Guerrilla @ HomeClub 10th Feb

The name "drum and bass" should not lead to the assumption that tracks are constructed solely from these elements. Nevertheless, they are by far and away the most critical features, and usually dominate the mix of a track. Despite the apparent simplicity of drum and bass productions to the untrained ear, an inordinate amount of time is spent on preparing tracks by the more experienced producers.

The genre places great importance on the "bass line", a deep sub-bass musical pattern which is felt physically as much as it is heard. There has also been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bass line region, particularly within techstep. Bass lines exist in many forms, but most notably they originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Bass lines performed with a bass (instrument), whether it is electric, acoustic or a double bass, are rare. Sampled basslines are often taken from double bass recordings or from publicly available loops. Synthesized bass lines are however just as common.

In drum and bass productions, the bass lines are subjected to many and varied sound effects, including standard techniques such as dynamic compression, flanger, chorus, over-drive, equalization, etc. and drum and bass specific techniques such as the "Reese Bass", in fact not a technique per se, but the degrees of processing, distortion and filtering placed upon a widely-used sample of Kevin Saunderson's most infamous 'Reese' bass line sample - from 1988's classic "Just Another Chance".

The complex syncopation of the drum tracks breakbeat, is another facet of production on which producers spend a very large amount of time. A drum phrase lasting seconds may often take a day or more to prepare, depending on the dedication of the producer. The Amen break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in drum and bass.

It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that drum and bass (at least in its early days) was a style built around a single broken beat element which was a single sample, the Amen, but other samples have had a significant impact, including the Apache break, the Funky Drummer, and others.[9] The Funky Drummer has perhaps superseded the Amen in modern productions but the Amen is accepted to continue to be an extremely powerful (in a musical sense) break.

The very fast (objectively) drum beat forms a canvas on which a producer can create tracks to appeal to almost any taste and often will form only a background to the other elements of the music. However, without a fast & broken beat, a drum and bass track would not be a drum and bass track but could be classified as a gabber, techno, breaks or house music track.

Drum and bass is usually between 160-180 BPM, in contrast to other forms of breakbeat such as nu skool breaks which maintain a slower pace at around 130-140 BPM. A general upward trend in tempo has been observed during the evolution of drum and bass. The earliest old skool rave was around 125 / 135 bpm in 1989 / 1991, early (late 1992 - 1993) jungle / breakbeat hardcore was around 155-165 BPM. Since around 1996, drum'n'bass tempos have predominantly stayed in the 173 to 180 range. Recently some producers have started to once again produce tracks with slower tempos (i.e. in the 150's and 160's), but the mid-170 tempo is still the hallmark of the drum and bass sound.

The speed of drum and bass is not however only characterised by that of the broken beat. Drum and bass has a bassline, which will typically play at half the speed of the drums, bringing its speed down to that of, for instance, a laid back hip-hop track. A listener or dancer can concentrate on this element rather than the faster drums.

It should be noted that the speed of music is subjective. A aggressively produced track with a complicated beat and synthesizer sounds may 'sound faster' than one with a sampled double bass bassline, guitar riffs and simpler beat, however the second track may be in strict BPM terms faster. Radio friendly tracks like Shy FX's "Shake Ur Body" often have higher BPMs than ominous techstep productions which might eject the unitiated very quickly from a dancefloor. It is interesting to note that the faster a track is in BPM terms, the less complex its drum patterns can be because at higher step the elements cease to be heard separately, turning them into a wall of sound. A faster drum and bass track will therefore generally have a less complex drum pattern than a slower one.

"Excuse me, would you mind pulling back that song you just put on? That bass melody was just splendid."