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A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

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Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#21

Post by nvm0n2 »

afro88 wrote: post #19
nvm0n2 wrote: post #10

The different examples really make the steady liquification of drum and bass over time clear. Yeah there's still a subgenre of really hard stuff but in the 90s it was all like that, just amen break over really dark metal/industrial kind of sounds. The melodic gap between Vic Acid and the Sub Focus remix is indicative, as dnb artists got older they got more classical training and started to focus on less harsh, more e…

> in the 90s it was all like that, just amen break over really dark metal/industrial kind of sounds There was actually a whole scene from the start of the 90s that focussed on melodic and atmospheric jungle and dnb. Check out Good Looking Records. In fact even Metalheadz pushed some this sound a lot. I personally see that as a fundamental part of jungle and dnb from the get go.

I think GLR was the only label for a very long time that did that stuff though. I remember listening to DNB stations in the 90s and they were all very dark compared to today, I don't think there was any easy way to find out about liquid in those days for someone not deeply into the scene. I think that didn't change much until Fabio and Grooverider got their late night show on Radio 1 and wanted to make dnb more accessible, even so, I remember tuning in sometimes and just having to turn it off because it was too hardcore. It wasn't until I got fast enough internet and found online radio specializing in dnb that I really got into dnb but that was considered super obscure and there were only a handful of stations, and of those, only occasional shows played liquid. So I definitely feel it got more common since then.

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#22

Post by atlanta90210 »

djhope99 wrote: post #20

Sadly “The Winstons” received no money for the sample. Tragic that the genius behind this revolution got absolutely nothing.

Last remaining member received $22k. Not enough.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/rmje4q/amen-breakbeat-fundra...

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#23

Post by plasma_beam »

afro88 wrote: post #19
nvm0n2 wrote: post #10

The different examples really make the steady liquification of drum and bass over time clear. Yeah there's still a subgenre of really hard stuff but in the 90s it was all like that, just amen break over really dark metal/industrial kind of sounds. The melodic gap between Vic Acid and the Sub Focus remix is indicative, as dnb artists got older they got more classical training and started to focus on less harsh, more e…

> in the 90s it was all like that, just amen break over really dark metal/industrial kind of sounds There was actually a whole scene from the start of the 90s that focussed on melodic and atmospheric jungle and dnb. Check out Good Looking Records. In fact even Metalheadz pushed some this sound a lot. I personally see that as a fundamental part of jungle and dnb from the get go.

Some DnB “OGs” such as Dom and Roland, Paradox are still heavy proponents of the amen sound, and can toss it up between darkish, breakbeaty and soulful tracks.

Long time DnB fan, since late 90s.

https://paradoxmusicuk.bandcamp.com/

https://over-shadow.bandcamp.com/music

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#24

Post by rahimnathwani »

Another song that's been sampled a lot is La Di Da Di, by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, which came out when I was in primary school:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-la-di-da-di-a-b-side-from-1...

  Other frequently sampled songs typically have a single element, like a drumbeat or a vocal shout, that is used again and again. Part of what makes “La Di Da Di” unusual is how many different lines from the five-minute track have wormed their way into popular music.
Slick Rick's other tracks are also emulated. You probably know 'This is how we do it' by Montell Jordan. This not only has a repeated music sample from "Children's Story", but also a verse in the style of the opening:

Children's Story:

  Once upon a time not long ago
  When people wore pajamas and lived life slow
  When laws were stern and justice stood
  And people were behavin' like they ought ta good
  There lived a lil' boy who was misled
  By anotha lil' boy and this is what he said
  "Me and you Ty, we're gonna make sum cash
  Robbin' old folks and makin' the dash"
This is how we do it:

  Once upon a time in '94
  Montell made no money and life sure was slow
  All they said was 6' 8" he stood
  And people thought the music that he made was good
  There lived a D.J. and Paul was his name
  He came up to Monty, this is what he said
  You and O.G. are gonna make some cash
  Sell a million records and we're makin' tha dash

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#25

Post by Lio »

Kye wrote: post #16
aswanson wrote: post #9

Late 60s, early 70s had the best combination of technology & limitations to create some of the most memorable music. Go much earlier than that & everything sounds hollow. Too much later ( I'm looking at you, 1980s) and everything is polished & synthetic to phoniness.

Every generation seems to think the technical limitations of their era produced superior art; the previous generation was always too limited, and the following always have it too easy. They might be right for themselves, but it's clear the situation is much more subjective than the absolutes that get thrown around. The 1980s gave us samplers that could only do a few seconds of audio, and entire genres were built on i…

You're making an assumption that the parent's age and ignoring the possibility that they actually just think that the 60s/70s had the best combination of technical ability to limitation.

I came up in the 90s (that's actually when sampler based music really took off vs using turntables or tape to loop things).

I still think the 60s/70s had better trade off between limitation to technical capabilities. Studio time used to be unbelievably expensive, so people didn't mess around.

I love Goldie's Inner City Life (1994) and DJ Shadow's Endtroducing, they really changed things for me. Neither would be the same if they didn't have the source material to sample from.

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#26

Post by atlanta90210 »

17 Years ago this audio/video explained it all. Props to the artist Landon for laying down the audio to a record and playing the audio (with examples) from the record. 6.8 millions views - the Winstons will never be forgotten.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac&t=3s

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#27

Post by plasma_beam »

nvm0n2 wrote: post #21
afro88 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in the 90s it was all like that, just amen break over really dark metal/industrial kind of sounds There was actually a whole scene from the start of the 90s that focussed on melodic and atmospheric jungle and dnb. Check out Good Looking Records. In fact even Metalheadz pushed some this sound a lot. I personally see that as a fundamental part of jungle and dnb from the get go.

I think GLR was the only label for a very long time that did that stuff though. I remember listening to DNB stations in the 90s and they were all very dark compared to today, I don't think there was any easy way to find out about liquid in those days for someone not deeply into the scene. I think that didn't change much until Fabio and Grooverider got their late night show on Radio 1 and wanted to make dnb more acces…

Recommend checking out ASC and Aural Imbalance for modern takes on amen/GLR sound. They release under the Auxiliary label (search Bandcamp for them). A lot of DnB heavyweights are starting to bring back the 90s “intelligent” dnb sound recently. Really great to listen to. Nine Windows (collab between Kid Drama and DJ Trace) are another excellent example (also on Bandcamp).

https://auxiliary.bandcamp.com/music

https://ninewindows.bandcamp.com/album/rule-of-thirds

Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit

#28

Post by Nition »

atlanta90210 wrote: post #26

17 Years ago this audio/video explained it all. Props to the artist Landon for laying down the audio to a record and playing the audio (with examples) from the record. 6.8 millions views - the Winstons will never be forgotten. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac&t=3s

It's a mini-documentary by Nate Harrison from 2004, that 2006 version is just the first YouTube upload of it.
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