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whowillsurvive2012.com - The Mayan Calendar predicts the end of time: 2012. See the trailer for 2012, opening November 13.
182 Comments
- Habemus, on 10/12/2007, -18/+128The guy's narration will make watching paint dry seem like excitement times two.
- hold_steady, on 10/12/2007, -8/+79I actually found it quite interesting. Nice video.
- BionicBeefpile, on 10/12/2007, -4/+53I never knew Stephen Hawking was such a music enthusiast. That's great!
Seriously though, he makes some interesting points if you can make it to the end - Terc, on 10/12/2007, -10/+43I don't understand why you think it's so boring, I'm listening to the video right now as I read through the commen.... zzz
- piggy2, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35This IS intereting to those of us who actually like the music. If you don't like this music, then go read some other story.
- cliktokill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25Why the hell does he keep looking at the god damn wall!?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23This video is, despite the monotonous naration and being a tad overlong, a must watch
It's amazing hearing the beat in context and it coming from a real drummer and band rather than a sampler. - subscriber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16With all the interest here at digg with anything to do with copyright reform (see any post about allofmp3.com or Piratebay or DRM), you'd think this story would generate more positive buzz -- if you listen all the way to the end, you'll realize the story is all about how the courts need to look at intellectual property in a new light. "Overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as underprotecting it." "Culture grows by accretion..."
OK, so he takes a while to get to the point, but the story of the Amen Break illustrates exceedingly well what many of us feel about copyright overprotection. So stick with it to the end if you listen (no need to watch). It's not just about a drum break. - maxsunset, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18You didnt watch the whole video did you?
- harlowsmonkeys, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17No, nice audio. The video is completely pointless. If this were a podcast instead of a video, nothing would be lost.
- JerMe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Don't WATCH it - LISTEN to it while you digg other stories ;)
- asdren, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13http://www.boingboing.net/2006/02/21/video_explains_the_w.html
it could be just an mp3 considering the video doesn't really show anything - fastfood15, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Hey you know whats cool to do? Drag the bar on the bottom of the video window right and left and it appears that you are in effect dragging the needle on the vinel player.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12This version of the documentary seems to be responding better than YouTube
http://nkhstudio.com/pages/amen_mp4.html - b3n3llis, on 07/26/2009, -3/+14Hear the drummer get wicked
- maxsunset, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Cool video, and it is worth watching all 18 minutes. The "punchline" is excellent... Very well done.
- insane.k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Wow, Insightful. A story with a very important moral - as "imightbewrong" above said, watch the whole thing.
- HeatVision, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14The topic is interesting, but the visual element for this documentry is boring as hell. Bad filmmaking.
- toosas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10so you're proud you did not watch the video till the end, you missed the point, and yet feel so willing to share your opinion about you don't know what with us. and down you go.
- tokyopimp, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Like I said, besides a minority of hip/hop artist, the genre is absolute garbage. And I don't even watch MTV, or listen to the radio for that matter. I just have friends who listen to the crap, and It makes my ears bleed.
@Maxsunset
Bull *****, all artist do not do this, and there is no way I would use that cop-out to describe my favorite artist or my own work. And quite frankly, a lot of artist may copy certain subtle things but Hip Hop blatantly takes a song, a melody, a beat, raps over it and sells it like there is no tommorow. It's the biggest sham in the history of music.
And I'm sick of hip hop fans telling me I'm ignorant because I don't know about great hip hop artist. Anytime you call out a hip hop fan, this is what they revert to. "Oh your ignorant cause you haven't heard the stuff thats not on the radio, in your friends playlist, etc!" You guys better get some better ambassadors out there to greet us ignorant people at the door. Because when a song called It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp wins the oscar for best song, and 50 Cent wins writer of the year over Paul Mccartney then you know exactly how ***** the music industry is.
Unti then continue to listen to your garbage. - tokyopimp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12@rasbill
I've been writing, arranging, composing, and playing music for many years. I have keys to a million dollar studio (not owned by me, but I have full 24/7 access). A studio equipped with top of the line, HD3 Pro-Tools gear. I use EQ's that cost thousands of dollars. I have recorded amature hip-hop wannabes, I know exactly how they work. It is not difficult to do what they do. Not at all, that's why the genre is so freaking oversaturated with the crap.
None of them can hit a note, none of them can read music, and when they try to sing during a chorus, they are always horribly off key. It's a good thing, the equiptment used nowadays can sure as hell hide this.
Fact of the matter, nearly all of the hip hops artist, I've met, heard, or on the radio are hacks. That can afford high dollar producers, and musicians to make them sound good.
I didn't say all of them, I happen to enjoy and like a few hip hop artist. But the problem is, they are few and far between and to be honest with you, the same could be said about Rock N' Roll, Country, and a lot of genres. Please don't think I'm just bashing rap, I just bash rap a bit more, because of how blatant they use other peoples melodies, and drum beats and change the tempo, eq and rap over it and make millions from the song. Or how blatantly freaking crappy stuff like Lil John, and whatever the hell Lil is on the radio, rapping about booty this, booty that. It sucks, and I'm sick of it. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Not sure, but it reminds me of the prisoners in Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Might have some meaning or maybe it's just an attempt to be artistic.
- deelux247, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I think the "Funky Drummer" break is the "world's most important" sample for hip hop.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky_drummer - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11I'm still of the persuasion that the world's most important beat is "thump-thump, thump-thump" (heart beat), shortly followed by "emm-chsss, emm-chsss" (cheesy trance song).
But, that's just me.
(Oh, and for the beat itself, for those who don't actually want to watch the documentary: http://www.joejahnigen.com/songs/groove/Amen break.mp3 ). - spacyt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8interesting copyright comments...
- solidcube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Deadly Council: And the ridiculous thing is, rap and hiphop are taught in many college music departments!
Max: We don't like hiphop, therefore we're ignorant? Me, I prefer music where they, well, play instruments. It must be just me. - maxsunset, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12Like the video said, nothing is totally original anymore, we, as artists, take things from others and re-work it as our own. All genres of music do this these days. It's not just music either, look at pop art for example. Andy Warhol did not "invent" the Campbell's tomato soup can, but well, used it.
You don't have to like hip-hop, I'm not such a big fan myself, but your ignorance precedes you... - MadFunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I happen to think his narration is excellent. It's dry, sure, but it's academic, intelligent and concise (despite being a bit wordy). I must've watched this video (or listened to it) three or four times. It's almost Noam Chomsky-esque, and I actually find it enlightening.
- seamonkeydcc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5its actually meant to be a museum piece; an audio documentary cut to acetate. This is a VIDEO of an AUDIO ART INSTALLATION. Hence all the staring at walls, it was never designed to be a video.
- DisposableRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"In rock music you can still hear the Led Zeppelin riffs"
And in Led Zeppelin riffs, I hear their Willie Dixon blues influence. - iDealL, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10I'm not a fan of that beat, but the video held my interest for a good 10 minutes or so. Not bad considering the monotone.
- moon118, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it. -Laurence J. Peter
- DeadlyCouncil, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Wow... way to go and further my venemous hatred for all thigs rap and Hip-Hop.
Recycling the same drum beat as the foundation of a music genre... wow. - GuitaristTom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5okay...you are an electronic music producer...for who...and what are your credentials...im a high school senior, and I know why it is so important...maybe you should go back to music theory class
- DS513, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Re-use of old music is really not that uncommon. I collect old vinyl records and very often hear "recent" music on 50 year old recordings. Here are some examples:
"The Peanut Vendor" by Moises Simons, released 1930
Played in the movie "Office Space" when Melvin is on the beach at the end of the movie.
"Everybody Polka" by Adam Nowicki and his Orchestra, released 1950
Modified and re-used as the looping "Tetris song". To be fair, the original song is based on a Russian folk tune, this is a reproduction in itself. To hear 1950's recording: http://tetrispolka.ytmnd.com/
"Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson, released 1964
Covered by Pearl Jam in 1999. When originally released in 1964, this was the #2 song of the year. Eddie Vedder decided to cover the song after he found the original record in an antique store. This is currently Pearl Jam's highest charting song.
I guess it's like the old expression goes, "Everything old is new again." - invader, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5from TFV:
"Overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as underprotecting it. Creativity is impossible without a rich public domain. Nothing today, likely nothing since we tamed fire, is genuinely new: Culture, like science and technology, grows by accretion, each new creator building on the works of those who came before. Overprotection stifles the very creative forces it's supposed to nurture."
- Federal Nineth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski
digg++ just for that, and the fact that the break is wicked - cyclotron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Art school student.
- cunnybungler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4A comment like yours makes me wonder how many CDs/albums you own where the entire album was recorded in one uncut, live recording. Nowadays, musicians in all genres sit in a booth listening to a loop of the chorus music, and sing the chorus over and over until they get it right -- and even then, it's usually not -just- right, so they edit in pieces and parts from those dozen takes, then run pitch correction, et al...
I would venture to say that any studio recorded band on the radio today is recorded in sessions that were edited and produced into an oblivion of perfection. Hip hop, industrial rock, and dance music was just doing it before anyone else.
If the end result is good, catchy music, then I'm down with that. I appreciate live performance and musicianship as well, but you can't fault the composer for choosing a different kind of orchestra. - GuitaristTom, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7"So what do you call someone who doesn't know the different between "there" and "their?""
its always funny when someone points out grammar as a completely unrelated argument because they dont have a related one - GuitaristTom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Monkeman...on 3/02/06 you spelled discrimination wrong while posting about a story about credit cards...I think you should figure out how to use your own language before you feel compelled to share your retardation with the masses.
"Uh, descrimination based on race? Yeah, that's illegal. If you didn't know."
Or maybe we could all just realize that people arent stupid if they misspell something on a forum. I got a pretty mediocre grade in English 4...but let me see...im pretty sure ive misused there and their at least once this year...am i a dumbass? think before you talk jerk - spadin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't know much about music history, but for some reason this very beat came to mind when I thought about this.
- o0nac0o, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I sample and I have to admit... the Amen Break is a true classic. Like a black pinstripe suit. But you either appreciate the genres that use it and realize what it is, or you don't care for the particular genres that use and it sounds like more pots and pans.
- Lososaurus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You guys are looking at this all the wrong way. If The Winstons wanted to, they *could* go through a ream the music industry of all the awful music that plagues it(hip hop, rap, jungle, pop, latin). We can only hope though.
- 5thfreedom, on 10/12/2007, -11/+15Ugh.
Stop saying "dope". - cyclotron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6It's obviously an art installation for an art school student.
- Graphixaddict, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3heh, i guess we are the few people whoa actually made it to the end, since 95% of the people here have made comments that have absolutly nothing to do with the overall message of the video. rofl....woot for internet multitasking attention spans.
- tacom8, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3deelux247, right you are man, I think James Brown was the most sampled artist of all time... check out the comparison on the breaks dot com (great site if you liked that clip by the way)
http://www.the-breaks.com/search.php?term=Winstons%2CThe&type=0
http://www.the-breaks.com/search.php?term=brown%2Cjames&type=0 - cyclotron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+41) I doubt Amen is the first band to record this beat (its way too jazzy to be invented as late as 1969.)
2) I am pretty sure the courts ruled that drum beats are not copyrightable in the sense of pattern. Only actual recordings. It sounded like his examples were interpretations, not actual samples. Despite what he said, I doubt you cant sample a single drum hit. At this day an age every keyboard or digital kit is a rehash after rehash of drum hit samples. Kraftwerk and Art of Noise are sampled more than Amen. Every song since the 70s (When digital sampling really became commercial) has a sample in it if a digital keyboard was used. (And thats ignoring looping that started in the 60s made famous by the Beatles.)
But, if you watch the who video, this isnt really about the beat, its about copyright law - Nerdomatick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I remember hearing this break when the (oldschool) hardcore techno scene started to emerge out of the UK in the early nineties. Probably one of those things that if you grew up with it, you'll appreciate the video. If you're just now "hearing" it, you won't really understand what all the fuss is about; despite the documentary explaining the impact it made on several music genres.
- mylkhead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Interesting nonetheless. Really bad film/documentary. Could have been made so much more interesting. But I love stuff like this. The classic break.
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