Drum n Bass Terminology & Classification (2003)

@ taken from former site dnbproduction.net
@ also see #dnbproduction (EFNet)

01. Jungle

the popular Rave culture, but didn't begin to form a separate identity until approximately 1992, where influence began to take shape from various music genres such as hip hop. Characterized by chopped up breaks, the tempo steadily rose over the years before settling at around 170 - 180 bpm in 1995. Further evolution in music has meant that jungle is now considered separate from drum n bass by some people.

02. Drum n Bass

Evolved from Jungle from approximately 1995 onwards. As the tempo of Jungle began to settle, people looked for more ways to evolve the music, resulting in a change of sound. The result is a more polished, sparser feel. Breaks lack the frantic rhythms of a few years ago but have a stripped down, raw edge to them. With the simplification of the rhythms, bass became paramount as the source of innovation, leading to the coining of the descriptive term "drum n bass" which has evolved into the main terminology for fast breaks based music.

03. Hardstep

A term made popular by the compilation of the same name by popular DJ Grooverider. Describes a sub-genre which rely's on stripped down, hard breaks with a "stepping", rhythmic quality.

04. Tech-Step

A further sub-division of the above, which has has the most impact in recent years. Drum n Bass began to take on influences from industrial techno, including sounds and drum patterns, with stripped down rhythms. Totally blew up with the likes of Ed Rush and Nico on No U-Turn Recordings in 1997 upwards. Recent years have seen this style further evolve with bass-line complexity and dark sounds, giving the term Tech-Step a new meaning. The meaning of this term has evolved almost identically to the music of Ed-Rush.

05. Dark

A term disputed by some, this describes music with an eerie, spooky feel and sound. Probably became popular originally as a method of escaping the frantic happy sounds of hardcore which drum and bass was evolving away from.

06. Jump-Up

A knee-jerk reaction term to describe drum and bass which was defying the dark sounds popular in drum n bass from 1997 upwards. This music blew up with the likes of Shy-FX and DJ Hype using simplistic bouncy basslines, however began to loose credibility when some producers began releasing basslines resembling children's TV program theme tunes. Forced a new "dark" push in drum n bass.

07. Intelligent

Possibly the biggest sub-genre of drum and bass, this describes music more about creating a feel and setting the scene, then making people dance. This music relies heavily on complex pads and synths, using sparse sub-bass (sine wav) basslines. Drum rhythms are generally more complex then most drum and bass and still have a cut-up break quality about them. Most popular artists include LTJ Bukem and his GLR/LGR record labels.

08. Jazz-Step

Not a common drum and bass term (more of an influence). Used to describe music mainly pushed by DJ Fabio - using the hard-step sounds of Grooverider overlaid with jazzy instruments such as saxophone. Stayed very popular from 1997(ish) until present day.

09. Ragga

A very common influence in drum and bass in 1994 which seemed was going to be the main feel for years to come, until pop-star General Levy released the tune "Incredible". This, coupled with several shootings (associated with the gun-shot sounds in several tunes) meant an inevitable change of sound. This particular sound remains popular and seems to run in short cycles becoming popular again every few years.

10. 2-Step

Coined after the change in drum n bass to simplified, "stepping" breaks. Originally described the drum pattern, it now has a meaning of it's own, and is itself a sub-genre of Garage.