Can you make drum and bass at lower bpms?

[Nine Volt]

Title says most of it. Are you able to make DnB at lower BPMs like 130 or something? I mean with the characteristic break and all

You guys misunderstood the question, but thinking back on it that would have been a stupid question too. I'm well aware that the Amen Break doesn't have to be 165-180 bpm. I've moved on from the tempo guidelines for the most part.

[the4thImpulse]

Title says most of it. Are you able to make DnB at lower BPMs like 130 or something? I mean with the characteristic break and all

Quick answer: yes.

Some people will label it as some other new stupid sub genre of a sub genre with a name they made up on the spot because they strongly believe DnB must be played at X tempo and not 130. These people will come and tell you your song is not DnB but rather this new genre that you have likely never heard of before because they need everything to be so 'boxed up and labeled' or they cant listen to music. If some tells you your music/song is like this then reply telling them its all music and they should stop arguing over sub genres of sub genres that they all made up in the first place. Make whatever music you want, DON'T be restricted by fake rules others have seemingly set in place, if you don;t enjoy your own music then you are likely doing it wrong.

/random-rambling-incoherent-rant

[colortwelve]

That depends... Do you consider this drum and bass?

[Nine Volt]

That depends... Do you consider this drum and bass?

Damn, I forgot how good Pendulum is.

And I have no idea what I'd consider that. I don't really think in genres.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

That depends... Do you consider this drum and bass?

I'd consider that some experimental sort of electro house with a reese bass. I have no idea. But it does not have a breakbeat drum pattern, it's 4 on the floor. Definitely not something I'd consider DnB.

Then again, what do I know?

[ph00tbag]

Dunno if this'll answer your question, but I've never heard slow DnB that doesn't sound like big beat/acid breaks.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

My short answer:

No.

One of the beauties of electronic genres is that they are based on tempo and then beat structure. Sub genres are defined by feel and other characteristics. DnB is 160-180. Any lower, then its some form of breakbeat. Any higher, and idk what kind of hardcore shnazz your doing.

[Motivfs]

It all varies if you can keep the essence of DnB at a slower pace. You CAN make it at slower than 170-175BPM, you just have to keep it DnB. So basically keep lots of samples/effects, pitch shifts, modulated bass/reese bass, and I guess breakbeat drums loops?

For me however, I can only listen to DnB at 170-175BPM, it's that fast pace of the song which makes me love it.

[K3WRO]

Yes, you can make drum and Bass in every genre, but when a style is set in a different speed, it loses the "feel" of the genre's style.

But in all words, it's not the bpm that makes a genre a genre, it's the style, but drum and bass got the bpm as part of the style, which is a bit of a downside. But I encourage you to experiment! Do something different and don't obey the laws of music, because the truth is MUSIC HAS NO LAWS! So go show the world what you can really do, I don't know, you might be able to invent a new genre!

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Experimenting is absolutely fantastic, just don't call it what it's not.

[Lavender_Harmony]

Slower Drum and Bass? How far back are we going, to breakbeat? Funk? 1920's jazz? The rhythm in itself has been around for decades.





Overseer, Junkie XL, Prodigy, Icey, Freestylers, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, the list is pretty expansive but those are some of the big names.

Breakbeat, Acid breaks, Chem breaks, it's where the whole drum and bass phenomenon really started to take off. evolving from jungle and a general amalgamation of styles.

Heck, the name Amen Break, that break itself and the monicker comes from a pop track from 1969, which was discovered and we all know how widely used it is nowadays. You can even sample it yourself if you want.

So yeah. That pattern isn't exclusive to drum and bass, not by a long shot.

[Freewave]

Dunno if this'll answer your question, but I've never heard slow DnB that doesn't sound like big beat/acid breaks.

basically this ^

if its around 120-140 its generally called breakbeat and that includes hardcore breakbeat, nu breaks, or big beat and yes there was a lot in the late 90's but not a lot of that now. shame really.

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/TheScient ... _breakbeat
^to aid you in your journey

[MRPPony]

What you could do is make it half the regular BPM of DnB. Knife Party's Bonfire is a perfect example of that:
Its 87 BPM but double that to 174. If you intend on a DJ to mix it, he/she will still be able to work with that.

[Icky]

Actually that's considered "Drumstep" Kayin.

I'd recommend you to just do whatever and to stop caring about genres. A lot of EDM artists are already starting to call their music "bass music" to avoid stupid genre conflicts, because nowadays genres overlap A LOT.

So yeah go make drum and bass at a lower BPM if that's what you wanna do, people might label it acid break bigbeat garage funk or whatever but does that really matter?

[Nine Volt]

Actually that's considered "Drumstep" Kayin.

I'd recommend you to just do whatever and to stop caring about genres. A lot of EDM artists are already starting to call their music "bass music" to avoid stupid genre conflicts, because nowadays genres overlap A LOT.

So yeah go make drum and bass at a lower BPM if that's what you wanna do, people might label it acid break bigbeat garage funk or whatever but does that really matter?

No Icky, it does not matter what people label it.

Thanks for all the responses guys!

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Actually that's considered "Drumstep" Kayin.

I'd recommend you to just do whatever and to stop caring about genres. A lot of EDM artists are already starting to call their music "bass music" to avoid stupid genre conflicts, because nowadays genres overlap A LOT.

So yeah go make drum and bass at a lower BPM if that's what you wanna do, people might label it acid break bigbeat garage funk or whatever but does that really matter?

No Icky, it does not matter what people label it.

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I think I've said this exact comment about 17 times in the last two months, but:

Genres are important because they help us find the music we like. Without them, music would be one big clusterfuck of random beats. I remember hearing somewhere that limiting yourself can actually fuel the creative process, and I think that applies to this.

What I'm trying to say is, there's no point in letting music become disorganized. I can appreciate just about any EDM genre there is out there, (Except for freaking IDM) but I understand that there are people that don't want to, and that's their opinion. However, without any genres, people would have no idea what they're listening to, and the majority of people would be disappointed and it would all be one big mess and we would all blow up.

...

So yah. Yay genres!

[Nine Volt]

Actually that's considered "Drumstep" Kayin.

I'd recommend you to just do whatever and to stop caring about genres. A lot of EDM artists are already starting to call their music "bass music" to avoid stupid genre conflicts, because nowadays genres overlap A LOT.

So yeah go make drum and bass at a lower BPM if that's what you wanna do, people might label it acid break bigbeat garage funk or whatever but does that really matter?

No Icky, it does not matter what people label it.

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I think I've said this exact comment about 17 times in the last two months, but:

Genres are important because they help us find the music we like. Without them, music would be one big clusterfuck of random beats. I remember hearing somewhere that limiting yourself can actually fuel the creative process, and I think that applies to this.

What I'm trying to say is, there's no point in letting music become disorganized. I can appreciate just about any EDM genre there is out there, (Except for freaking IDM) but I understand that there are people that don't want to, and that's their opinion. However, without any genres, people would have no idea what they're listening to, and the majority of people would be disappointed and it would all be one big mess and we would all blow up.

...

So yah. Yay genres!

Fair point, I totally agree that we should have genres, but sometimes people get so fixated on genres that they forget that not everything has to perfectly fit into one genre. So basically, we need genres, but we shouldn't get so focused on them that we complain about everything that's not perfectly one genre and ignore the actual music

[Icky]

I think I've said this exact comment about 17 times in the last two months, but:

Genres are important because they help us find the music we like. Without them, music would be one big clusterfuck of random beats. I remember hearing somewhere that limiting yourself can actually fuel the creative process, and I think that applies to this.

What I'm trying to say is, there's no point in letting music become disorganized. I can appreciate just about any EDM genre there is out there, (Except for freaking IDM) but I understand that there are people that don't want to, and that's their opinion. However, without any genres, people would have no idea what they're listening to, and the majority of people would be disappointed and it would all be one big mess and we would all blow up.

...

So yah. Yay genres!

It's nice for the audience to have labels so they can find similar music more easily. Genres are not interesting to the producer at all.
That doesn't mean it can't be helpful to have a certain type of sound in mind when producing, but I was trying to answer the question "Can you make drum and bass at lower bpms?" And the answer is, yes, you can. People might label it something else but does matter to you, as a producer?

[Lavender_Harmony]

-_(\

Not even gonna.

[the4thImpulse]

I pretty much summed up this whole thing in the first post, there's no need argue over the importance of genres here.

Fair point, I totally agree that we should have genres, but sometimes people get so fixated on genres that they forget that not everything has to perfectly fit into one genre. So basically, we need genres, but we shouldn't get so focused on them that we complain about everything that's not perfectly one genre and ignore the actual music

Lets leave it at this.

[Nine Volt]

^ Listen to this man. Or woman. IDK.

[phaux]

I love this thread, but I think it needs about 20% more Matrix soundtrack. Let me fix that for ya:

Overseer, Junkie XL, Prodigy, Icey, Freestylers, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method

I love you for this post, but
>breakbeat thread
>no mention of NORMAN COOK
Here, let me fix that too:

Are you able to make DnB at lower BPMs like 130 or something?

Yes and it would be called breaks/breakbeat/big beat

Some people will label it as some other new stupid sub genre of a sub genre with a name they made up on the spot because they strongly believe DnB must be played at X tempo and not 130... Hurrr more stuff I don't agree with

I'd recommend you to just do whatever and to stop caring about genres.

Guys... Genres DO matter and producers SHOULD care about them.
Look: If you make a track that doesn't fit any genre, you make it useless for DJs... And what is the ultimate purpose of a electronic DANCE music? That's right, people dancing to it while DJ plays it.

[Nine Volt]

Genre shenanigans

Guys. Srs. Nobody wants more genre wars. Let's just agree to disagree and let this thread die.

Also yes, this thread did need 20% more Matrix soundtrack. Thank you for restoring the balance phaux

[PrincessAddictia]

guys!
chill.
I got this:
DnB is only valid at 175 BPM, everything else is forbidden!

[Nine Volt]

guys!
chill.
I got this:
DnB is only valid at 175 BPM, everything else is forbidden!

And likewise, dubstep is only dubstep at exactly 140 BPM, anything else isn't dubstep.
Also, house is not house unless it is 128 BPM. That is all.