21 ms·

(the amen break is one of the most commonly-sampled drum breaks in popular music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_br

by eieio 6mo ago

(the amen break is one of the most commonly-sampled drum breaks in popular music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break)

zonkerdonker 6mo ago
And a tragic story at that: >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.
- hnlmorg 6mo ago
  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.
  - corndoge 6mo ago
    > And Amen Brothers took others to court. Who is "Amen Brothers"?
    - input_sh 6mo ago
      "Amen, Brother" is the name of the track it's from, so the parent is likely referring to the band.
      - corndoge 6mo ago
        Yeah, the band is The Winstons. I'm curious how parent knew that they went to court when they don't know the name of the band.
        hnlmorg 6mo ago
        > I'm curious how parent knew that they went to court I didn’t say I knew they went to court. I just said I thought I read about it. Looking into it again now, all I can find is a 10+ year old article about a crowd fund (eg https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34785551 https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34785551). So I’m likely misremembering what I read previously. > when they don't know the name of the band. I just got the name of the band muddled with the name of the song. I also sometimes get get the names of my friends and loved ones muddled. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know them either. I’m just shit with names. I do however remember every useless number I learned as a child. Including phone numbers to kids TV shows. Human memory is weird :-/
    - epcoa 6mo ago
      It’s pronounced “Allman Brothers”
      - skvmb 6mo ago
        It's pronounced "Doobie Brothers"
- tialaramex 6mo ago
  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".
  - verisimi 6mo ago
    Sure. Which is your society though?
    - tialaramex 6mo ago
      Unless you are one of the rare unintegrated humans†, in which case you wouldn't read HN because you don't have any of the necessary technology, there is only a single human society. Given that, we should be uncomfortable about how we're doing on that "least fortunate" thing... † https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples
      - verisimi 6mo ago
        So why is it not our society? Are you an unintegrated human, hence why you have the external view on things?
        wartywhoa23 6mo ago
        No need to nitpick. Being one among many in an X, one can perfectly use "our X", "my X" and "your X" to denote the same X, there is no logical error in that. Now, the connotation is different: saying "our X will be judged by.." spreads the responsibility among everyone and makes it too easy to shift the blame onto the next guy, while saying "your X will be judged by.." stresses on your personal contribution to the X, making it not that easy to shy away.
        verisimi 6mo ago
- legitster 6mo ago
  "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.
  - WhiteOwlLion 6mo ago
    Samplers became accessible at the time which allowed music production with just loops. Look at snap I got the power. All looped samples
    - input_sh 6mo ago
      I mean, look at any house or hip-hop track, sampling's like the most fundamental part of both genres. The track you've mentioned is the prime example of the blend of those two genres. Before the term Eurodance caught on, this track would be referred to as hip-house (as in hip-hop + house). Chicago and the broader NY area did it first, but it was a Belgian track that first topped the US charts (Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam).
      - redwall_hp 6mo ago
        That's why one of the super simple improvements I'd make to music copyright law, if I had to choose one thing rather than a massive overhaul, is for sampling to also be subject to the compulsory mechanical royalty system. So any artist could sample something, do some paperwork, and send of a fraction of royalties. Rather than the current system where you need explicit permission from the recording artist and have no recourse if they say no. So many music genres exist because of sampling, and the shit legal precedents set in recent decades ruined an amazing thing.
- ompogUe 6mo ago
  Reminds me of Motown's James Jamerson [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson
- araker 6mo ago
  That's true, though there was a community fundraising a while back. Many well known dnb and jungle dj's donated there. https://ra.co/news/28370 https://ra.co/news/28370
tlynchpin 6mo ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac 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.

by eieio 6mo ago

(the amen break is one of the most commonly-sampled drum breaks in popular music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break)

zonkerdonker 6mo ago

And a tragic story at that: >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.

hnlmorg 6mo ago
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.
- corndoge 6mo ago
  > And Amen Brothers took others to court. Who is "Amen Brothers"?
  - input_sh 6mo ago
    "Amen, Brother" is the name of the track it's from, so the parent is likely referring to the band.
    - corndoge 6mo ago
      Yeah, the band is The Winstons. I'm curious how parent knew that they went to court when they don't know the name of the band.
      - hnlmorg 6mo ago
        > I'm curious how parent knew that they went to court I didn’t say I knew they went to court. I just said I thought I read about it. Looking into it again now, all I can find is a 10+ year old article about a crowd fund (eg https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34785551 https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34785551). So I’m likely misremembering what I read previously. > when they don't know the name of the band. I just got the name of the band muddled with the name of the song. I also sometimes get get the names of my friends and loved ones muddled. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know them either. I’m just shit with names. I do however remember every useless number I learned as a child. Including phone numbers to kids TV shows. Human memory is weird :-/
  - epcoa 6mo ago
    It’s pronounced “Allman Brothers”
    - skvmb 6mo ago
      It's pronounced "Doobie Brothers"
tialaramex 6mo ago
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".
- verisimi 6mo ago
  Sure. Which is your society though?
  - tialaramex 6mo ago
    Unless you are one of the rare unintegrated humans†, in which case you wouldn't read HN because you don't have any of the necessary technology, there is only a single human society. Given that, we should be uncomfortable about how we're doing on that "least fortunate" thing... † https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples
    - verisimi 6mo ago
      So why is it not our society? Are you an unintegrated human, hence why you have the external view on things?
      - wartywhoa23 6mo ago
        No need to nitpick. Being one among many in an X, one can perfectly use "our X", "my X" and "your X" to denote the same X, there is no logical error in that. Now, the connotation is different: saying "our X will be judged by.." spreads the responsibility among everyone and makes it too easy to shift the blame onto the next guy, while saying "your X will be judged by.." stresses on your personal contribution to the X, making it not that easy to shy away.
        verisimi 6mo ago
legitster 6mo ago
"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.
- WhiteOwlLion 6mo ago
  Samplers became accessible at the time which allowed music production with just loops. Look at snap I got the power. All looped samples
  - input_sh 6mo ago
    I mean, look at any house or hip-hop track, sampling's like the most fundamental part of both genres. The track you've mentioned is the prime example of the blend of those two genres. Before the term Eurodance caught on, this track would be referred to as hip-house (as in hip-hop + house). Chicago and the broader NY area did it first, but it was a Belgian track that first topped the US charts (Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam).
    - redwall_hp 6mo ago
      That's why one of the super simple improvements I'd make to music copyright law, if I had to choose one thing rather than a massive overhaul, is for sampling to also be subject to the compulsory mechanical royalty system. So any artist could sample something, do some paperwork, and send of a fraction of royalties. Rather than the current system where you need explicit permission from the recording artist and have no recourse if they say no. So many music genres exist because of sampling, and the shit legal precedents set in recent decades ruined an amazing thing.
ompogUe 6mo ago
Reminds me of Motown's James Jamerson [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jamerson
araker 6mo ago
That's true, though there was a community fundraising a while back. Many well known dnb and jungle dj's donated there. https://ra.co/news/28370 https://ra.co/news/28370

tlynchpin 6mo ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac 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.