I'm just starting to discover the dnb genre, but I think there's a lot more
creativity going on in drum n bass than just speeding up a drum track. To
me (<-- a keyboardist, not a DJ or a producer) it's similar to what DJs do,
in that they are taking sounds and loops and pieces of songs and
reconstructing them into something new and original... something that might
not have been possible before using the instruments, voices, or whatever.
Aren't most dnb drum tracks created by sampling individual drum/percussion
sounds, tweaking/tuning them, and sequencing them back into a pattern? It
doesn't require changing the pitch of the instruments, though. That's how
Propellerheads described what they do, I think. They're not dnb, but it's
the same idea. (If there are any dnb producers out there, please help me
out.) I guess the whole concept of taking music apart and putting it back
together is really fascinating to me, and I think dnb artists use it to
create a lot of innovative syncopated rythmic patterns that, when combined
with a fairly simple bass line, "groove" just as hard as a live band with
real instruments, in my opinion. And don't get me wrong, I absolutely love
that live, acoustic "groove" too.
And all of the (few) dnb-type artists I have picked up so far (Roni Size,
Photek, Lamb, early ETBG) have very pronounced "bottom-ends." Isn't that
where the "bass" in "drum n bass" came from? I guess it over-compensates
for the high-end-heavy drum samples. But it's a great combination! It
creates a really clean and precise sound... maybe because it's heavy in
both ends of the frequency range, with vocals/synths/ambient sounds filling
in between. And, what do you know, a lot of it is danceable. I have a lot
more to explore, but I love the sound of most dnb.
My question to the list: Is dnb something that is created "live," like in a
DJ's set, as well as played as a pre-recorded part of a set? I'm still
learning about this whole DJ thing. Thanks, list.
Ciao,
Dave Whipple
dlw@clipper.net
>At 2:17 PM -0700 7/21/98, HR Guest wrote:
>>I always followed the bass line on D&B. It doesn't seem any faster then
>>uptempo
>>breaks. I guess your going to buying prog records....
>
>No, you won't see me totin' any Spock's Beard records to the checkout
>stand. I'll just keep getting groove music that has a bottom-end, w/a real
>bass drum & toms & such to support the bass gtr. And yes, I know *some*
>d&b does have a decent bottom-end, but it's few & far between-- most of the
>time it seems like the drum track has simply been sped up w/o attempting to
>retain any of the lower frequencies of the original (wouldn't some kind of
>timeshift work?), rendering the much-commented-upon "sped up Casio
>rhythmbox" effect. And those flickering lights....
>
> Jason Witherspoon
>
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