The most important drum beat in popular culture

[TithonusSyndrome]

Have you ever heard the Amen Break? Even before you answer, I can tell you right now that automatically, the answer is "yes", as assuredly as you have heard of who Jesus is. Even if you don't know it by name, the Amen Break has been the single most ubiquitous, reproduced, distributed and appropriated six-second recording in music history almost beyond any shadow of a doubt. In hip-hop, in breakcore, in drum 'n' bass, in house music, in various kinds of rock incarnations too, the Amen Break has had a history of application well beyond what anyone involved in it's original recording could've anticipated.

In 1969, a soul group called the Winstons recorded a b-side entitled "Amen, Brother" for their "Color Him Father" 45, which went on to win a Grammy. This may explain in part why the song was well-placed to become so widely distributed some 10 years later, that and the fact that it conveniently occurred a couple of times in full, uninterrupted measures in the middle of the song with no other musical accompaniment, convenient for the audio sampling equipment of the late 70's and early 80's to seize on and use in new songs. Whatever the specific reason, the Amen Break remains the single most distributed breakbeat, and probably the single most distributed audio recording inserted into popular music.



For more depth, check this 19 minute documentary:

[Phantasee]

That was pretty neat. Thanks for sharing that!

[TithonusSyndrome]

Optional: post some of your favorite applications of the Amen Break!

[Executor32]

What?

BTW, it doesn't start in Sehnsucht until about 0:52.

[Rye]

One of my favourite bands/albums:


Goldie:

Aphex Twin:

On the more brutal side:

And I'm sure Tith will hate this:

Incidentally, I also used it in the first non-ambient track I did:
Nihilanth - The Invasion (at 3:46)

[tim31]

Rye beat me to Breathe