Overview
This is going to be a series of three posts (at least), organized in the following manner. In this first post, I’ll provide a brief and basic introduction to breakbeats, aimed at those who haven’t worked with or studied them before. The next post will look at some of the ways we can use breakbeats as a creative basis for new music. The third post will make the case for including breakbeats as a part of a basic music theory curriculum and examine some of the moral/ethical questions involved with using breaks.
Some context
Breakbeats/breaks are the moments in a track where most of the players drop out, the tune breaks down, and typically the drummer riffs or takes a short solo. They can also occur at the beginning of a tune, where the drummer lays down a groove before the rest of the band enters. Kool Herc popularized the use of breaks in hip hop with his “Merry-Go-Round” technique, which involves cutting back and forth between two copies of the same record in order to extend a six second loop into a six minute one (see link for a demonstration). One of Herc’s contemporaries, Grandmaster Flash refined and extended Herc’s breaks technique and in 1981 released “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel,” a new track assembled from several records that Flash live-mixed together on the fly. Marley Marl broke ground by sampling and then sequencing a snare off a record (as opposed to a drum machine), and producers have never looked back.
Jumping in
Here’s a list of the 10 most sampled breaks as of 2010, according to whosampled.com (see here for an updated list as of 2016). The order doesn’t really matter—our interest is in illustrating what breakbeats are and how they’re used. I’m sure you’ll recognize a lot of these breaks already, and the more familiar you become with these, the more you hear them everywhere.
The breaks
1) Honey Drippers “Impeach the President”
Now check out the first track off of Dr. Dre’s album, The Chronic.
2) James Brown “Funky Drummer”
Here it is under Mos Def, Black Thought, and Eminem:
And here’s the break appearing in a very different context—Ed Sheeran’s “Shirtsleeves.”
3) Melvin Bliss “Synthetic Substitution”
Here it is in Wu-Tang Clan’s “Clan in Da Front”
And now for something completely different…
4) The Winstons “Amen, Brother”
Here it is in N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton.”
5) Skill Snaps “It’s a New Day”
Here’s the break in “Passin’ Me By,” by The Pharcyde.
6) Incredible Bongo Band “Apache”
Aphex Twin used the break in “Xtal.”
7) Joe Tex “Papa Was Too”
Find it in Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing Ta F’ Wit.”
8) Lafayette Afro Rock Band “Hihache” 3:18
A Tribe Called Quest, “Check The Rhime.”
9) Billy Squire “The Big Beat” 2:02
Alicia Keys used this break in “This Girl is on Fire.”
10) The Soul Searchers “Ashley’s Roachclip"
You can hear this one in Burial’s “Rival Dealer.”
Here’s a great video of J.J. Flueck first playing a recording of 11 famous breaks (many from above) and then playing them himself on the drums. Check below the video for a list of breaks used.
1. Impeach the President - The Honey Drippers (1973) (Drums: Unknown???)
2. Synthetic Substitution - Melvin Bliss (1973) (Drums: Bernard Purdie)
3. Funky Drummer - James Brown (1970) (Drums: Clyde Stubblefield)
4. Apache - Incredible Bongo Band (1973) (Drums: Jim Gordon)
5. The Big Beat - Billy Squier (1980) (Drums: Bobby Chouinard)
6. It's a new day - Skull Snaps (1973) (Drums: George Bragg)
7. think - Lyn Collins (1972) (Drums: Clyde Stubblefield)
8. Hihache - Lafayette Afro Rock Band (1973) (Drums: Ernest "Donny" Donable)
9. Ashley's Roachclip - The Soul Searchers (1974) (Drums: Kenneth Scoggins)
10. I'm gonna love you just a little bit more, baby - Barry White (1973) (Drums: Ed Greene)
11. Amen, Brother - The Winstons (1969) (Drums: Gregory C. Coleman)
By Stefan Glerum.