BigShinyThing

Amen to That

Monday 9 January 2006

All about the most sampled drum loop in history…

Also an interesting treatise on the nature of copyright law:

Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective on perhaps the most sampled drum [loop] in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60’s soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a ‘B’ side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that ‘information wants to be free’- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law.

Listen and learn. On a similar theme, check out leftfield hiphop DJ Edan’s Sounds of the Funky Drummer project: a 60-minute mix of 80s rap records all of which sampled James Brown’s Funky Drummer breakbeat.

Posted by Anne-Fay | Tags: breakbeat, DIY media, intellectual property, music, remix-culture, sampling
No Comments (Go on, be first!)

LICENSE:
This article is provided under a Creative Commons license.

Email Us Feeds: RSS 2.0 Atom iCal Join us on FaceBook

What Goes On

THINGS TO SEE & DO TODAY

The House of Viktor and Rolf
- "...lives up to its name. The exhibition is dominated by a gigantic doll house, a graceful structure with Palladian proportions where miniature versions of 15 years of fashion fill the series of rooms on three levels."

Psycho Buildings
- "Specially commissioned work transforming The Hayward into a 'psycho building'" Good stuff.

From Atoms to Patterns
- "This exhibition explores the intriguing creations of the Festival Pattern Group - a unique project at the 1951 Festival of Britain involving X-ray crystallographers, designers and manufacturers. At the instigation of Dr Helen Megaw, a leading Cambridge scientist, diagrams of atomic structures inspired an eclectic array of patterns on curtains, wallpapers, carpets, lace, dress fabrics, ties, plates and ashtrays."