Drum and Bass
A fast British style with heavy bass and broken beats, the wider name for jungle's later sound.
History
Drum and bass is the name that replaced jungle from about 1994 s1. The music became faster and more precise, with very clean, loud bass and tightly cut drums s1. Roni Size and his group Reprazent won the Mercury Prize in 1997 with the album 'New Forms'. The album brought the sound to a wide audience s1. Their track 'Brown Paper Bag' (1997) is one of the widely known drum and bass records s1. Andy C and Shimon's 'Bodyrock' (1999) showed the funky, danceable side of the style s1. Pendulum's 'Tarantula' (2005) brought a rock-influenced, festival version of drum and bass to a new generation s1. The music has many smaller styles inside it, including liquid, techstep and jump-up s2. It remains a large British club and festival scene with its own radio stations and awards s1s2. The style has its own awards ceremony, the Drum & Bass Arena Awards, and a large following online s1. Many producers also make slower or faster music under other names s2.
Sound
- Very fast, tight breakbeats
- Heavy, clean sub-bass
- A strong two-step or rolling drum pattern
- Samples from soul, reggae or film
- A precise, loud club mix
Key figures
- Roni Size — Bristol producer and bandleader of Reprazent
- Andy C — DJ and co-founder of Ram Records
- Goldie — Producer and founder of Metalheadz
- Pendulum — Australian drum and bass band
Labels
- Ram Records — London , 1992
- Talkin' Loud — London , 1990
- Breakbeat Kaos — London , 2003
- Metalheadz — London , 1994
Defining tracks
Connections
Came from: Jungle , Darkcore , Dub
Led to: Atmospheric Drum and Bass , Halftime , Jump-Up , Liquid Drum and Bass , Minimal Drum and Bass , Neurofunk , Techstep
Sources
- Drum and bass — Wikipedia
- History of drum and bass: from jungle to neuro — Dropzone BCN