Does the Amen break bother you?

[Erik_Twice]

The Amen break is a drum sequence that has the honor of being the most used sample in history. Don't know what it is? Sure you do, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwQLk7NcpO4

I have to say, it really bothers me because it is very distracting. It's used everywhere and too often in such a way that the Amen is very prominent, with parts where the only thing you can hear is the same drums over and over again.

It's not that it's lazy or that it's a bad sequence (I think it's very good), it's that it's slapped so much that it just doesn't matter anymore.

It's specially annoying when a certain album or soundtrack has several songs with the Amen in them (Tempest 2000, I'm looking at you). Very distracting, and the music pointing to the break and trying to make it cool and innovate by leaving it as a solo is kind of pretentious, like a three second pause after a fart joke.

It's also incredibly annoying in music games, because the patterns are very boring. Pump it up has four songs that consist solely of the Amen Break and a couple of samples and Beatmania, being focused on club and electronic music has too many songs with this beat in them.

So yeah, what do you think?

[noiseredux]

no I still love it.

[Krooner]

Now you've highlighted it I'll let you know in a week.

[Erik_Twice]

Now you've highlighted it I'll let you know in a week.

Now that you have seen it, it can't be unseen!

It's not as bad as noticing Autotune at least.

[YoshiEgg25]

It's not as bad as noticing Autotune at least.

Is that what makes Taylor Swift's voice bearable?

[Opa Opa]

Is that what makes Taylor Swift's voice bearable?

Wait...What???
I read "Taylor Swift" and suddenly things went black.
---
I don't mind the break but hearing it in a loop (especially in a game) would get irritating.

[J T]

Well, the J in JT stands for Jungle, so I happen to like the amen break, historically anyway.

I do find it really lazy though when producers use the amen and do nothing with it. I used to really be into ragga jungle which uses the amen extensively, but chops it up into a million pieces until it's only recognizable to those in the know. And actually, after listening to jungle/drum n bass for the past 15 years, the amen doesn't really do it for me much any more even when it's cut up. I don't hate it though.

There are actually lots of famous and frequently used breaks: the think break, apache, funky drummer, hot pants, etc. Once you are familiar with them, you start hearing them everywhere. Sometimes this is cool. It's like you are tapped into this global dialogue of music's cultural history where you hear strains of James Brown, The Winstons, and Kool & The Gang winding in and out of modern music. Other times, you just feel like nobody has anything interesting or original left to say.

It's all a matter of how the sample is used in my opinion. If it makes sense as a reference back to a historical icon, then it's cool, like a sound collage. It might be used as a metaphor or in joke. Like, someone might sing "thank you lord" and sample an amen, that's kind of clever. I don't mind that. Or they might rip a break to pieces and run it through a dozen effects processors to create some recombinate DNA mutant from the remains of the original sample. I usually like that if it's done well.

When someone just rips the sample straight though, especialy if it's a frequently used sample, I just want to tell them to stfu and learn how to program their own beats. Sometimes there is a thin line between montage, homage, and a plagiarizing whore.

[flojocabron]

heres something add to this discussion, I've heard of this 'amen break' before cause I saw it in this article

http://www.cracked.com/article/207_6-in ... ern-world/

the creators of this tune got nothing! and so did the others in the article.

sure the tune is played out, but it now has its own place in pop culture.

its now pretty much free for everyone to steal

[MrPopo]

Pump it up has four songs that consist solely of the Amen Break and a couple of samples

Ah hah! That's where I recognize it from.

[noiseredux]

Hrvatski's album Oisseaux used it in every single track.