine. Rivals include the longest running drum and bass magazine worldwide ATM Magazine and Canadian-based Rinse Magazine. Knowledge Magazine is a monthly publication, based in the UK although available worldwide, primarily associated with the drum and bass genre of dance music, although also covering breakbeat and hip hop. ...

The highest profile drum and bass radio show is Fabio and Grooverider on BBC Radio One. The BBC's "urban" station 1Xtra also features the genre heavily, with DJs L Double and Bailey and Flight. The genre has long been supported by pirate radio stations, particularly in London; these days, they are joined by a large, and ever-expanding number, of internet radio stations available globally. In the US, XM Satellite Radio dedicates two hours a day to its drum and bass show, "Pressure", on channel 80 - The Move (XM). Fabio is a drum and bass DJ and producer from the UK. He presents a show on Radio 1 in conjunction with Grooverider, and runs the Creative Source record label. ... Promotional shot of DJ Grooverider Grooverider (born Raymond Bingham) is the stage name of a drumnbass DJ from London. ... BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). ... BBC 1Xtra is a UK radio station from the BBC specialising in urban and black music. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term pirate radio lacks a specific universal interpretation. ... Jump to: navigation, search Internet radio is a broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. ... ... Jump to: navigation, search XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) is a satellite radio (DARS) service in the United States based in Washington, DC and controlled by News Corporations DirecTV, General Motors, American Honda, Hughes Electronics, and several private investment groups. ...

Drum and bass has a strong online presence with many dedicated portals, forums and communities. Some of the largest of these are linked below.

Books

• All Crews: Journeys Through Jungle / Drum and Bass Culture by Brian Belle-Fortune (ISBN 0954889703)
• The Rough Guide to Drum 'n' Bass by Peter Shapiro and Alexix Maryon (ISBN 1858284333)

External links

• General
  • ALFAZEN.COM >> Interviews with Drum and Bass DJs and Producers

• Information / Catalogue sites:
  • rolldabeats (rolldabeats.com) - comprehensive drumnbass discography database
  • Organic Souls DnB - The UK based DnB Profile Directory
  • Planetdnb.com- Popular drum & bass resource

• Forums:
  • Drum & Bass Arena - a large dnb portal/forum
  • Covert Operations - Techmospheric central
  • DogsOnAcid - The largest dnb site/forum - largest in electronic music generally
  • Dnbforum - A smaller dnb site/forum
  • Russian Drum & Bass Arena - a large dnb forum
  • DSCI4 Forum - Neurofunk Headquarters
  • Itstooloud.com - A large dnb site/forum/radio station
  • DnB/IT- Italian drum'n'bass forum
  • Dnbpl.org - A Polish dnb forum
  • Tambor y Bajo - Latino DnB forum
  • Drum & Bass Twister - Small Estonian Drum'n'Bass Community

• Online radio:
  • bassdrive
  • /cc-radio.net
  • dnbradio
  • jungletrain
  • leetradio
  • movementradio
  • otcradio
  • phuture frequency
  • mishkas (eclectic)

See also: List of jungle and drum n bass artists & List of jungle and drum n bass record labels rolldabeats is an online database based discography tool for Hardcore, Jungle and Drum & Bass music. ... Jump to: navigation, search This is an alphabetical list of some jungle and drum n bass artists. ... Jump to: navigation, search 0-9 31 Records 720 Degrees A Advance://d Recordings Audio Blueprint B Barcode Recordings BC Recordings Beta Recordings Big-H Recordings Bingo Beats Black Sun Empire Recordings Breakbeat Kaos Records Breakbeat Science Recordings C Cargo Industries Cause 4 Concern Recordings Charge Recordings Chronic Records C...