Dubstep and it's African connections

[ohmydays]

I am writing about cultural changes, the global market and its impact on various artistic heritages

I intend to focus on music (dubstep) and any African roots, i spent a while considering african beat patterns as a basis for modern music but think there is much more to this.

Anyone that has any information or links to relevant sources i would be very grateful.

I figure some people here are more knowledgeable then me in terms of the connection between african music and dubstep (the more classic dubstep sounds)

Also i will post anything i think is worth a mention in this thread.

Thanks in advance.

[blackdown]

dubstep's foundational influences were UK garage, (UK) jungle and to a lesser extend (JA) dub reggae. while i'd say there may be members of the dubstep community with family or cultural links to Africa, there are very few immediate musical connections back to current African musical styles, certainly no more so than any other current UK black or urban music form. sure you can trace the musical lineage of black music back to Africa over centuries, but that no more applies to dubstep than it does to all other UK urban music forms.

[seckle]

all the best music, can be linked back to africa, if you go through the connections long enough. this is especially true of countries made into colonies for the different empires. britain has always had the best multi-cultural music heritage. its so much richer than what we have in north america.

[seckle]

one country thats worth studying is Brasil. You should look up Candomble and Yoruba. We wouldn't have Samba, Bossanova or any other Brazilian music without Africa and Africans.

[blackdown]

this seems like a question of timescales. most music can be traced back to Africa at some point, so can the entire human race!

[kalorific]

lol

[ohmydays]

Cheers so seems like i was off the mark then, maybe i should look at the brazilian music then if i want to make the African connection,

Any other genres with strong african connections?

I intend to make comparisons between the african art world (i.e. the west only accepting/promoting/selling art that seems old and used in rituals etc. as a statement about west imposing cultural bias' and changing the african art market as a result)

... then compare this to the more commercial side of dubstep where people use certain styles and as with the art it changes the market and ultimately producers techniques.

Not sure if i have expressed this well enough.

I was discussing african drum patterns with someone and apparently almost all modern music is in fact based indirectly on these drum rhythms ?! maybe i am mistaken but it does make me question where dub/dubstep got it's drum sounds from.

For the record i am not as knowledgeable about all things music as you two so chances are i am way off the mark, i will be able to add more once i have done some more research.

[twentyOneDummies]

Well it's a bit of a stretch but it comes down to syncopation and poly-rhythms if you ask me.

The stereotype is that European music opperates on a 4/4 "pulse", four on the floor house or techno beats for examples whereas African and African-American music have always favored swing and syncopation. (This is MASSIVELY simplifying things but you get the point)

Dubstep's rhythms owe an indirect debt to the kind of drumming that Tony Allen was pioneering in Nigeria in the 70's. Along with James Brown and other funk bands, their syncopation set the stage for breakbeat based music (Hip-Hop, D&B) whereas the quantizing on sequencers and the more European influence from contemporary dance music has typically pulled things to the other side. The result is a hybrid of funky rhythms with the kinds of possibilities unavailable to human drummer.

Sort of a rant, but hope this helps.

[seckle]

The book you need to read is Mickey Hart's drum book. It gives you all the connections you're trying to find about beats, in one book. mickey hart was teh drummer for the grateful dead.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Drum-Cel ... 527&sr=8-2

[Dubbydoogs]

Ska>reggae>dub>dubstep

Am I vaguely correct?

[ohmydays]

Well it's a bit of a stretch but it comes down to syncopation and poly-rhythms if you ask me.

The stereotype is that European music opperates on a 4/4 "pulse", four on the floor house or techno beats for examples whereas African and African-American music have always favored swing and syncopation. (This is MASSIVELY simplifying things but you get the point)

Dubstep's rhythms owe an indirect debt to the kind of drumming that Tony Allen was pioneering in Nigeria in the 70's. Along with James Brown and other funk bands, their syncopation set the stage for breakbeat based music (Hip-Hop, D&B) whereas the quantizing on sequencers and the more European influence from contemporary dance music has typically pulled things to the other side. The result is a hybrid of funky rhythms with the kinds of possibilities unavailable to human drummer.

Sort of a rant, but hope this helps.

Definitely helped and don't apologise these kind of musings are exactly what this thread was made for, so i can find some links to some african drumming then, good for a minute i thought i had totally got the wrong end of the stick.

I understand the link is tenuous but this is expected when trying to connect something as versatile as dubstep to old tribal/ritualistic drumming from a different continent.

I was intending to try to argue that DMZ and music along this vein is more closely linked then the more breakbeat/tear out style tracks, althought this was more me just trying to satisfy my ego by claiming the music i enjoy if based on ancient rituals etc.

Good information here and some food for thought i will be doing a lot of research so i will add anything interesting once i actually know what i am talking about.

Big thanks seckle that sounds ideal, i will have to have a read and see what happens.

For anyone interested i will be focusing on intangible heritage commenting on artists exports from Africa, hopefully commenting on art and music, we shall see though my writing will more than likely evolve into something that is not my intention, but i am interested to see where the information takes me.

I only wish i paid a little more attention in music at school

[skrewface]

As far as I am concerned, we all hail from one family coming outta Africa many many years ago.
So does music even though some genres developed years later outside the continent.

[kozee]

yep, all music is frm Africa

[moves]

I was intending to try to argue that DMZ and music along this vein is more closely linked then the more breakbeat/tear out style tracks, althought this was more me just trying to satisfy my ego by claiming the music i enjoy if based on ancient rituals etc.

There is something in this- which I think you can explore if you go on to analyse the various threads that dubstep has taken. Whilst eventually all music forms are traced back to AFRICA, within the genre of dubstep it is evident that certain producers are making that connection more explicit than others.

DMZ is one of these. The name 'digital mystikz' draws upon that already.

There are also other producers that stand out: Shackleton is pretty 'tribal', although also v v dark, Benga's tunes work much more on repetition than beginning-middle-end form, they have their intros and then the same basic rhythm is repeated throughout which could be argued echo the repetitive drumming styles of African music, however whether this is intentional is another matter.

There are lots of interesting connections that can be made however it all depends on how deep you want to go.

Meanwhile here's a dance video I made to 'Volvic' by Coki ~;P

Peace!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6iRWGJiOdY

[gravity]

Ska>reggae>dub>dubstep

Am I vaguely correct?

there is an awful lot in between dub>dubstep tbh

[executive steve]

dubstep's foundational influences were UK garage, (UK) jungle and to a lesser extend (JA) dub reggae. while i'd say there may be members of the dubstep community with family or cultural links to Africa, there are very few immediate musical connections back to current African musical styles, certainly no more so than any other current UK black or urban music form. sure you can trace the musical lineage of black music back to Africa over centuries, but that no more applies to dubstep than it does to all other UK urban music forms.

I read somewhere that a lot of the grime / dubstep heads have cultural and family links to Africa, much more than obviously the children of the Windrush generation might have had, because of the rise in Nigerian and other west African immigration in the late 80's and 90's...

Benga is of Nigerian decent isn't he?

As for whether you can make genuine musical links between Dubstep and African music, that's a whole other kettle of fish, although you might at a stretch get somewhere by comparing Grime mc-ing with African vocal traditions, as there does seem to have been a departure there from both US style rap as well from Jamaican soundsystem toasting... But again, it's going to be pretty tenuous...

Maybe examine the African griot tradition in the context of pirate radio mc-ing?

[executive steve]

Ska>reggae>dub>dubstep

Am I vaguely correct?

there is an awful lot in between dub>dubstep tbh

The "hardcore continuum" for one...

*lights thread on fire and runs away*

[executive steve]

There are also other producers that stand out: Shackleton is pretty 'tribal', although also v v dark, Benga's tunes work much more on repetition than beginning-middle-end form, they have their intros and then the same basic rhythm is repeated throughout which could be argued echo the repetitive drumming styles of African music, however whether this is intentional is another matter.

Well you could argue that all lop-based dance music is African then... Although if you were to actually listen to any contemporary African drumming (I recommend Konono #1 and their "Congotronics" album) you'd probably find it a hell of a lot less repetitive than 99.99999% of western electronic club music...

[twentyOneDummies]

And if you listen to most African music you'd find it a hell of a lot less "dark" than minimalist Dubstep. The vibe tends to be jovial and energetic, even if the subject matter in the song is pretty bleak. So it wouldn't sound like tear-out but the vibe would be closer to that kind of release than hypnotic open space.

[pledge]

Does anybody no what the Africans wrote there drum beats down on.Did they use early versions of fruity when it was just a beat programmer or the hardware days of cubase.