Constructing a beat and instrumental inspired by the genre of Breakcore, using typical components found in the genre whilst taking a personal interpretation on the sounds and samples.
This week, I got paired with Danny. After we listened to music by Bong Ra, Igorr and even Digital Hardcore like Atari Teenage Riot, we set out to make a very fast piece set to a crazy beat in which we would alter, and mostly build our piece out of samples, as inspired by the samples to try and create a sound that was like “old-school PlayStation 1 & 2 games with the cool jungle tunes” as stated by ‘Down The Rabbit Hole With Breakcore / Jungle – What Is It & Why Is It So Nostalgic’ by The Patch Bay.
https://thepatchbay.io/blog/breakcore-jungle-nostalgia-rabbit-hole
We started by sampling the Amen Break, typically found in hip hop but also thought it would be a good suit due to the hip hop elements in Breakcore. I suggested putting into Logic Pro X’s sampler instrument and using MIDI to trigger certain time stamps of the break. We eventually both wrote out the parts we liked and programmed a MIDI beat that was the Amen Break chopped up and repurposed as a breakbeat to fit into the style. We used this throughout the track to create a frantic sound that also used queer ideas of off the beat percussion hits, as stated “the breakcore sound derives from a mixed bag of styles “cut and pasted” from different genres to produce elaborate beats” said by WKNC 88.1 radio article called “What is Breakcore? A Genre Field Guide”.
Danny suggested to sample an ambience for the track to begin, so we chose to sample “Water” by Nobuo Uesmatsu from the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children to make up the tonal centre of the piece. We time stretched the beginning of the track to create an ambience in which we put into a sampler, detuned and then played throughout the majority of the track, using F# Major as the tonal centre. We specifically chose a video game song as we thought it would fit a digital specific “kind of savage racket” said by the article Breakcore by Vice, that was similar to the sounds of “Into the death” by Atari Teenage Riot.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/breakcore/
We lastly sampled a viral Youtube video called “Daddy Chill” for our break before the beat re-enters. I suggested this after wanting to combine “porn samples with electronic music” as stated in the “Notes on Breakcore Documentary” to give a more diverse sound. The vocal sample was time stretched to make it slower by a slight fraction, and which I also bit crushed and added a lot of Reverb, with a wet signal to make it sound more haunting and artificial. It was done as “breaks are typically chopped, layered, and rearranged” said by ‘What is Breakcore?’ by Micro Genre Music, and the thought process to layer the sound with other modulation effects would make it unrecognisable in the mix overall.
Below are the links and pages I used that helped me be inspired for my Breakcore beat.
- https://wknc.org/2023/08/10/what-is-breakcore-a-genre-field-guide/
- https://thepatchbay.io/blog/breakcore-jungle-nostalgia-rabbit-hole/
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/breakcore/
- https://globalmusicinstitute.in/the-world-of-breakcore/
- https://imusician.pro/en/resources/blog/the-breakbeat-in-jungle-drum-bass-and-breakcore-music
- https://microgenremusic.com/articles/what-is-breakcore/
- https://www.thetonearm.com/the-strange-science-of-breakcore/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40FJhPerCHo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH16Gsl6pek
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkU4hsaFglU
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnsohExdqr0&list=PLWCvUoqBpVdzv0FjnpigIPNY2ebkIBujY&index=8
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQHsRNd_Lew
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PUojfoKIgI
- What is Breakcore? A Genre Field Guide – WKNC 88.1 Radio station article
- Down The Rabbit Hole With Breakcore / Jungle – What Is It & Why Is It So Nostalgic – The Patch Bay
- Breakcore – Vice Magazine
- The world of Breakcore – Global Music Institute
- The Breakbeat in Jungle, Drum & Bass, And Breakcore Music – iMusician
- What is Breakcore? – Micro Genre Music
- The Strange Science of Breakcore – The Tone Arm
- “Notes On Breakcore 2006 DOCU HQ” – basstoelpel via YouTube
- “Breakcore vs Jungle: A Producer’s Perspective” – Marc Renton via YouTube
- “The ‘Amen Break’ from ‘Amen, Brother’ by The Winstons” – BassmanSpiff2514 via YouTube
- “Water” – Nobou Uesmatsu via YouTube
- “Atari Teenage Riot “Into The Death” (LOUD Remasters)” – Atari Teenage Riot via YouTube
- “Daddy Chill what the hell is even that” – chucklemmensen via YouTube
Leave a Reply