Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated to DnB, D&B, Drum n Bass and Drum & Bass) is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore (and its derivatives of darkcore, and hardcore jungle). The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.
United Kingdom
Drum and bass began as a musical paradigm shift of the United Kingdom breakbeat hardcore and rave scene of the mid 1990s; and over the first decade and a half of its existence there have been many permutations in its style, incorporating elements from dancehall, electro, funk, hip hop, house, jazz, pop-created fusion of hardcore, house and techno (also including new beat). This scene existed briefly from approximately 1989-1993, a period of cross-pollination in the UK hardcore sound. This sound did survive in various forms in its mother countries - primarily Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany - beyond 1992, but by then the general scenes in these countries had moved forwards to trance, industrial techno or Gabber (with happy hardcore/hard house being the equivalent 'Belgian Techno' - derivative sounds in the UK). London and Bristol are the two cities which are most associated with Drum and Bass. Birmingham and the West Midlands also had an extensive influence, especially around Digbeth, acting as a hub for Drum and Bass, hosting some of the UKs fledgling drum and bass events and godfathers of the genre Goldie and Doc Scott both local to the area.
Returning to the UK, drum and bass (as jungle) has its direct origins in the breakbeat hardcore part of the UK acid house rave scene. Hardcore DJs typically played their records at fast tempos, and breakbeat hardcore emphasised breakbeats over the 4-to-the-floor beat structure common to house music. Breakbeat hardcore records such as The Prodigy's "Experience" (1992) Top Buzz 'Jungle Techno!' (1991), A Guy Called Gerald's 'Anything' (1991), Shut Up and Dance's "£10 to get in" / "£20 to get in" (both 1989), the Ragga Twins' "Spliffhead" (1990) & '18 Inch Speaker' (1991), Rebel MC's 'Wickedest Sound' (1990), 'Coming On Strong' (1990), 'Tribal Bass' (1991) & 'African' (1991) Nightmares on Wax's 'Aftermath' & 'In Two Minds' (1990), Genaside II's "Sirens of Acre Lane" (1990), DJ Dextrous' "Ruffneck Biznizz" (1992), Noise Factory's 'Be Free' (1992), Demon Boyz 'Jungle Dett' (1992) and LTJ Bukem's "Demon's Theme" (1992) are generally credited as being among the first to have a recognizable drum and bass sound.
Some hardcore tracks at the time were extremely light and upbeat; the most extreme examples of this were the so-called "toy-town" tracks such as Smart E's' "Sesame's Treat" which features the children's show "Sesame Street" theme song, sometimes referred to as Toytown Techno. A style of hardcore with light and upbeat sounds and a predominant kick drum, with less emphasis on breakbeats, would many years later be known as happy hardcore. These were particularly prominent in the summer of 1992 when hardcore crossed over commercially in the UK and its charts.
In response to these lighter tracks, some producers started focusing on darker, more aggressive sounds; this style became known as darkside hardcore, or Darkcore. Strange noises and effects, syncopated rhythms made from rearranged funk breaks and loud bass lines defined the genre. Examples of darkcore include Goldie's "Terminator" (1992), Doc Scott's "Here Come The Drumz", and Top Buzz's "Living In Darkness" (1992). These took their cue from the darker sounds of 'Belgian Techno', as found in tracks such as Joey Beltram's "Mentasm" and "Energy Flash" (1991), as well as the dark breaks of 4 Hero's "Mr Kirks Nightmare" (1990) among others. These tracks were not widely called jungle or drum and bass by the mainstream media at their time of creation (although the terms "hardcore jungle" and "jungle techno" were in common use in the rave scene by then, with "drum & bass" appearing here and there on particular mixes of several vinyl releases), but they can nevertheless be found on later jungle and drum and bass compilations. The first major round-up of these tracks which was to use the term 'drum & bass' was probably "The Dark Side - Hardcore Drum & Bass Style": a compilation on React Records, released March 1993, which featured both "Here Comes The Drumz" and "Terminator".
This darker, more aggressive sound appealed to many in the dancehall and reggae communities. A shared emphasis on rhythm and bass, and the tempos were well suited to be mixed together. Soon many elements of dancehall reggae were being incorporated into the hardcore sound, and a precursor to what would become known as simply jungle was sometimes dubbed hardcore jungle. The Jamaican sound-system culture began to influence the emerging sound through the use of basslines and remixing techniques derived from dub and reggae music, alongside the fast breakbeats and samples derived from urban musics such as hip hop, funk, jazz, and r&b alongside many production techniques borrowed from early electronic music such as house, and techno.
As the yet unnamed genre evolved, the use of sampled funk breakbeats became increasingly complex. Most notable and widely spread is the Amen break taken from a b-side funk track "Amen, Brother" by the Winston Brothers (The Winstons). During this time producers began cutting apart loops and using the component drum sounds to create new rhythms. To match the complex drum lines, basslines which had less in common with the patterns of house and techno music than with the phrasings of dub and hip hop began to be used. As the beat-per-minute range rose above 165, the emerging drum and bass sound became incompatible for straightforward DJ mixing with house and techno, which typically range dozens of beats-per-minute less (making it impossible to play the tracks at the same speed on club equipment). This sonic identity became highly distinctive for both the depth of its bass and the increasingly complex, rapid-fire breakbeat percussion. Vastly different rhythmic patterns were distinctively being used, as well as new types of sampling, synthesis and effects processing techniques, resulting in a greater focus on the intricacies of sampling/synthesis production and rhythm. This notably included early use of the time stretching effect which was often used on percussion or vocal samples. As the influences of reggae and dub became more prominent, the sound of drum and bass began to take on an urban sound which was heavily influenced by ragga and dancehall music as well as hip hop, often incorporating the distinctive vocal styles of these musical genres. This reggae/dancehall influenced sound is most commonly associated with the term jungle.
Particular tracks from the 1992 - 1993 period that demonstrated some of the beat and sampling progression within drum and bass include: A Guy Called Gerald's "28 Gun Bad Boy", Bizzy B " is a Science" (1993), DJ Dextrous/King of the Jungle's "Lovable", and Danny Breaks / Droppin Science "Droppin Science vol 1" (1993). This was an ongoing process however and can be demonstrated as a gradual progression over dozens of tracks in this period.
By late 1993, the drum and bass sound was particularly evident in the release "Unreleased Metal" (by Doc Scott and Goldie and which launched the Metalheadz label in 1994) and the "Internal Affairs EP" (by Goldie and 4hero).
Early pioneers
Pioneers such as Bizzy B, Shy FX, Andy C, DJ Hype, Grooverider, Goldie, LTJ Bukem and others quickly became stars of the genre.
Most of the early producers and DJs still produce and play in today's drum and bass scene, forming something of a jungle 'old guard'. Some important early artists such as A Guy Called Gerald with his seminal early jungle LP ("Black Secret Technology") and 4hero ("Mr Kirk's Nightmare") later developed their own styles, leaving the drum and bass mainstream.
These early pioneers heavily used Akai samplers and sequencers on the Atari ST to create their tracks. Without these electronic instruments, the first wave of consumer priced but versatile electronic instruments, it is doubtful drum and bass (or many electronic music styles) could have appeared.
Jungle name
While the origin of the term 'jungle' music to refer to the developing electronic sound of the 1990s is debatable, the emergence of the term in musical circles can be roughly traced to Jamaican/Caribbean toasting (a precursor to modern MCs), circa 1970. References to 'jungle', 'junglists' and 'jungle music' can be found throughout dub, reggae and dancehall genres from that era up until today. It has been suggested that the term 'junglist' was a reference to a person either from a section of Kingston, Trenchtown also known as 'the Concrete Jungle' or from a different area, 'the Gardens', which was a leafy area colloquially referred to as 'the Jungle'. The first documented use of the term in drum and bass is within a song featuring jungle producer and lyricist Rebel MC - "Rebel got this chant alla the junglists".
Junglists
The appearance of jungle also resulted in the appearance of the junglist subculture, which, while not nearly as distinctive, alienated, ideological or obvious as other youth subcultures, and having many similarities with hip hop styles and behaviour, does function distinctively within the drum and bass listening community. Many drum and bass listeners would and do refer to themselves as junglists, regardless of their attitude on whether jungle differs from drum and bass (see below).
Jungle to drum and bass The phrase "drum and bass" was sometimes used in the seventies to name dub versions of reggae songs. With titles on b-sides of 7 inches, like 'Drum and bass by King Tubby's'. Also you can hear the phrase in reggae songs from artists like Jah Tomas with the often sampled phrase 'strictly drum and bass make you wind up your waist'. Or in album titles, like 'Show Case (In a Roots Radics Drum and Bass)' from Tristan Palmer. The phrase "drum and bass" had also been used for years previously in the London soul and funk pirate radio scenes and was even a bit of a catchphrase for UK Radio 1 DJ Trevor Nelson in his pirate days, who used it to describe the deeper, rougher funk and "rare groove" sound that was popular in London at the time. A station ID jingle used on London pirate Kiss FM from the late 1980s would proclaim "drum and bass style on Kiss".
However, as the early nineties saw drum and bass break out from its underground roots and begin to win popularity with the general British public, many producers attempted to expand the influences of the music beyond the domination of ragga-based sounds. By 1995, a counter movement to the ragga style was emerging.
Since the term jungle was so closely related to the ragga influenced sound, DJs and producers who did not incorporate reggae elements began to adopt the term "drum and bass" to differentiate themselves and their musical styles. This reflected a change in the musical style which incorporated increased drum break editing. Sometimes this was referred to as "intelligence", though this later came to refer to the more relaxing style of drum and bass associated with producers such as LTJ Bukem. Perhaps the first track to explicitly use the term "drum and bass" to refer to itself was released in 1993. The producer The Invisible Man described it: