The re-emergence of breaks being used...

^^^ That surprises me dude. Your drums always have an air of a break that really flows. Are you making them up from individual hits?

hey, yeah, always build my stuff from scratch with individual hits, its how i started learning and i have more control that way and dont have to rely on or search for specific breaks or patterns to fit with with whatever i happen to work with.. sometimes i do use bigger slices of my own recordings though, if i want that specifc sound you get from triggering slices, or move around slices and do edits etc after it all has been recorded

i still use an old sample cd that i got with my first mpc a lot, used it since 1999, a sample cd that i got with the 2kxl that i bought then

i never aim to sound like breakbeats or to sound realistic, but i do aim for a nice flow in the dynamics of it all and to avoid stiffness and that typical grid-feel that can come from using hits that repeat a lot without any changes to its sound..

as for air, not sure, i use a really old steinberg verb plugin that i like, called NaturalVerb, you got some control of what frequencies it will affect, although just two sliders for that and nothing that points out the actual freqs it is, its just to go on feeling.. so its not exactly advanced and there are probably much better and advanced stuff out there, i've just never really had a reason to look for other verbs, actually my whole use of software is very basic too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ro5bX5f6Q

Another one just for you Coz. Check that break, and check that Davina <3 haha

Davina would still get it!

There's 4 or 5 commercial tracks with breaks in that they play on the radio at work. I can definitely hear an early 90s thing going on at the minute...

One track even has the old school 4/4 kick with a break over the top!

the technology has come too far to merely loop a drum break in a track. i think the breaks are in top 40 music constantly and they'll stay there. producers just make more use of samples these days; blending and manipulating.

It's more about nostalgia than anything... like how a few years back everything had an 80s spin on it.

goldslum wrote:the technology has come too far to merely loop a drum break in a track. i think the breaks are in top 40 music constantly and they'll stay there. producers just make more use of samples these days; blending and manipulating.

The technology was good enough in the 90s for this though, it just took a bit more dedication and time. The only difference today is that instead of having dedicated rackmount items for each function it's all thrown into a DAW, or the computer environment generally. I don't see huuuuge leaps and bounds in terms of originality in products and their functions for the most part.

Coz it's interesting that you say that, because another thought I've had lately is that this decade has really been the decade of nostalgia. Vintage, vintage, retro, vintage. I know nearly every generation looks back to go forward, but it still seems for the most part previous decades had a much clearer identity.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Scoob. In the 90s, Hip Hop, Dance and Electronic music all became really refined and distinctive, whereas the noughties has just looked back and delivered very little in terms of originality.

So many bases have already been covered though... it makes me wonder where music will go next.

scoobylol wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ro5bX5f6Q

Another one just for you Coz. Check that break, and check that Davina <3 haha

The Powerpuff Girls was on that shit waay before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmCMUPCNgE

Waaay before like in the 90s? This is about the re-emergence J

Haha good shout though, I did used to watch that.

The noughties brought us Dubstep which was a pretty big leap forward for electronic music in general (woo, we can use triplets!)

There's also a growing trend for performing live electronic sets (and I dont count pissing around with ableton and a macbook a live performance) which I think will be huge in the next decade. It's maybe the best way of getting out from under the umbrella of the jaded dancefloor DJ culture, and building instead on the good old rock gig attitude.

Stylistically I think basically everything has been tried already, apart from one thing: fluidly changing tempos. Accelerando and deccelerando. Like classical music, only I dunno, electronic. Or maybe that'll have to wait for the 20's or 30's.

innovine wrote:The noughties brought us Dubstep which was a pretty big leap forward for electronic music in general (woo, we can use triplets!)

There's also a growing trend for performing live electronic sets (and I dont count pissing around with ableton and a macbook a live performance) which I think will be huge in the next decade. It's maybe the best way of getting out from under the umbrella of the jaded dancefloor DJ culture, and building instead on the good old rock gig attitude.

Stylistically I think basically everything has been tried already, apart from one thing: fluidly changing tempos. Accelerando and deccelerando. Like classical music, only I dunno, electronic. Or maybe that'll have to wait for the 20's or 30's.

I don't think Dubstep has brought much to the table in terms of production values, they were already in place from the more commercial names in DnB. It brought a new interesting stripped-back aesthetic when it first popped up before becoming another Massive ridden preset genre. (Woo we can use LFOs ) I don't think there's been much in terms of originality, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, since Pendulum. Ever since they came around with that super-compressed snare, nobody has dared venture away from it, commercially at least. It's become the de facto drum kit for all the bigger name producers.

Live sets have become more prevelant with the big names but I don't think it's an improvement on dancefloor DJs generally. People like Deadmau5 and Skrillex put on a "live" show of pre-made sets of their own music. I've seen Deadmau5 twice and I might aswell have just saved my money and put his album on in my bedroom, it was a f*cking insult.

Also bare in mind people have done live sets in electronic music for a long time. Shy FX did it during the Original Nuttah days, Paradox has been doing it forever etc... It's nothing new, and as you say there's always that bone of contention as to what you can consider as "live".

I personally don't think the DJ'ing culture will ever be lost, simply because it has far more scope to take you on a musical journey over the course of a set. You mention tempo changes, and that's something DJs have been incorporating a lot more of I've noticed recently, but obviously that runs in parallel with the popularity of dubstep.

Might be right with the live thing, but I am also thinking more of a grassroots level; I've been to a couple of very small parties with live acts and it's really nice. I think the barrier for entry is coming down all the time. You don't need expensive hardware anymore to do a good show (the video of mistabishi playing on a korg emx is a perfect example). I've also had a few very fun jams with people. It'd be awesome to see electronic music production grow from loners in studios to a bit more of a scene, but whether it really catches on on or not is anyones guess. I haven't been to a famous rock band concert in years, but I do go to a couple of the local gigs with 20-100 people or whatever and they are just as good, and I appreciate the vibe a lot more. It's also very inspiring to go and watch local musicians that I can relate to, skillwise, rather than giant acts like say Radiohead or Prodigy.

I wasn't referring to tempo changes like playing a dubstep track then some dnb. I mean tempo changes within the same track. Like tracks that get faster, building up to a cresendo, and slow down for a breakdown. I've heard it done a bit in computer game music and sci-fi film soundtracks, and the classical influences are very obvious there, but it's not being picked up outsie of these areas yet. Still, its somewhat innovative style wise. Computer game sound as a genre matured ginormously in the noughties. The sound in Dead Space 2 for example is just brilliant.

Mistabishi who is infamous for recording mixes on CD, and then playing those CDs out live. Complete c*nt, and again pretty insulting to the people who have actually payed money to see a DJ. I believe Chase and Status have also been guilty of this before too... standing there saluting the crowd giving it the big 'un. Poor representation of the scene.

As a drumfunk man you must have seen what Paradox uses in his live shows? It's some super-archaic setup, definitely one for the tech heads haha.

Interesting you mention Prodigy and Radiohead at the same time, you didn't go to Leeds a couple of years back did you? I saw them both, and must admit despite having savage gravy poisoning I thought Radiohead were one of the best acts I've ever seen live. I understand what you mean though, it's nice to have an intimacy of a small venue, and it's something I've always personally preferred too.

No I understood what you mean with the tempo changes. People like Sabre have done tracks like that, and one of the Abstract Elements releases on Exit records. In fact from quite a few years ago there's a Phantasy and Shodan remix of Top Buzz's hardcore classic Living in Darkness which has a tempo change on the breakdown just like you're suggesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_rna0ur_rE

There you go dude

In terms of a scene of producers, I don't think it'll catch on really other than the normal collaborative things that happen. The strength of the internet in terms of youtube and excellent places like the forums only forces us back to our bedrooms more haha.

I reckon mistabishi has learned his lesson there so no need to go digging it up again. Personally I couldnt give a shit if someones playing premixed cds or not. They're all just standing there trying to look busy while taking credit for playing other peoples tracks anyway. Mistabishi's video with the emx shows that he has some skills, cos he's wringing some great sounds out of it. I know cos I have one. His live-play with it wasn't the best but the patterns were great.

I'll check out the tracks you mentioned. Cheers for the tips.

You're dead right about the internet too.