Break (music)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Break.

In popular music a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece.

In DJ parlance, a break is where all elements of a song (e.g., pads, basslines, vocals), except for percussion, disappear for a time. In hip hop and electronica, a short break is also known as "the drop", and is sometimes accented by cutting off everything, even the percussion. This is distinguished from a breakdown, a section where only one part, instrument or voice, plays, with all other parts having been gradually stripped away or suddenly cut out (Brewster and Broughton 2003, p.79).

1 Break
2 Breakdown
3 Punk/Metal
4 Bluegrass breakdown
5 See also
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Break

A break may be described as when the song takes a "breather, drops down to some exciting percussion, and then comes storming back again" and compared to a fake ending. Most songs have a break at two-thirds to three-quarters of their length and the break is usually visible on a record as a dark ring. (Brewster and Broughton 2003, p.79)

According to Peter van der Merwe (1989, p.283) a break "occurs when the voice stops at the end of a phrase and is answered by a snatch of accompaniment," and originated from the bass runs of marches of the "Sousa school". In this case it would be a "break" from the vocal part.

According to David Toop (1991), "the word break or breaking is a music and dance term (as well as a proverb) that goes back a long way. Some tunes, like 'Buck Dancer's Lament' from early this century, featured a two-bar silence in every eight bars for the break--a quick showcase of improvised dance steps. Others used the same device for a solo instrumental break: one of the most fetishized fragments of recorded music is a famous four-bar break taken by Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's tune 'Night in Tunisia'."

Most well known are breaks from soul and funk music such as the Amen break and the Funky drummer. On disco 12" records nearly every song has a break, most often multiple breaks, usually after a chorus. This allowed DJs to mix between songs. Tom Moulton may have been the originator of the disco break, which he says was required when mixing between two songs in a different key. So as to not have the harmonies clash, everything but the percussion was taken out.

[edit] Breakdown

The breakdown section was invented by famed disco mixer Tom Moulton is the early 1970's. Moulton had been remixing a dance record and found that the performance had "immaculated" (gone up in pitch as live performances are prone to doing), and this fact would be noticed unless he separated two section of the recording with non-tonal information. He edited in a section of drums, and the aesthetic effect was immediately found to be pleasing to dancers and useful for club DJ's. Mr. Moulton has maintained that his innovation was an accident. It seems it would have occurred inevitably, as its placement followed the patterning of a traditional pop recording: it replaces the bridge typically found in such a record after the second chorus. The placement of the breakdown section is vital to the DJ's art: it provides a necessarry point at which to begin mixing the next record to be played. More specifically, it is easier for the DJ to compare the tempos of two recordings if only rhythmic information can be heard. Initially it was an abrupt absence of most of the arrangement in a disco record, but eventually the approaches to the breakdown section became as innovative as the section itself. HiNRG records would typically use a pronounced percussive element, such as a drum fill, to cover the transition. It is just as likely one will reach the breakdown section by a gradual reduction of elements. What is universal is that the stripping away of other instruments and vocals ("breaking-down" the arrangement) helps create intense contrast, with breakdowns usually preceding heightened musical climaxes. The technique is common especially in music involving sampling. Examples include "a single string note, a German woman having an orgasm, or the voice of God telling you to take drugs" (Brewster and Broughton 2003, p.79).

A breakdown is different from a break as "breaks are for the drummer; breakdowns are for hands in the air" (ibid), a reference to the majority of breaks stripping away other instruments and leaving the drums or percussion. The current sub-genre of "breakbeat" is composed by DJs who loop recordings of drum breaks together into poly-rhythmic "breakbeat"

[edit] Punk/Metal

The breakdown in the metalcore and certain other metal genres, originally referred to as a "down beat", is where a band will usually play in half time, giving the feeling of a slower tempo. It is considered to some an important element in many songs of these genres and central to many bands, quite a few of which eschew traditional verse-chorus-verse songwriting. Breakdowns are usually responded to by an audience by hardcore dancing or moshing. Vocalists also tend to throw in a single, repeated statement throughout the breakdown, giving those who are not dancing or moshing an opportunity to sing along. Many bands rely on having memorable breakdowns rather than memorable choruses and critics often accuse bands of placing too many breakdowns in one song, claiming the intensity of the breakdown is lost when it is overused.

A common percussive signature of the breakdown is the use of the ride on the 'and' of beat three and the back beat of four every measure of the breakdown, assuming each crash cymbal hit is treated as a beat. Time is usually kept on an open hi-hat in between these ride hits. In metalcore, the guitars play a set of rhythmically oriented riffs, usually on open strings so as to achieve the lowest sound for which the guitars are tuned. These riffs are often accented by the drummer with double kick bass drums.

In hardcore punk, breakdowns tend to be more upbeat, using the floor toms and snares to create a faster, 'rolling' rhythm. Audience members will typically mosh or circle pit to this.

[edit] Bluegrass breakdown

In bluegrass music, a breakdown is a specific type of instrumental with its own characteristic, such as other traditional types, Hornpipe, a Jig, or a reel dance from Traditional Irish music. Other examples are "Earl's Breakdown" and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", both of which were written by Earl Scruggs.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

Brewster, Bill and Broughton, Frank (2003). How to DJ Right: The Art and Science of Playing Records. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3995-7.
David Toop (1991). Rap Attack 2: African Rap To Global Hip Hop, p.113-115. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1-85242-243-2.
van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.