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
#2If you're interested in more, this is a nice and short documentary (2014) on the Amen Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#3The Amen Break is (in my understanding) one of the more important fragments of music in modern history. As there is a common, golden thread that began seventy years ago in Jamaica. Which runs all the way up into the modern day as Drum And Bass music and beyond.
The Amen Break is part of a special story, one of fusing human cultures from around the planet into a common sound. I encourage people to do a bit of research here, it's worth your time.
Thank you for the great article and excellent subject.
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#4If you're interested in more, this is a nice and short documentary (2014) on the Amen Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
2004 :)
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#5Although the Amen Break is nearly omnipresent, I think the Futurama mention is misguided.
The rhythm in Futurama is the same as in the song it's based on: Psyche Rock by Pierre Henry. That song was published two years before Amen Brother.
Although the rhythm sounds very similar, Futurama's (or Pierre Henry's) precisely lacks Amen Break's characteristic syncopation on its fourth bar.
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#6If you're interested in more, this is a nice and short documentary (2014) on the Amen Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac
My first attempt to load the video was met with an ad so I killed the yt app on my phone. I’m assuming this is the one narrated by a fellow with a deep voice and an acetate record. Timing would be about right. If so, this is a phenomenal look at the evolution of its place in music that I also was going to link in this thread.
Music history.
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#7Although the Amen Break is nearly omnipresent, I think the Futurama mention is misguided. The rhythm in Futurama is the same as in the song it's based on: Psyche Rock by Pierre Henry. That song was published two years before Amen Brother. Although the rhythm sounds very similar, Futurama's (or Pierre Henry's) precisely lacks Amen Break's characteristic syncopation on its fourth bar.
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Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#8Although the Amen Break is nearly omnipresent, I think the Futurama mention is misguided. The rhythm in Futurama is the same as in the song it's based on: Psyche Rock by Pierre Henry. That song was published two years before Amen Brother. Although the rhythm sounds very similar, Futurama's (or Pierre Henry's) precisely lacks Amen Break's characteristic syncopation on its fourth bar.
Not really, the drums of the Futurama Theme are indeed sampled from the Amen Break, together with some bongos from Rapper's Delight.
Psyche Rock was sampled for the bells.
Check out this breakdown/remake and compare with the 30s theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoq5-bLYM5Q
(EDIT: It is even easier to hear the Amen Break in the extended version, check this site for the timestamps: https://www.whosampled.com/sample/808/Christopher-Tyng-Futur... )
Also keep in mind that the original Psyche Rock is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb32bdQJBxM
...and not this 1997 remix by Fatboy Slim, which is the first result in Youtube for Psyche Rock, and also has an Amen-ish break, and sounds indeed close to the Futurama theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qssa6ec7faQ
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#9Late 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.
Re: A History of the Amen Break: From the Winstons to Futurama and Om Unit
#10The 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 ethereal sounds and way more unique melodies (sadly often lost in the club environment).
I guess the success of Hold Your Colour was a turning point. Although even that has quite a harsh sound compared to some of the stuff the DNB scene produces today.