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There are many views of what constitutes "real" drum and bass as it has many scenes and styles within it, from heavy pounding bass lines to the relaxed vibes of Liquid funk. It has been compared with jazz where the listener can get very different sounding music all coming under the same music genre, because like drum and bass, it is more of an approach, or a tradition, than a style. As such, it is difficult to precisely define; however, the following key features may be observed:
Defining characteristics
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Importance of drum and bassline elements
Despite the apparent simplicity of drum & bass productions to the untrained ear, an inordinate amount of time is spent on preparing tracks by the more experienced producers.
The name "drum and bass" should not lead to the assumption that tracks are constructed solely from these elements. Nevertheless, they are by far and away the most critical features, and usually dominate the mix of a track. The genre places great importance on deep sub-bass which is felt physically as much as it is heard, the "bassline". There has also been considerable exploration of different timbres in the bassline region, particularly within techstep. Basslines exist in many forms, but most notably they originate from sampled sources or synthesizers. Live played basslines are rare. Sampled basslines are often taken from double bass recordings or from publicly available loops. Synthesized basslines are very common.
In drum & bass productions, the basslines are subjected to many and varied sound effects, including standard techniques such as echo, flanger, chorus, over-drive, equalization, etc. and drum & bass specific techniques such as the Reese Bass, in fact not a technique per se, but the degrees of processing, distortion and filtering placed upon a widely-used sample of Kevin Saunderson's most infamous 'Reese' bassline sample. Of equal importance is the infamous 808 bass, actually an elongated kick drum derived from Roland's classic TR-808 drum machine, a sound which has been subject to an enourmous amount of experimentation over the years. These techniques are fully appreciated in a club or rave environment as only high grade bass speakers can fully reproduce the sounds of the eponymous bassline, whose frequences are sometimes lower than audible (they can however be felt on the body). This has led to the creation of very large and intensely loud soundsystems by producers wishing to show off their tracks in a true high fidelity environment, such as Dillinja's Valve Soundsystem. This however does not mean that the music cannot be appreciated on personal equipment.
The drum element, that is the syncopated breakbeat, is another that producers spend a very large amount of time on. A drum fragment lasting seconds may often take a day or more to prepare, depending on the dedication of the producer.. The Amen break is generally acknowledged to have been the most-used (and often considered the most powerful) break in dnb, but others have had a significant impact, including the Apache break, the Funky Drummer, and many more.
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"I think the scientific and the artistic spirit have something in common. The scientist wants not only to learn the facts, but to understand how they cohere, fit together and make a whole. He even uses criteria such as beauty and symmetry to help decide which theory he wants.
The scientist cannot capture the whole cosmos in thought. In his mind he makes a kind of microcosm, which we see as an analogue of the cosmos. In this way we try to get a feeling for the whole. The artist, I suppose, gets a feeling for the whole some other way.”
David Bohm in “Art, Dialogue and the Implicate Order”, published in On Creativity RC (Routledge Classics)
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