Summary of Drum and Bass

Drum and Bass emerged during the mid 1990s. It is an offshoot of the British rave scene that established itself during the early 90’s. It is a form of dance music, designed to be played in night clubs. Drum and bass has become so popular that over the last decade there have been many sub-genres including Dark Step, Drum funk and Tech step. But it is more closely associated with Hip-Hop and Dub-Step. Each of these has different characteristics. Drum and Bass is characterized by fast break beast and heavy bass lines. Hip-Hop, which is very popular in America, relies on disc jockeys creating rhythmic beats on their turntables.

Drum and Bass is now frequently heard on the radio through the likes of pioneering groups Chase and Status and Pendulum. BBC Radio 1 is the station that broadcasts some of the music and this means that it reaches new audiences, who may not have heard this genre before, and raises its profile.

The profile has risen so much that although it originates in the United Kingdom, it is now very popular all around the world in places such as Australia and the United States of America.

Musically, there are only a handful of record labels that will produce it including Drum and Bass and these are usually specialist record companies. A very selective few, such as Pendulum, are found on major labels. This is a mark of how far Drum and bass music has come. Drum and bass bands differ in style, for example Pendulum use a lot of computers while performing that mixes songs while they play.