100% this. Because I'm a masochist, I let it run through 128 random slices. Took maybe 15 mins (wasn't timing or anything). Definitely deserved the payoff at the end to hear the whole thing.
>Coleman died homeless and destitute in 2006. It was unlikely he was aware of the impact he had made on music. Neither he [band leader Spencer] nor Coleman received royalties for the break.
"Samples" were kind of like musical memes in the 1980s. What made for a good sample had a lot more to do with convenience and luck. The sounds that were picked for drum samples had more to do with how useful they were - the dynamic range, how isolated the drums are, how easy they were to mix.
The other famous drum sample - the "Funky Drummer" as drummed by Clyde Stubblefield for James Brown, Stubblefield didn't think the particular drum pattern he used was particularly noteworthy. In that case, James Brown's production choices were actually more key - his signature sound revolved around really crisp drums that he insisted needed to be clear on AM Radio and Jukeboxes. Which is what made it so useful for sampling.
I’ve heard conflicting accounts about their knowledge and royalties.
While I’m certain they didn’t receive royalties from all artists, I heard many 80s artists did. And Amen Brothers took others to court. So they would have know about the use of the break.
I will admit I haven’t done any independent research into this matter personally. Just echoing accounts I’ve read and taking their reports at face value.
A reminder that your society will be judged not on how the most fortunate lived but how the least fortunate lived. Context still matters but there's a meaningful difference between "Anne Brontë died of Consumption (Tuberculosis), at that time there was no cure" and "Dave died of TB, he couldn't afford the cure at current market prices".
Thanks heaps! I very much love the 'old-school' jungle/uk-hardcore sound and didn't know about these more recent Suburban Base releases, and your other reccs were also great too! Amen break went soooo far!
My particular favourite is in demoscene tracker music where Amen also went all over the place (and sampling more generally too!)
I'm not sure if the below is actual Amen-break (need to ask BrothomStates probably!) but it's certainly in the spirit of it and this is definitely near or at the top of my favourite demos ever, I just find it so damned cool! "The Day the Earth was Born" by TPOLM:
Love that tune. Some of my personal favorites, amen andrews - jungle bunny, doc scott - here comes the drumz (breakage remix), loxy & ink - murder inc (twisted anger remix), pendulum - through the loop, dj hidden - times like these
Cool, but I don't see how it's sorting anything. It just seems to play a randomized arrangement of the slices. You can re-randomize as much as you like but there's no sort option as far as I can see.
It randomizes slices of the sample and begins to play the slices in the random order. Meanwhile it begins the bubble sort algorithm at a pace that matches the tempo, sorting the slices into their chronological order. Throughout, it only plays the unsorted slices. (I was kinda hoping it would play the sorted sample at the end.)
I actually wanted it to play them as it went, so that it would be <unsorted><sorted> each time through, with the former shrinking and the latter growing.
The idea is that it slices the Amen Break into however many slices you specify, and the list being sorted is the indices for those slices. At each step, it plays the slice the pivot is being compared to.
Because it only plays the samples being compared, it never plays the sorted chunks, so it's missing a "punchline" of sorts.
You're right. It doesn't play the sorted parts, which is strange. I expected to have a series of random-then-controlled slices with the random part getting shorter and the controlled part getting longer, but it really is just a shortening loop of random beats.
Did you play it to the end? It's absolutely sorting from smallest to largest. Unless you have a confused understanding of a bubble sort, it's doing a bubble sort
Readit News
Dead Comment
:rollsafe-think-about-it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_(About_It)
Even if you do, you don't.[0]
[0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34785551
(Same here - though at least so I learned about the Amen Break.)
>Coleman died homeless and destitute in 2006. It was unlikely he was aware of the impact he had made on music. Neither he [band leader Spencer] nor Coleman received royalties for the break.
The other famous drum sample - the "Funky Drummer" as drummed by Clyde Stubblefield for James Brown, Stubblefield didn't think the particular drum pattern he used was particularly noteworthy. In that case, James Brown's production choices were actually more key - his signature sound revolved around really crisp drums that he insisted needed to be clear on AM Radio and Jukeboxes. Which is what made it so useful for sampling.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson
While I’m certain they didn’t receive royalties from all artists, I heard many 80s artists did. And Amen Brothers took others to court. So they would have know about the use of the break.
I will admit I haven’t done any independent research into this matter personally. Just echoing accounts I’ve read and taking their reports at face value.
https://ra.co/news/28370
great deep dive into the Amen break. this video is from the yt days of yore, nice to see the yt algo still propping it up.
We're dropping amen selections now?
Some classics that sound like what the app is sortin':
Remarc - Sound Murderer (Loafin' in Brockley Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SUdpCVITxc
Splash - Babylon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vghx8SEeH8
DJ Krome & Mr. Time - The License https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPa5JBg8hZI
Source Direct - Secret Liason https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfEWCVoB45s
Danny Breaks - Droppin' Science Vol 1A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqZT-Jse5rQ
https://youtu.be/isiVdlz8bDY?si=InoeqWTHZ3UaD1sJ
Futurama theme! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz8HmN2uvuk
My particular favourite is in demoscene tracker music where Amen also went all over the place (and sampling more generally too!)
I'm not sure if the below is actual Amen-break (need to ask BrothomStates probably!) but it's certainly in the spirit of it and this is definitely near or at the top of my favourite demos ever, I just find it so damned cool! "The Day the Earth was Born" by TPOLM:
https://youtu.be/rt8cOLZHQ4c?si=Y323k8qog3Tv8uou
Absolutely love this.
That Source Direct release was out of this world... absolutely beautiful body of work
Nice pick! Above that same song but not compressed to hell
I like this one for amen stuff. Heavyweight Vol.4 - Untitled 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g
https://youtu.be/XpnNVWOC98A
THAT AMEN TRK !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAY36F4u55Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUqsDy3TD3Y
Because it only plays the samples being compared, it never plays the sorted chunks, so it's missing a "punchline" of sorts.
It wasn’t until I read your comment that I realised the sorting happened while you were listening rather than before hand.
I would suggest the author changes the UI to just show a number instead of a bar, to make this clearer.
I don't understand the comparison function, but it's really enjoyable listening to the algorithm work out its logic.
Deleted Comment
https://youtu.be/5SaFTm2bcac?si=J99_Sh9x3fIBCSms