Video explains the world's most important 6-sec drum loop watch!
youtube.com — Kind of long but worth it for music people. This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music.
ekboost- 1053 diggs
- digg it
- LecherousVenom, on 10/12/2007, -56/+7Dupe:
http://digg.com/videos_educational/History_of_the_Amen_break_by_the_winstons- kablammo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+37Just because a story was submitted before and a achieved a very weak 10 diggs, doesn't mean that it should forever be banned from being seen on here again.
Also, if it concerns you so much, maybe a little further explanation is needed. Four letters (dupe) and a link doesn't build much of a case for anything. - flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12its been a dupe more than once. Its been on the front page twice in recent memory, and gotten much more than 10 diggs.
- edzz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Technics 1200 FTW.
- themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Only a dupe when it makes a front page twice
- nunbot, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1sweet11111111
18 minutes of the same 6 second drum loop!
what more can a diggie ask for? - JerodSlay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This guy suggests that every time a snare or bass drum hit is sampled and sounds like the original, that it is from the original.
The video sucks too. It should be an mp3 only.
- kablammo, on 10/12/2007, -7/+37Just because a story was submitted before and a achieved a very weak 10 diggs, doesn't mean that it should forever be banned from being seen on here again.
- Rafals, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Welcome to the world of music. Open your ears and enjoy your stay.
- SubWolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dude's voice reminds me of K Billy (Steven Wright, Reservoir Dogs).
Some very cool information, I wondered where those samples came from. However, think I would have liked it better as a document with attached sound clips, his slow speech had me about to crack the monitor with my drooping head. But, you can't win 'em all, and still nice to find out the info.
- SubWolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Dude's voice reminds me of K Billy (Steven Wright, Reservoir Dogs).
- rootneg2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22This is more than just for music people. Now that we've truly entered the "digital age" or "information age", whatever you might like to call it, the sharing, mixing, and redistribution of *any* media or information has never been easier.
Many videos on YouTube may "sample" other video clips.
The "blogosphere" is constantly repackaging, quoting, linking, and interpreting textual media from news sources and each other.
We see this happening in the Open Source and Free Software and even "Web2.0" applications which borrow ideas and code, re-implement modules, and creat application "mashups" from others.
I think that some serious re-evaluation of copyright and patent laws is in order. Never in thier wildest dreams were the founders of Intellectual Property laws prepared for the earth-shattering implications of computers, digital media, and the internet. The entire system needs a complete overhaul.- Gromdul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is way older than the digital age. No artist, visual or otherwise, creates in a vacuum. Each of us responds to what we see and hear when we create. We can't help it. Hell, our whole society and culture is a steady build-up of the last million years or so. All the way back to when some genius figure out how to cut something with a sharp rock.
- rootneg2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think it's something very new and different, though, now that we're in the digital age.
With digital media, we can copy without any degredation of signal, and with the internet, we can distribute instantaneously; all at virtually no cost.
before we were limited to reinterpretations, covers, inspirations, etc. any of which required some small cost (in either time, labor, or money) in order to propegate the signal or information one step further, with the cost proportional to accuracy and distance. One could argue that this is a relatively minor difference, but when a single piece of information (you might call it a meme, perhaps) can make it's way around the globe to billions of people, undistinguishable from the original, in days or even seconds, with negligable cost; I would say that we have something vastly different going on then when we had apprenticeship in a guild, or reinterpretations from sheet music, or even the printing press.
- over900, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34I remember this break in Powerpuff Girls.
- igraham09, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7so _that's_ where I've heard it! ... and i am ashamed
- noouch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7futurama...
- unfinite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Reminds me of the Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix) ...but kinda different
Also..just about every Run DMC song
- dugyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This is a great documentary. I didn't even know how widespread that loop is until I saw the vid. Like the video mentions, they even use that thing in commercials.
- S1L3NTC, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29As a junglist, I am required by law to digg up anything about Amen Brother, or the Amen Break. :-P
Thankfully, we've seen a lot more innovation in drum and bass over the past few years. Our sound continues to steadily find its way into the ears of more and more people. It's definitely not just for ravers anymore.
However, it is kind of ironic to watch something 19 minutes long about a 6 second sample...- artofwar420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Well it was 19 minutes worth my time.
- Ozzy73, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It took him more than a minute to play it.
- johnham, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3This video makes me so sad for the state of music today.
- ejhdigdug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why? Is sampling and mixing not as legitimate as people playing guitars? The sampler and the record player are musical instruments now. Get used to it. Sure there are plenty of corporate "Musicians" out there who are just using sampling as a way to be hip. But there's also good people out there who have something to say about the world who are using it for good.
This video only makes me sad for how we've allowed copyright law to be screwed up so much. - SubWolf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agreed with ejhdigdug, I play, and consider samplers & mixers musical instruments - sure, anyone can spend 10 minutes in a large-consumer-level sound studio app and churn out some crap, but these guys take it to another level, often.
- johnham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4What? I'm most certainly not against samplers or anything of that nature. I was referring to the fact that large companies are so consumed with milking every last penny out of someone's musical expression.
Sorry for the general statement I made originally, but I definitely think we're on the same side.
- ejhdigdug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why? Is sampling and mixing not as legitimate as people playing guitars? The sampler and the record player are musical instruments now. Get used to it. Sure there are plenty of corporate "Musicians" out there who are just using sampling as a way to be hip. But there's also good people out there who have something to say about the world who are using it for good.
- TroubleInMind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6He said "fetishization". Nice.
- lanzemurdok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6i'm glad this video eventually got dugg. I tried but i guess my explanation wasn't as well written as this one. Dugg.
- TheCaterpillar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Futurama uses the Amen break in its title song.
- unfinite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It does! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZvle0MPKgo
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Funky Drummer oober alles!
- TopBanana, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Interesting stuff. Shame the narrator's thinks he's too cool to sound interested.
- over900, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6[monotone]I find this interesting[/monotone]
- NotalesS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5WOw this video is awesome! Well worth my time to watch!
- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -10/+0Ya, and this "Original" Amen Break is a derivative of military drumline cadences that are hundreds of years old. By this guy's logic, any drum beat could be seen as a "permutation" of the Amen Break. Geez. The first few examples from hip-hop I will allow.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3oh yeah - so hardcore techno DJs were collectors of military brass band albums? you really dont have a ***** clue what you are talking about.
- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1hahaha ya buddy sure. the amen break was a permutation of cadences, which was a permutation of who knows what. you sure know everything, huh? maybe about the cookie cutter DNB you listen to. lol
- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0ya, i have no idea what i am talking about:
http://www.myspace.com/te4ch2ni0cs - strabes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's the whole "jungle" sound
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"hahaha ya buddy sure. the amen break was a permutation of cadences, which was a permutation of who knows what. you sure know everything, huh? maybe about the cookie cutter DNB you listen to. lol"
jeez. back in 91 it was simple - amen break, bassline and a synth. that is all. nobody was talking about "cadences" - it really was that simple. in fact, most of the people making early jungle didnt even have a clue about octaves let alone cadences. in fact, most people making those early jungle records didnt even KNOW it was the "amen break" - they were sampling from hip hop records that used it and speeding up the samples. the black american guys who were making those hip hop records did know about it, but the white English guys making hardcore didnt. they found out in about a year or two, but in the early days it really was dead simple. sample that cool hip hop record, speed it up , and slap a synth and bassline on top = instant hardcore rave.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3oh yeah - so hardcore techno DJs were collectors of military brass band albums? you really dont have a ***** clue what you are talking about.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4the documentary is spot on - drum and bass wouldnt have been around without the Amen. its unbelievably influential.
- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Not true, IMO. DNB would still be around. It was just as much influenced by the Amen as it was kids on the street corner banging on five gallon buckets, Richard D. James.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2disagree there mate. speeded up Amen lead to hardcore rave, which evolved into jungle, which then evolved into d'n'b.
Aphex was doing his own thing down in Cornwall and was never part of the central hardcore scene in the early days. he came in later. (i know - i was there when this was all happening) - goofballjm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Aphex Twin has used this break multiple times, Girl/Boy Song and Come to Daddy both feature this break.
- joshua5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Very interesting piece of work. I figure most Diggers got tired of it and moved on before realizing what it actually was. At the end of the video the narrator gives his conclusion. I've transcribed the following directly from audio but you should go and listen to the whole thing.
"Why do I bring any of this up? What is significant about the Amen Break? I'm talking about it here because I think it's story is a good example illustrating the rise and subsequent problematic of digital sampling in relation to today's increasingly stringent copyright and trademark laws. To trace the history of the Amend Break is to trace the history of a brief period of time when it seemed digital tools offered a potentially unlimited amount of new forms of expression. Where cultural production, at least musically, was full of possibilities by virtue of being able to freely appropriate from the musical past, to make new combinations, and thus new meanings. The story demonstrates that a society, 'free to borrow and build upon the past is culturally richer than a controlled one.' To use the words of Lawrence Lessig, Standford Law professor, copyright reform advocate, and confounder of Creative Commons - an organization offering a legal alternative to copyright control.
As we go forward, examples like the Amend Break will become more and more rare, if nonexistent. A 6th circuit appeals court ruled in September of this year, that recording artists must pay for every sample they use not in the public domain, regardless of the length or recognizability of the samples in question. But because of various changes of U.S. copyright laws, for example the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act of 1998, which extend copyrights into the mid 21st century, virtually all 20th century cultural output has been locked away from the public domain - barred from sampling unless one has deep pockets and expensive lawyers. So it seems that companies like Zero G, with its attempt at regulating the use of and profiting from the use of the Amen Break, is helping to secure the supremacy of copyright laws while the company's very success itself occured because of a lack of strict copyright control surrounding break beat sampling. In other words, not only does the innovation within culture grow when copyright is flexible - so do its markets and capital. New trends are developed, new sounds are sought after, new releases are anticipated and become hugely popular - perhaps even selling out, new stars are born, and new fan bases are created. Money is exchanged. All in the pursuit of new forms of experiences of potentials for new connections and meanings.
I think the history of the use of the Amend Break demonstrates this. To cite Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kazinsky, in a copyright ruling last year, 'Over protecting intellectual property is as harmful as under protecting it. Culture is impossible without a rich public domain. Nothing today, like nothing since we tamed fire, is geniually new. Culture, like science and technology, grows by accretion - each new creator building on the works of those who came before. Over protection stifles the very creative forces its supposed to nurture.' End of recording."- joshua5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Basically the narrator is using the history of the Amen Break to demonstrate the direction copyright laws and intellectual property protection worries are taking us. If you've ever wondered where all the great music has gone and where all the legendary musicians are and why all the corporate cookie-cutter crap dominates the airwaves, you should take a knee and listen.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4dead right. there was a period in the late 80s/early 90s when you could pretty much sample ANYTHING and not be too worried about it, as long as you werent sampling anything over 30 seconds or so. this RIAA ***** and copyright bollocks has gotten to such an extent that folks are scared to sample nowadays. its not whether its legal or not - its just not worth the hassle , so a lot of musicians just dont bother sampling anymore. and thats a great loss. just look at all that hip hop and crazy house music from the late 80s that was sampling like crazy. it was a blast hearing this stuff.
- ekboost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'll have to admit that I've never heard of this before I saw the video. Now all I do is hear variations of this break all over the place. I bet its the same way with James Brown's music. I still love hip hop and will love it till I'm 60 but its really interesting to hear these kind of things.
Here's a cool resource I found online that lets you know the samples of almost any hip hop song.
http://www.the-breaks.com/- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh, you mean more than one sample is out there? The "Amen" in all of its "originality" isn't the lone influence of and sound of DNB and Hip-Hop? lolz
Thank you.
plus one for the link. - kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2the "funky drummer" (James Brown) break is another one. but , to be honest "Amen" is the BIG one.
- fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh, you mean more than one sample is out there? The "Amen" in all of its "originality" isn't the lone influence of and sound of DNB and Hip-Hop? lolz
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4bit more background on the Amen break, on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break - cyzoonic, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0This is *****, some of those songs may be samples of the original but the others are all compiled from scratch using standard drum samples recorded from a drum set in a Studio and not that old record.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah - but the self built grooves are copying or derive from Amen. The "Funky Drummer" James Brown riff is another one thats highly influential. Folks started with Amen or Funky Drummer back in the early days, and started to mess around with the cut up samples to create new grooves - but the granddaddys are Funky Drummer and Amen.
your argument is like saying the Beatles came up with their own stuff , while ignoring the influence of Elvis. sure , they came up with "i am the walrus", but they derived originally from Elvis. the influence is the key part of the documentary... - fubuvsfitch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1And your argument seems to imply that the Amen and Funky Drummer were both original material. I don't believe that they were. Sure, they were sampled. I can agree with you there. But DNB would be around whether or not there was that vinyl with the amen on it.
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i've watched a docu on James Brown, when the guy that did the funky drummer basically did it , in between takes of Brown singing. Brown liked it - so it got into the song.
Not sure about Amen,. but lets face it - those guys back then were the funk. they came up with it. if you can trace Amen or Funky Drummer back further, then you're a better music historian than most people, and you'll be onto a big story. trouble is - nobody has done so , so i guess, they were original riffs. but yeah - they both would have derived from earlier material - but that wouldnt have been as funky. those drummers back then really figured it out for the first time - that kinda funky drum loop. ( i'd say if you REALLY went back , you might be able to find influences in 30s and 40s Jazz drumming... maybe...)
- kdehead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah - but the self built grooves are copying or derive from Amen. The "Funky Drummer" James Brown riff is another one thats highly influential. Folks started with Amen or Funky Drummer back in the early days, and started to mess around with the cut up samples to create new grooves - but the granddaddys are Funky Drummer and Amen.
- digicanmon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Did anyone else think the narrator sounded like Microsoft Sam?
- MaxwellTD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2they have this beat in GTA3 and LCS, on the techno radio station
- berfmurret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.nkhstudio.com/
here is the original author's website. i like his video about the tb-303 as well. another sound source, this time a synth/sequencer instead of a sample, with an interesting history. - elamr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Clubbed to Death
- audible, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1RESPECT THE ARCHITECH.
- Oddball_One, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3It's so sad. This story has been on digg three even four times recently (last 12 Months). I understand its a great story. I dugg it myself THE FIRST TIME, but come on guys. Posting highly dugg stories from 6 months ago in order to harvest a good profile is dumb.
- Gromdul, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Some of us are new to Digg, and can appreciate this regardless of how many times it had appeared. Just something to consider.
- jsaya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Imagine if The Winstons got $0.01 for every time the sample was used...
- matthistory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah, old black musicians have been sampled and used to no end, another good documentary, slightly related is Standing in the Shadows of Motown. It's about the Funk Brothers in Detroit, basically how badly they got ripped off, but bar none some of the coolest most talented people I've ever seen interviewed.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0314725/
sorry if this is a little off topic
- matthistory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah, old black musicians have been sampled and used to no end, another good documentary, slightly related is Standing in the Shadows of Motown. It's about the Funk Brothers in Detroit, basically how badly they got ripped off, but bar none some of the coolest most talented people I've ever seen interviewed.
- liquidjamm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Amen brother!
- RoboPimp3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Interesting info, but most boring voice and visuals ever.
- beejay54, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Superb. Makes this bedroom DJ want to his decks out of storage!
- charlie55, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2this would have been more interesting if it was 2 minutes long and not read by a jerkass. all i really needed was: "check out how many places you can find this little bit of audio".
- scottytoodope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dude sounds like he used the speech function in textedit to narrate this video!
- djepik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whoa that's awesome ++for Original Nuttah
- kenvsryu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Isn't this James Brown's funky drummer sped up? WTF?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPsE0rZHII4 - SystemError, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1original song http://www.thepopview.com/mptres/amen-brother.mp3
- isewise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This actually plays it on the drums: http://youtube.com/watch?v=b98BJ36K1wo
- kkeith02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So if I buy the license to this song, can I sue everyone who has ever sampled the amen break? Seems to me, I'd make a large return on my investment.
- damvay, on 08/10/2008, -1/+0Song lyrics. Artists biography. Find your favourite lyrics, song-texts, artists biography and reviews http://justmusicstore.com
http://mp3lava.com/
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