Techno To Jungle To Drum And Bass Music - History And Development Drum Guide

The invention of electronic instruments such as the Theremin and the Ondes Martenot in the 1920s and 1930s introduced a new method of creating music. This new approach remained largely confined to classical composers (e.g, Stockhausen and Messiaen) until the late 1960s and early 1970s when ensembles such as Beaver and Krause and Kraftwerk began to replace acoustic and electric instruments (drums, guitar, bass, piano, etc.) with electronic instruments (synthesizers) producing "electronic music".

By the 1980s, electronic musics influence had reached popular culture with artists such as Devo, The Buggles, Human League, Yaz, and Erasure, as electronically produced sounds became mixed with melodic pop songs. The term Techno emerged in the late 1980s, but the style only achieved popularity in the early 1990s (primarily in the UK) when harder, more powerful beats were merged with dance tracks to produce music which was heavily "dance driven". In addition to Techno compositions, another term and style associated with this genre is "Remix", which means adding new tracks to a popular song, subtracting original tracks, especially drums, and then "remixing the result". This usually results in a faster feel and a heavy, repetitive beat of the drum.

Currently, Techno has a large variety of sub styles. House (with a non deviating "four on the floor" rhythm), Ambient Wave, Trance, Trip Hop, Tribal, and Breakbeat (which led to the emergence of the "Jungle" style) are all modern branches of electronic, dance driven music. Though Techno is not usually performed with a live drum get player, incorporation of Techno into other dance styles and the increasing popularity of the Jungle and Drum and Bass genres may at times require a drummer to replicate the sound of Techno. A useful set up for Techno is small, high pitched drums with small, "trashy" cymbals.

Also, the employment of an electronic drum kit or a triggered set up (drums that are wired to "trigger" electronic sounds) could prove useful in reproducing the sound of Techno. In contrast to those of Drum and Bass and jungle, Techno patterns are generally less intricate, require more consistency, and usually have a heavy, "four on the floor" bass drum pattern (though it may deviate). Techno tempos are slightly slower than those of Drum and Bass and Jungle. The tempo range is quarter note equals from 110 to 184 beats per minute (BPM).

In addition to grooves, the other common element in drum playing is fills. But however much fills may add to a song, they are never as essential as the groove itself, which serves as the indispensable back bone for the entire ensemble. Nonetheless, the integration between the two should be seamless, and drum fills should be played as solidly as grooves. When used in a song, drum fills usually serve as transitional figures connecting phrases and or sections of a song (e.g, leading from the last measure of a verse to the chorus). Unlike grooves, which define a style through established (that is, standard) patterns, there are few standard drum fills. However, types of fills vary from style to style and usually drummers have their own "signature" drum fills.

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Eric Starr. Learn all about the drum and its history, development of drumming techniques to professional drum kits to kids drum set arrangements - all about the drum is covered at Drum Solo Artist.

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