Breakbeat is a type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, which are often taken from old recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. This style has been used in music genres such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage (including 2-step, breakstep, and dubstep).
Etymology
The word "breakbeat" comes from the fact that the drum patterns used in this style of music were taken from parts of songs called "breaks." For example, the Amen break is a drum part from the song "Amen, Brother" by the Winstons, and the Think break is a drum part from the song "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins.
History
Starting in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop DJs such as DJ Kool Herc began playing multiple rhythmic parts from funk music one after another. They used drum sections from jazz-funk songs like James Brown's "Funky Drummer" and the Winstons' "Amen, Brother" to create the rhythmic foundation for hip-hop songs.
DJ Kool Herc's method involved playing the same record on two turntables and repeating the rhythmic section by switching between the two records. Grandmaster Flash improved this technique with his "quick-mix theory," which included marking the start and end of a rhythmic section on a record with crayon so he could easily replay it by spinning the record without moving the tone arm. This method was later used and developed by early hip-hop DJs like Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore. This style was widely popular in clubs and dancehalls because the long rhythmic sections gave dancers more time to show their skills.
By the late 1970s, breakbeats became a common part of hip-hop music. In the 1980s, new technology made it easier and less expensive for DJs and producers to sample rhythmic sections. This helped hip-hop become more popular commercially. Earlier methods, such as pausing tapes and recording rhythmic sections, allowed anyone with a tape recorder to use breakbeats by the 1980s.
In the late 1980s, breakbeats became a key part of many music genres that were popular in the global dance scene, including acid breaks, electro-funk, and Miami bass. A decade later, genres like big beat and nu skool breaks also included breakbeats.
In the early 1990s, acid house artists began using breakbeat samples to create breakbeat hardcore. This style later split into subgenres like jungle and drum and bass, which had faster tempos and focused on complex drum patterns. An example is Goldie's album Timeless. Josh Lawford of Ravescene predicted that breakbeat would end the rave scene because its changing drum patterns made it harder to achieve the relaxed, trance-like state that steady house beats provided.
The Florida breaks subgenre developed in the early-to-mid 1990s and had a unique sound that became popular worldwide among producers, DJs, and club-goers.
In 1994, the techno group Autechre released the Anti EP as a response to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. They used computer-generated patterns to create non-repeating breakbeats throughout their tracks, aiming to avoid the legal definition of "music" in the act, which included repetitive beats.
In the late 1990s, a new style called funky breaks emerged, combining elements of trance, hip-hop, and jungle. This style was led by the Chemical Brothers and James Lavelle's Mo'Wax imprint. The genre reached its peak in 1997, when it topped pop charts and was used in commercials. Notable artists of this style included the Prodigy, Death in Vegas, the Crystal Method, and Propellerheads.
Characteristics
Breakbeats have a tempo range of 110 to 175 beats per minute. This range allows DJs to mix these breaks with many different types of music in their performances. Because of this, breakbeats are commonly found in hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, and hardcore songs. They also appear in other types of music, including popular songs and background music in car and clothing commercials on radio or TV.
One well-known breakbeat is the Amen break, which comes from the Winstons' song "Amen, Brother." This break is one of the most frequently used and sampled in music that includes breakbeats. It was first used in the song "King of the Beats" by Mantronix and has since appeared in thousands of songs. Other popular breakbeats include parts from James Brown's "Funky Drummer" (1970) and "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (1969), the Incredible Bongo Band's 1973 version of the Shadows' "Apache," and Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)." The Winstons have not received money from others using samples of the Amen break from their original recording.
Sampled breakbeats
The development of digital sampling and music editing software has made it easier to create and use breakbeats. Instead of cutting and splicing tape or spinning two records backward at the same time, computer programs can now cut, paste, and loop breakbeats repeatedly. Digital effects like filters, reverb, reversing, time stretching, and pitch shifting can be added to the beat or to individual sounds. Individual instruments from a breakbeat can be sampled and combined with others to form new breakbeat patterns.
As breakbeat music became more popular and digital audio samplers were introduced, companies began selling "breakbeat packages" to help artists create breakbeats. These packages, often sold on CDs, included many breakbeat samples from different songs and artists. In many cases, the artists who created the samples were not given permission or even informed about the use of their music.
Subgenres
"Acid breaks" or "chemical breaks" is a type of music called acid house, but it uses a breakbeat rhythm instead of the usual house beat. One of the first synthesizers used in acid music was the Roland TB-303, which uses a special filter to highlight certain sounds in the music.
The Asian breakbeat scene is a remix style that mixes parts of freestyle, electro, progressive trance melodies, Florida breakbeat drum patterns, and Southern crunk rap. This style began and became popular in the 1990s and 2000s in the U.S. South, mainly by Vietnamese American and Southeast Asian DJs in states like Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, and North Carolina. Active DJs in this scene include DJ Babyboi, Tinman, and Loopy from New Orleans.
Big beat is a term used since the mid-1990s by British music writers to describe music by artists like the Prodigy, Cut La Roc, Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, the Crystal Method, and Propellerheads. This music often uses heavy breakbeats, four-on-the-floor kick drum patterns, and synthesizer loops similar to other electronic dance styles like techno and acid house.
Breakbeat combined with electro music often uses sounds from the 1980s, robotic noises, vocoder or talkbox vocals, and elements of funk. Electro breaks was started by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force, Kraftwerk, Man Parrish, Cybotron, and Newcleus.
In Spain from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, breakbeat became a major social movement, especially in the southern region of Andalusia. Public radio stations like Canal Sur Radio and Canal Fiesta (then called Fórmula 1) helped spread breakbeat by playing programs such as "Mundo Evassion" and "Evassion Planet," hosted by Dani Moreno. Artists from this time include Digital Base, Dj Nitro, Jordi Slate, Man, Wally, Kultur, Jan B, Anuschka, and Ale Baquero.
The breakbeat style in Andalusia has developed its own structure, with a simple pattern of pre-breaks, pre-drop, and drop sections. These sections repeat with slight changes in the song. Tracks are mixed together when one song reaches the drop, and the next song's pre-drop begins, keeping the melodies continuous without breaks.
Andalusian breakbeat has grown into a large industry, with festivals focused entirely on this genre, such as the Winter Festival, Summer Festival, Floridance, Retro Fest, and Olibass.
Progressive breaks, also called atmospheric breaks, is a subgenre that blends breakbeat with progressive house. Like progressive house, it has a "trancey" sound, using long synthesizer pads, melodic synth lines, heavy reverb, and electronic breakbeats. Unlike progressive house, most progressive breaks tracks do not include vocals, instead using only instrumental music or short, altered vocal samples for sound effects. These tracks often have long build-up sections that lead to a breakdown and a climax, with many sounds added or removed to change the intensity. Artists in this subgenre include Hybrid, BT, Way Out West, Digital Witchcraft, Momu, Wrecked Angle, Fourthstate, Burufunk, Under This, and Fretwell.