I first heard Drum’n Bass music (also called Jungle) around 1995. I thought I had heard the next great musical movement. The concepts were fresh and startling. It was a new way to think about rhythm and, to me, most musical innovations, whether in jazz or hip hop, center around new musical thinking regarding rhythm. Back then I could not hear a bad drum’n bass track. They all seemed to point in new directions.
As time passed, the revolution I envisioned never happened (at least in America) and eventually the music became watered down as more and more people started making it. It’s probably true of any musical movement that catches fire and finds a greater audience. The pioneers that create the form produce the strongest music and set the benchmarks. This is not to say drum’n bass as a form of music is dead, far from it, but the early years were truly remarkable.
This video, posted on YouTube in 2006, is an exceptional discussion about a drum break that almost single-handedly launched the drum’n bass form. It is called the “Amen” break because it is a 6-second sample or break from a song recorded in 1969 by a group named the Winstons. The song is called “Amen Brother”.
The video is long at 18 minutes and it is not that interesting visually but it’s very well written with plenty of musical examples as well as many insightful cultural comments. If you have an interest in drum’n bass or are making electronic music, you owe it to yourself to watch this video.
Towards the end of the video the author also talks about how the drum’n bass music which was powered by the Amen break has never been challenged by the copyright owners of the song Amen Brother. He goes on to point out that this act, essentially putting the sample in the public domain, led to the creation of a new art form.
UniqueTracks has released 5 new volumes of royalty free classical music entitled The Opera Pack. These recordings feature some of the most famous and recognizable songs in the world.
Remember the famous helicopter attack scene in Apocalypse Now? That scene was made even more dramatic (some might say infamous) with its use of Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries as soundtrack. Ride of the Valkyries is featured in our Opera Pack collection.
You may have followed the story of Paul Potts, a mobile phone salesman from South Wales who, in June of 2007, stunned Simon Cowell and the other judges when he sang Puccini’s Nessun Dorma on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent. He went on to become the winner of the show. A recording of the aria Nessun Dorma is also included in the Opera Pack.
Here is a short description of each CD in the collection. Altogether there are 74 tracks in the 5 volume set.
Volume 1 Famous Opera: Arias
18 famous arias- Songs include Nessun Dorma from Turandot, The Flower Duet from Lakme, Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly, O Mio Babbino Caro
Volume 2 Famous Opera: Mozart
Great Arias and Overtures from Mozart’s most famous operas including Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro.
Volume 3 Famous Opera: Verdi
Great opera from Verdi including selections from Rigoletto, La Traviata, Aida and Il Trovatore.
Volume 4 Famous Opera: Wagner
Famous instrumental orchestral works from the operas of Richard Wagner including Ride of the Valkyries
Volume 5 Famous Opera: Overture & Chorus
Symphonic Overtures and Choral music from various famous operas including Carmen, Barber of Seville, Der Freishutz, I Pagliacci, Faust, Thieving Magpie and La Gioconda.
While reading Geetesh Bajaj’s Powerpoint blog on his excellent Indezine website, I came across a Powerpoint presentation that I think would be useful to all media producers who struggle with copyright and licensing issues.
The powerpoint presentation deals exclusively with copyright infringement as it pertains to photography and is the work of PACA (the Picture Archive Council of America ). It lays out the basic copyright law but it is the case studies that are included that really make this document worth your time. You get to see actual infringement cases, what the infringement charges were, and you can see side-by-side, the actual photograph and the infringement photograph. Other points…there is no fixed % an image can be changed to avoid infringement. That is a common myth that circulates within design studios.
The presentation deals with Fair Use, the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), ISP Safe Harbor and the public domain. All in all, it’s a really good document to know about if you are ever unsure about your usage of a photo or any other work which you want to use but don’t own the rights to.
A good take-away from this presentation that I would emphasize is that often permission and licensing is easily obtainable directly from the source. In other words, instead of going into competition against a photographer, by recreating a photo (the composition), it is cheaper in the long run to contact the creator and obtain permission to create a derivitive work.
amen brother, drum n bass, electronic music, musical innovations, musical movement, youtube