History of drum and bass

(1991), A Guy Called Gerald's 'Anything' (1991), Shut Up and Dance's "£10 to get in" / "£20 to get in" (both 1989), the Ragga Twins' "Spliffhead" (1990) & '18 Inch Speaker' (1991), Rebel MC's 'Wickedest Sound' (1990), 'Coming On Strong' (1990), 'Tribal Bass' (1991) & 'African' (1991) Nightmares on Wax's 'Aftermath' & 'In Two Minds' (1990), Genaside II's "Sirens of Acre Lane" (1990), DJ Dextrous' "Ruffneck Biznizz" (1992), Noise Factory's 'Be Free' (1992), Demon Boyz 'Jungle Dett' (1992) and LTJ Bukem's "Demon's Theme" (1992) are generally credited as being among the first to have a recognizable drum and bass sound.

Strange noises and effects, syncopated rhythms made from rearranged funk breaks and loud bass lines defined the genre.

These took their cue from the darker sounds of 'Belgian Techno', as found in tracks such as Beltram's "Mentasm" and "Energy Flash" (1991), as well as the dark breaks of 4 Hero's "Mr Kirks Nightmare" (1990) among others.

To match the complex drum lines, basslines which had less in common with the patterns of house and techno music than with the phrasings of dub and hip hop began to be used.

Vastly different rhythmic patterns were distinctively being used, as well as new types of sampling, synthesis and effects processing techniques, resulting in a greater focus on the intricacies of sampling/synthesis production and rhythm.

However, as the early nineties saw drum and bass 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.

[37] The producer The Invisible Man described it: "A well edited Amen Break alongside an 808 sub kick and some simple atmospherics just sounded so amazing all on its own, thus the speech sample "strictly drum and bass".

It wasn't long before the amen break was being used by practically every producer within the scene, and as time progressed the Belgian style techno stabs and noises disappeared, and the edits and studio trickery got more and more complex.

"[38] Towards late 1994 and especially in 1995 there was a definite distinction between the reggae and ragga sounding jungle and the tracks with heavily edited breaks, such as the artists Remarc, DJ Dextrous and The Dream Team on Suburban Base Records.

Mid-1995 saw the coincidentally named Alex Reece's "Pulp Fiction" which featured a distorted Reese bassline with a two-step break, slightly slower in tempo, which has been credited as an influence in the new tech-step style which would emerge from Emotif and No U-Turn Records.

It was also the track that spawned hundreds of imitators of its "2-Step" style which unfortunately also lasted for many years to come.... hmmm... oh, and because the 2-step groove generally sounds slower, DnB then began to speed up way beyond 160bpm... say no more.

This was especially the case in the subgenre dubbed "intelligent" drum and bass by the music press, and its ambassador was LTJ Bukem and his Good Looking label alongside Moving Shadow artists such as Foul Play, Omni Trio and Cloud 9.

[23]Intelligent drum and bass maintained the uptempo breakbeat percussion, but focused on more atmospheric sounds and warm, deep basslines over vocals or samples which often originated from soul and jazz music.

However, alongside other key producers in the scene, LTJ Bukem, arguably the single most influential figure behind the style, is especially noted for disliking the term, owing to the implication that other forms of drum and bass are not intelligent.

Although many DJs have specialised in distinctive subgenres within jungle and drum and bass, the majority of artists within the genre were and remain connected via record labels, events and radio shows.

The Dream Team would also produce jump-up tracks, usually under the name Dynamic Duo on Joker Records, in a style with similarities and differences to their Suburban Base releases.

[46][47] Another aspect to note in the evolution of drum and bass is that the advent of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 specifically aimed at stopping illegal raves prompted the move of jungle (and other electronic music genres) into legal (mostly) nightclubs.

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 (including samples from cult films), cold and complex percussion, and dark, distorted basslines.

The sampler at this time became less important with home computer equipment and generated beats and sounds becoming capable of creating an entire drum and bass track from scratch.

Alex Reece and LTJ Bukem were amongst the first producers to experiment fully with deep smooth drum and bass, and as such could be considered the forerunners of liquid funk.

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".

In 2003, Metalheadz signees Dylan and Robyn Chaos (aka Faith In Chaos) pushed the harder sound of drum and bass by founding the Freak Recordings label and sublabels Obscene and Tech Freak, together with artists like Technical Itch, Limewax, Counterstrike, SPL, Current Value, and many others, leading to the creation of the Therapy Sessions drum and bass festivals in London.

The Therapy Sessions franchise quickly expanded worldwide with greater repercussion on Eastern Europe with an attendance of more than 10.000 fans in cities like St.

'Minimal' drum & bass has crossed over into a more dance-floor oriented sound through artists like Rockwell, Enei and Icicle who take inspiration from genres including neurofunk and industrial techno.

American Grammy Award-winning record producer, jazz fusion pioneer, and bassist Bill Laswell touched on drum and bass in the ‘90s with his Oscillations releases and the compilation Submerged: Tetragramaton.

He also released a full-on collaboration with Finnish drum 'n' bass maestro Fanu on Ohm Resistance (US) and Karl Records (Europe), entitled Lodge, which includes contributions from Molvaer and Bernie Worrell amongst others.

This small handful of DJs, MCs, and Producers spent years in the underground performing in back rooms at raves before the genre caught on throughout America.

Many of these event producers are still going strong today in America and frequently host some of the biggest names in the history of jungle and drum and bass music while working to elevate the genre.

Brazil's fusion of Drum & Bass and Bossa Nova or Samba gave birth to the term Sambass which was pushed by DJ Marky together with DJ Patife, XRS and Drumagick, and shortly after the sound conquered the UK scene due to the global popularity that Marky achieved, supported by a residency at The End club and his work for BBC Radio 1.

[62] Venezuelan producer and DJ Zardonic has been leading the harder sound of Drum & Bass by headlining the first Therapy Sessions events taking place in Ecuador and Argentina, as well as pushing the country even further on the map due to his signing to Dieselboy's Human Imprint label.