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From:
GD
To:
Date:
Sun, 04 Feb 1996 16:18:18 -0500
Subject:
(idm) breakbeats
Msg-Id:
<3115229A.54B9@interramp.com>
Mbox:
idm.9602.gz
quoted 4 lines Breakbeats came from jazz, where at some point in a song, the rest of the> Breakbeats came from jazz, where at some point in a song, the rest of the > band would take a break and the drummer would play on without them. Hip-hop > sampled these to make their loops and grooves. Break dancing came from these > parts as well, because you "break" on the break.
Just to add my 2 cents, having listened to a bit of jazz and played it too, I can say that I've never heard of this "break" thing in relation to it. The normal jazz song structure involves 2 pieces, the solo and head sections, the latter of which is repeated twice within the song in the following sequence: head-solo-head. The head lays out the chord changes for the song along with the melody, and then the solo section involves improvisation over the main chord changes which were presented in the head. During the solo sections the drummer and bass player usually keep the time, with the piano player "comping", or playing the chords in different ways, while each other instrument takes a turn at soloing over the changes. And occasionally the drummer takes his portion of the solo, but this is considered part of the solo section, not a different part of the song. If this "break" part of the song were indeed the case, the whole solo portion of a tune should then be called the "break" because some of the other players stop playing as well. Now I've heard of "breakdowns" and such for hip-hop and pop music, but I really can't see the connection between standard jazz tunes and breakbeat/jungle tunes. In fact, I'm even mystified when people talk about jungle utilizing hip-hop "breaks" in songs as even if you were to slow down the breakbeats, they would sound nothing like hip- hop - and besides, the jungle beats are for the most part not even syncopated. Anyway, it's just another thought... GD