7/15/2011

Drum and Bass History

By Freddy Fender


It was in the late 1980s and the early 1990s that the UK nightclub culture began to grow along with the tendency to celebrate at organized outdoor events (read as outdoor parties). Cultural influences brought about a new style of music - Rave music, which was like marrying hip-hop with breakbeats and then with other music clips from other music genres and then maybe with dialogues from movies and TV shows thrown in. Rave moved at a faster pace than hip-hop at 127-140 BPM (beats per minute) and it really took the excitement and reveling quotient up.

It was in 1992 that high-gusto breakbeat music tracks that featured heavy basslines and clips of old Jamaican music were recognized by their uniqueness and consumers began referring to these as "Jungle." The term Jungle was inspired from the Bob Marley song, Concrete Jungle. Individuals at clubs, rave parties, or wherever, lapped up this new form of music because its sheer aggressiveness excited their senses and produced them hit the dance floor with a vengeance - and it was distinct from rave music.

By 1994, Jungle got extra common with the masses and its fans had been called Junglists. Jungle music became a portion of British youth subculture. It was at this time that Jungle music started mixing elements from many other musical genres like Ragamuffin sound, Dancehall, MC Chants, Breakbeat percussion, and far more. Though Jungle was famous, it began choosing up a reputation because of two elements - one, its violent and aggressive sounds, and two, its association with criminal activity (because of the gangs who were active on the UK hip-hop circuit). Although it is actually not documented that Jungle was ditched by producers due to its association with criminal gangs, Jungle music producers started moving away from its reggae-based sounds and started producing, what is now referred to as, Drum and Bass.

Drum and Bass then began evolving - it improved technically and started gaining mass recognition, and that helped it move from pirate radio station to mainstream channels. It got so popular that it even spawned subgenres for example Jump-Up, Techstep, Hardstep and Soundscapes. Its recognition kept on growing until 2000 when the UK Garage music genre appeared on the scene with lots of hit singles. UK Garage featured high tempos and heavy basslines and merged them with Home Music. It was just a step in the evolution of Drums and Bass.

Even today, Drums and Bass music is frequently played in mainstream media, movies and television. It also serves as a benchmark for music genres like Grime and Dubstep. It is acknowledged as a new genre of dance music. It is fast and groovy and that is why people still love it. And, if you ever want to get started on Drums and Bass, just pick up a mix CD or hit the club with your friends and enjoy the ride.




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