Editing Breakbeat

{{Short description|Genre of electronic music}}
{{About|the electronic music genre|the musical element|Break (music)|the record label|Breakbeat Kaos}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Breakbeat
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Electro (music)|Electro]]|[[Freestyle music|freestyle]]|[[Hip hop music|hip hop]]|[[funk]]|[[post-disco]]|[[turntablism]]}}
| cultural_origins  = Mid-1970s, US {{small| (hip hop production)}}<br />Late 1980s, US and UK{{small| (electronic genre)}}
| derivatives       = {{hlist|[[Jungle music|Jungle]]|[[drum and bass]]|[[2-step garage]]|[[4-beat]]|[[breakbeat hardcore]]|[[big beat]]|[[dubstep]]}}
| subgenrelist      = 
| subgenres         = {{hlist|Acid breaks|Asian breakbeat|[[big beat]]|[[breakcore]]|[[broken beat]]|deep breaks|electro breaks|[[Electrotech]]|[[Florida breaks]]|[[nu skool breaks]]|psybreaks|progressive breaks|West Coast/funky breaks}}
| fusiongenres      = {{hlist|[[Breakstep]]|[[breakbeat hardcore]]}}
| regional_scenes   = 
}}

'''Breakbeat''' is a broad type of [[electronic music]] that uses [[drum breaks]], often sampled from early recordings of [[funk]], [[jazz]], and [[rhythm and blues|R&B]]. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as [[Florida breaks]], [[hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Jungle music|jungle]], [[drum and bass]], [[big beat]], [[breakbeat hardcore]], and [[UK garage]] styles (including [[2-step garage|2-step]], [[breakstep]] and [[dubstep]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Mullen |first1=Matt |last2=Truss |first2=Si |last3=Williams |first3=Stuart |date=2022-09-15 |title=The history of breaks in music production |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-history-of-breaks |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=MusicRadar |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-07 |title=Breakbeat Music Guide: 3 Characteristics of Breakbeat |url=https://www.masterclass.com/articles/breakbeat-music-guide |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=MasterClass}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The origin of the word "breakbeat" is the fact that the [[drum]] [[Loop (music)|loops]] that were sampled occurred during a "[[break (music)|break]]" in the music - for example the ''[[Amen break]]'' (a [[drum solo]] from "[[Color Him Father|Amen, Brother]]" by [[The Winstons]]) or the ''[[Think Break]]'' (from "[[Think (About It)]]" by [[Lyn Collins]]).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==History==
===1970s—1980s: Classic breaks and hip hop production===
Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] [[Turntablism|turntablists]] such as [[DJ Kool Herc]] began using several [[funk]] [[Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music)|breaks]] in a row, using [[drum break]]s from [[jazz-funk]] tracks such as [[James Brown]]'s "[[Funky Drummer]]" and [[The Winstons]]' "[[Amen break|Amen, Brother]]", to form the rhythmic base for hip 

{{listen
| filename     = 
| title        = The Amen break
| description  = A clip of [[Amen Break]], one of 2 major breaks most commonly used in Breakbeat and its corresponding subgenres. Originally appears on "Amen, Brother" by [[the Winstons]]
| format       = Ogg
}}

hop songs. DJ Kool Herc's breaks style involved playing the same record on two turntables and playing the break repeatedly, alternating between the two records. [[Grandmaster Flash]] perfected this idea with what he called the "quick-mix theory": he would mark the points on the record where the break began and ended with a crayon, so that he could easily replay the break by spinning the record and not touching the tone arm.<ref>{{Citation|last=Necroguttural|title=Hip-Hop Evolution - "Grandmaster Flash" The Origin of Scratching on Vinyl|date=2016-12-07|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA-OpvH4CIQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/oA-OpvH4CIQ| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|access-date=2017-12-09}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This style was copied and improved upon by early hip hop DJs [[Afrika Bambaataa]] and [[Grand Wizard Theodore]].<ref name="Modulations">Modulations: A History of Electronic Music, Peter Shapiro, ed. New York: Caipirnha Productions Inc., 2000, p. 152</ref>{{dubious|date=September 2011}} This style was extremely popular in clubs and dancehalls because the extended breaks compositions provided [[Breakdancing|breakers]] with more opportunities to showcase their skills.

In the late 1970s, breakbeats had attained a large presence in hip hop. In the 1980s, the evolution of technology began to make sampling breaks easier and more affordable for DJs and producers, which helped nurture the commercialization of hip hop. Through early techniques such as pausing tapes and then recording the break, by the 1980s, technology allowed anybody with a tape recorder to find the breakbeat.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History in Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop|last=Schloss|first=Joseph|publisher=Wesleyan University|year=2004|location=Middletown, CT|pages=40}}</ref>

=== 1990s: Evolution as electronic dance genre ===
In the late-1980s, breakbeat became an essential feature of many genres of breaks music which became popular within the global dance music scene, including [[acid breaks]], [[Electro (music)|electro-funk]], and [[Miami bass]], and a decade later [[big beat]] and [[nu skool breaks]].

In the early 1990s, [[acid house]] artists and producers started using breakbeat [[Sampling (music)|samples]] in their music to create [[breakbeat hardcore]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Gideon|title=Breakbeat Hardcore - Your Ultimate Guide|url=http://www.coremagonline.com/features/breakbeat-hardcore-your-ultimate-guide.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316135548/http://www.coremagonline.com/features/breakbeat-hardcore-your-ultimate-guide.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=16 March 2014|publisher=Core Magazine|access-date=12 April 2014}}</ref> The hardcore scene then diverged into subgenres like [[Jungle music|jungle]] and [[drum and bass]], which generally was faster and focused more on complex sampled drum patterns. An example of this is [[Goldie]]'s album ''[[Timeless (Goldie album)|Timeless]]''. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave"<ref>Generation Ecstasy, Simon Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 1999, p. 253</ref> because the ever-changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out, trance-like state that the standard, steady 4/4 beats of [[house music|house]] enabled.

Incorporating many components of those genres, the [[Florida breaks]] subgenre followed during the early-to-mid 1990s and had a unique sound that was soon internationally popular among producers, DJs, and club-goers.

In 1994, the influential [[techno]] act [[Autechre]] released the ''[[Anti EP]]'' in response to the [[Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994]], deliberately using advanced [[Algorithmic composition|algorithmic]] programming to generate non-repetitive breakbeats for the full duration of the tracks, in order to subvert the legal definitions within that legislation which specified in the section creating police powers to remove ravers from raves that "'music' includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats".

In the late 1990s, another style of breakbeat emerged, ''funky breaks'', a style that was incorporating elements of [[Trance music|trance]], [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] and [[Jungle music|jungle]]. It was pioneered by [[the Chemical Brothers]] and [[James Lavelle]]'s [[Mo'Wax Records]] imprint. The genre had commercial peak in 1997, when such music was topping in pop charts and often featured in commercials. The most notable artists of the sound were [[The Prodigy]], [[Death in Vegas]], [[The Crystal Method]], and [[Propellerheads]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Vladimir Bogdanov|url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoe00vlad/page/634|title=All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music|author2=Jason Ankeny|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2001|isbn=0-87930-628-9|edition=4th|page=11|url-access=registration}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
The tempo of breaks tracks, ranging from 110 to 150 beats per minute, allows DJs to mix breaks with a wide range of different genres in their sets. This has led to breakbeats being used in many [[hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Jungle music|jungle]]/[[Drum and bass|drum & bass]] and [[hardcore techno|hardcore]] tracks. They can also be heard in other music, anywhere from popular music to background music in car and clothing commercials on radio or TV.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nkhstudio.com/pages/popup_amen.html |title=Nate Harrison |publisher=nkhstudio.com |access-date=2008-01-16 |archive-date=2008-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624091120/http://nkhstudio.com/pages/popup_amen.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== The "Amen break" ===
{{Main|Amen break}}
The Amen break, a drum break from [[The Winstons]]' song "Amen, Brother" is widely regarded as one of the most widely used and sampled breaks among music using breakbeats.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.whosampled.com/2010/04/29/the-10-most-sampled-breakbeats-of-all-time/ |title=10 Most Sampled Breakbeats |publisher=blog.whosampled.com}}</ref>  This break was first used on "King of the Beats" by [[Mantronix]], and has since been used in thousands of songs.<ref name="econ20111217" /> Other popular breaks are from [[James Brown]]'s ''[[Funky Drummer]]'' (1970) and ''Give it Up or Turnit a Loose'', [[The Incredible Bongo Band]]'s 1973 cover of [[The Shadows]]' "[[Apache (instrumental)|Apache]]", and [[Lyn Collins]]' 1972 song "[[Think (About It)]]".<ref name="Modulations" /> The Winstons have not received [[royalties]] for third-party use of samples of the break recorded on their original music release.<ref name="econ20111217">{{cite news | title = Musical history: Seven seconds of fire | date = 2011-12-17 | publisher = The Economist Newspaper Limited | url = http://www.economist.com/node/21541707 | newspaper = The Economist | access-date = 2011-12-28}}</ref>

==Sampled breakbeats==
With the advent of digital sampling and music editing on the computer, breakbeats have become much easier to create and use. Now, instead of cutting and splicing tape sections or constantly backspinning two records at the same time, a computer program can be used to cut, paste, and loop breakbeats endlessly. Digital effects such as [[High-pass filter|filters]], [[reverb effect|reverb]], reversing, [[Audio timescale-pitch modification|time stretching]] and [[pitch shift]]ing can be added to the beat, and even to individual sounds by themselves. Individual instruments from within a breakbeat can be sampled and combined with others, thereby creating wholly new breakbeat patterns.

===Legal issues===
With the rise in popularity of breakbeat music and the advent of digital audio samplers, companies started selling "breakbeat packages" for the express purpose of helping artists create breakbeats. A breakbeat kit CD would contain many breakbeat samples from different songs and artists, often without the artist's permission or even knowledge.<ref name="criminal-record-1">{{cite magazine |last=Goodyer |first=Tim |date=March 1992 |title=Criminal Record? |pages=54–59 |url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/criminal-record/957 |magazine=Music Technology |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Music Maker Publications (UK) |access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>

==Subgenres==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2018}}

===Acid breaks===
"Acid breaks" or "chemical breaks" is [[acid house]], but with a breakbeat instead of a house beat. One of the earliest synthesizers to be employed in acid music was the [[Roland TB-303]], which makes use of a resonant low-pass filter to emphasize the [[harmonic]]s of the sound.

===Asian breakbeat===
The Asian breakbeat scene is a remix genre blending elements of [[Freestyle music|Freestyle]], [[Electro (music)|electro]], [[progressive trance]] melodies, [[Florida breaks|Florida Breaks]] drums and Southern rap, [[Crunk]]. It was originated and made popular by predominantly [[Vietnamese Americans|Vietnamese American]] and Southeast Asian DJs throughout the U.S. South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina) during the 1990s and 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jameson |first1=Tanya |title=Paid to Party - Asian Style |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/631074650/?match=1&terms=Hypnotika&clipping_id=154877083 |access-date=8 September 2024 |publisher=The Charlotte Observer |date=24 December 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Euphoria dance series by Dark Lotus Productions |url=https://www.phocas.net/2002/03/euphoria-3.html |website=Phocas}}</ref> Notable active DJs include New Orleans' Dj Babyboi, Tinman, and Loopy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eggert |first1=Jeremy |title="Exclusive Interview With DJ Babyboi" |url=https://jackfroot.com/dj-babyboi-interview/ |access-date=8 September 2024 |agency=Jackfroot |date=14 February 2012}}</ref>

===Big beat===
{{Main|Big beat}}
'''Big beat''' is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as [[The Prodigy]], [[Cut La Roc]], [[Fatboy Slim]], [[The Chemical Brothers]], [[The Crystal Method]] and [[Propellerheads]] typically driven by heavy breakbeats combined with [[Four on the floor (music)|four-on-the floor]] kick drums, synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in common with established forms of [[electronic dance music]] such as [[techno]] and [[acid house]].

=== Electro breaks ===
Breakbeat combined with [[Electro (music)|electro]] music, often using 80s synths, robotic sounds, vocals with [[Vocoder|vocoders]] or [[Talk box|talkboxes]], and infused with elements of [[funk]]. Electro breaks was pioneered by [[Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force]], [[Kraftwerk]], [[Man Parrish]], [[Cybotron (American band)|Cybotron]], [[Newcleus|and Newcleus]]. 

=== Andalusian breakbeat ===
In Spain from the mid-1990s to early 2000s, breakbeat became a massive social movement, especially in the southern part of the country, [[Andalusia]].

Largely responsible for the spread of the "broken rhythm" in Andalusia, was the public radio station of the autonomous community: [[Canal Sur Radio]] and [[Canal Fiesta]], known at that time as Fórmula 1, where the program "Mundo Evassion" was broadcast, or "Evassion Planet" which was presented by Dani Moreno. Artists of that era included [[Digital Base]], [[Dj Nitro]], Jordi Slate, Man, Wally, Kultur, Jan B, Anuschka, and Ale Baquero. <ref>{{cite news |title=Break nation, la electrónica que bailó Andalucía |url=https://www.movistarplus.es/documentales/break-nation-la-electronica-que-bailo-andalucia/ficha?tipo=E&id=1948400 |agency=Movistar}}</ref> 

The breakbeat of Andalusia has formed its own style, based on a simple structure of pre breaks + pre drop + drop. All this is repeated a second time with some variations in the song. With this structure, the tracks are mixed when one has passed the drop, until the pre drop of the next one arrives, respecting the melodies without breaks. 

Andalusian breakbeat has once again become a mass industry, with festivals almost exclusively dedicated to this genre, such as the Winter Festival, Summer Festival, Floridance, Retro Fest, and Olibass. <ref>{{cite news |title=Festivals of Andalusia (in Spanish) |url=https://elpais.com/icon/2024-06-18/euforia-tragedia-y-resurreccion-del-breakbeat-la-musica-electronica-que-arraso-en-andalucia-en-los-noventa.html |agency=El País}}</ref>

=== Progressive breaks ===
{{listen
| filename     = Amidst_the_Raindrops_clip.ogg
| title        = "Amidst the Raindrops"
| description  = A clip of [[downtempo]] progressive breaks music.
| format       = Ogg
}}
'''Progressive breaks''' or '''prog breaks''', also known as '''atmospheric breaks''', is a subgenre of breaks that is essentially a fusion of breakbeat and [[progressive house]]. Much like progressive house, this subgenre is characterized by its "[[Trance music|trancey]]" sound. Its defining traits include extended synthesizer pads and washes, melodic synth leads, heavy [[reverberation]], and electronic breakbeats. However, unlike progressive house, very few progressive breaks tracks have vocals, with most tracks being entirely instrumental or using only electronically altered snippets of vocal samples for sonic effect. Typical progressive breaks tracks will often have a long build-up section that leads to a [[breakdown (music)|breakdown]] and a climax, often having numerous sonic elements being added or subtracted from the track at various intervals in order to increase its intensity. Progressive breaks artists include [[Hybrid (British band)|Hybrid]], [[Brian Transeau|BT]], [[Way Out West (duo)|Way Out West]], [[Digital Witchcraft]], [[Momu]], Wrecked Angle, Fourthstate, Burufunk, Under This and Fretwell.

==See also==
*[[Breakdance]]
*[[Electro (music)|Electro]]
*[[List of electronic music genres]]
*[[Syncopation]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.magneticmag.com/2015/10/electronic-music-101-what-are-breakbeats/ Electronic Music 101: What Are Breakbeats?]
* [http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/music.swf Breakbeat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917100011/http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/music.swf |date=2021-09-17 }} from [[Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music]]

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{{Electronica}}
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[[Category:Breakbeat| ]]
[[Category:20th-century music genres]]
[[Category:British styles of music]]
[[Category:Electronic dance music genres]]