SakeTami
Fanu/FatGyver
Fanu/FatGyver

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Breakbeat Of The Month! Episode 1 [video + downloads]

I'm starting a new video series on my Patreon called Breakbeat Of The Month.

In each episode, I will pick a breakbeat and chop it up and make a jungle beat with it. I have been making jungle and DNB for 25+ years and I want to teach you all too.

This first episode, I'm picking the very classic Amen Brother break. I know, I know, we've all heard a million times, but I'm not sure I've ever chopped it publicly, and hey, if I didn't start with the king of the breaks, I'd be doing it wrong.

I will always go to the raw source and chop, program and process that (as opposed to an already processed/edited version). This “DIY” culture is important to me.

Aiming to do these at least once a month. Will provide you with downloads, too (original break and sometimes the resulting one). For this episode, you will get the original drumbreak, my Drum Rack that I'm using, and the midi clip.


DOWNLOADS:

In this folder, you will find:

• the Amen I used here (it's sampled from my 7")

• the Drum Rack I'm using (Ableton Live 12)

• the midi clip from that project

Breakbeat Of The Month! Episode 1 [video + downloads]

Comments

Good that you got it working! That (trying to make it work with my preset) may just be a bug, TBH! Maybe it's because that preset was created with some older Live version originally.

Janne Hatula

thanks for your help Fanu. i can kind of get it working with my own preset but for what ever reason if i open yours and set the sustain value to loop then re save it, the next time i chop a break and select your edited preset it reverts back to the standard sustain value. i will experiment some more :)

B Mar

I dont think that is one of the things options.txt can address, sadly. Please check this super old video of mine from over 12 years ago, and this should show you how to set up your own slicing preset, so you can easily test it – let me know how it goes. I hope you'll make it work :) https://youtu.be/1lWqwvCsZp4?si=1Ftx6VYzjnUIJm9L&t=4

Janne Hatula

yeah weird, looks like live 12 does not allow that function on the sustain value. it does have it for snap and reverse though (pretty useless) I wonder if its possible to add this to an options txt file? im pretty new to ableton so unsure if this is something thats been left out on purpose or its never been possible. there is a Mr Bill tutorial showing its possible on simpler but i cant see anything on copying values to siblings in sampler.

B Mar

Weird! Try right-clicking on the loop setting and see if you get “set to all siblings” (or something similar) – not on my computer now so I can’t check that, but that method can be used to set SOME parameters so all pads inherit the same setting. Not sure if loop mode if one of those. Also, you could hone one sampler in drum rack to your liking and save your own slicing preset to user library > presets > slice to drum rack (or something similar path-wise; sorry not on my computer) and see if that fixes it :)

Janne Hatula

Hey Fanu,, Loving this tutorial. i followed everything step by step but it seems when i slice to new midi and select your Sampler Drum rack, my sampler defaults to a different sustain mode than the loop sustain mode. i then have to go into each slice and change the mode to loop. if i load your drum rack straight onto a midi track then the sampler sustain mode is set to loop by default. But when i use the slice to midi and select the slice preset it jumps back to the first mode. Any ideas how to change this ? or how to select all samples in the rack and change sustain mode to loop for all at once.

B Mar

Thanks for the quick reply, really impressed with ableton 's ability to pick up the transients. I'm using studio one atm and it's pretty clunky for chopping breaks...might have to switch

zeroalpha_nz

Some samplers do it automatically! As long as it doesn’t click and it keeps the transient, it’s fine!

Janne Hatula

Question: back in the day we were always concerned with chopping on the zero crossing of the wave form. It seems these days people don't zoom in that often. Is it due to the DAW's ability to always snap to a zero crossing or are you just listening for clicks and tidying it up in the sampler?

zeroalpha_nz

Long time listener, first time subscriber ;) Loving the content Fanu. Just getting back into production so your a great help. Much respect!!!!

zeroalpha_nz

Waving the amen 7" around is such a flex :) and watching you intuit the next notes in a break is very cool, even tho it's a lot more painful when I try and do it

Ben Hill

Awesome! Thanks :)

Pete

Good topic! This is by far the easiest to explain in the context of a mix. E.g., if you have a mix you want me to try and make loud, it's by far the easiest to have a go with it and make a video for you about it (instead of talking about it in general). Everyone has their own mix issues; e.g., too much bass, something way too loud – or just poor limiting skills. If you ever want this, get in touch :-)

Janne Hatula

Here! https://www.dropbox.com/s/kk9b7jen80oucjg/SAMPLER-.adg?dl=0

Janne Hatula

Loving your content man! Forgive me if you've already spoken about this but would love your thoughts/process on mixing for loudness. I feel like I get my mixes to a point where they sound/feel good but when I try to limit them to the loudness of my references they fall apart (or I cant get them to that level without distortion) Thanks in advance!

Chris Morris

Hello Fanu, this is a great idea for an ongoing series, well done! Where could I find your Ableton “Sampler’ preset you referenced?

Scott Vlahon

At the end of the day, I think fundamentally, all you can really do as a musician is create situations where you either deliver on the expectations you've set or not. And, sometimes the not is more powerful.

Simon Huber

Like Photeks Ni Ten Ichi Ryu is also a good example of how important the pauses/spaces are

Janne Hatula

Yeah man! If you listen to funk drummers, they do those pauses. I forget who said it but “it’s not just about the drums – it’s also about what’s NOT there”.

Janne Hatula

I'm about halfway through but the part about the kick 'taking a break' really stood out to me. To my ears, it emphasises the whole push-pull of the rhythm which is what I think attracts me to breaks so much. There's a really good example of this is Airtight (Total Science Remix) by Funky Technicians in the 5th bar. I had a go at recreating that break and when I got to bit and was previewing it, it sound a bit shit. It wasn't until I had the bit before AND after that it put the push-pull element into context and it started to sound good. Loving this series already dude! Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

Simon Huber

Very interesting, thank you 👍

Julien Mauzac

Thank you

James P

Here, I didn't do much to it, as I enjoy the sound. Unless by tightening you meant honing the loops? I could process it from here in many ways of course.

Janne Hatula

Good stuff man. So do you tighten up the break as much as you can first?

atetraxx

This is an excellent idea for the channel. It is just the sort of thing I want to see.

RainCitySounds

Well I did consider that LOL. Maybe it’s not too late to change it, ha!

Janne Hatula

BILF! 🔥❤🤣

Darren Stratton


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