Funky/London/UK House

Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Grievous Angel said:
Been listening to a dubstep / sublow Youngsta set from 2004. funky isn't quite as good as that.
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I'd quite like to hear this set...(hint, hint)

Still not really feeling funky but I really enjoyed the Spyro b2b Maximum set that Blackdown discusses on his blog so maybe I'm coming round slowly.
 
S

Shonx

Shallow House
nomos said:
let me play devil's advocate though, and i'm not at all knocking anything you're doing. but remember for a year or so after dubstep warz there were dnb heads showing up on dsf and starting threads like "dubstep at 150/160/170 bpm"? and the chorus was usually, "dubstep has to be 140 cos it's garage" which was saying something about how the tempo and rhythm worked in a particular way at that pace. gave it a particular feel. it seems to me that working around 130 is partly about it feeling a bit weird or off and finding rhythmic ways of dealing with it. and it also seems like a conscious move to do something far enough down the speed dial that 140 stuff can't easily mix with it. not purism, just consciously picking a new way of doing things.

not a critique, i'm just curious about your thoughts on that.
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Wasn't loads of 2 step about 130, pretty sure some of the early Steve Gurley tunes were. Pretty sure Never Gonna Let You Go was actually about 125 or so. 130's good because it still has enough energy to carry the track, but you can be a lot looser with the rhythms. Mind you I'm pretty sure I've got a fair few early jungle tunes that I swear are only 145 or so, The Shining by Smokin Joe being one of them.
 
mos dan

mos dan

fact music
as someone who doesn't dj and can't immediately say with authority 'that tune is precisely 137.4 bpm' just from looking at the grooves of a record... well, my only input to this tempo debate is: funky requires you to dance at a different tempo/rhythm. this is no bad thing :)
 
S

Shonx

Shallow House
mos dan said:
as someone who doesn't dj and can't immediately say with authority 'that tune is precisely 137.4 bpm' just from looking at the grooves of a record... well, my only input to this tempo debate is: funky requires you to dance at a different tempo/rhythm. this is no bad thing :)
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To be honest I haven't been that scientific about it, just something I noticed from making beats over the years. I think this is why I'm not a natural dj's, I often think a tune that's actually slower should be played faster because it sounds more energetic. I could just be shit though.

A few bpm difference on the sequencer can make a ridiculous change to the feel of a tune without actually changing the rhythm - some timings are quite subtle but sound either rushed or sluggish if just a few bpm out
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
haven't checked but just from mixing i think most 2step was a lot closer to 130 and that helped it have that falling apart feel. then the tempos kept creeping up in 4x4 ukg, dubstep and grime. though that was over a matter of years rather than weeks.

and yeah, same here, just working with beats in sequencers makes me aware of how much of a difference even +/- 2-3 bpm can make. you can totally eradicate a nice energy/tension by speeding up or slowing down too much.
 
O

Ory

warp drive
Shonx said:
A few bpm difference on the sequencer can make a ridiculous change to the feel of a tune without actually changing the rhythm - some timings are quite subtle but sound either rushed or sluggish if just a few bpm out
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Definitely.

I feel that the max bpm you can make something with swing/shuffle and have it sound good is around 140. Beyond that it usually sounds like a cacophony of misplaced drums.
 
sodiumnightlife

sodiumnightlife

Sweet Virginia
I thought ukg was from 126 to 132, 2 step crept up from 132 to 138 as it got closer to dark garage and then everyone knows grime etc is at 140. People always underestimate the amount of difference that a few bpm can have. Again not knocking what you do grievous angel, but i'd be interested in seeing funky develop around 130, or at least grow out of it, rather than just shoot straight to 138.

I was at work so couldn't lock into rinse, a rip would be much appreciated.
 
O

Ory

warp drive
new tune by Crazy Cousinz with the vocal sample "Never Felt So Good" is nice and bouncy. reminds me of Logic - Blues For You (Hard Dub).
 
M

msoes

Well-known member
Marcus Nasty takes a GIANT leap!!

The pioneer of the UK Funky/UK House movement has been looking for a new place of residence for a while with guest appearances on various radio stations such as BBC 1xtra, Choice FM, BBC Radio 1 and Kiss FM, following various concerns with his former station regarding lack of support of the Funky Movement on top of unprofessionalism and feeling that at as a leading Funky DJ his most appropriate homage would be at a location that is still in possession of true innovation within the scene.

With a number of consecutive guest appearances on the station of leading competition, it has come as no surprise that Marcus Nasty has found his new residence on London’s Rinse 100.4 FM/www.Rinse.fm.

Being the home of various UK Funky producers, the official releases of a series of mix CDs, as well as the option to download regular podcasts of weekly shows, Marcus Nasty is delighted to inform his followers that you are invited to join him at his new home on Wednesdays 7-9pm GMT, where he will continue to provide the best selection available within the UKhouse/UK Funky category.
 
M

mms

sometimes
sodiumnightlife said:
I thought ukg was from 126 to 132, 2 step crept up from 132 to 138 as it got closer to dark garage and then everyone knows grime etc is at 140. People always underestimate the amount of difference that a few bpm can have. Again not knocking what you do grievous angel, but i'd be interested in seeing funky develop around 130, or at least grow out of it, rather than just shoot straight to 138.

I was at work so couldn't lock into rinse, a rip would be much appreciated.
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yes 130 is a good speed for it, and also yes most dubstep is faster than garage and 2 step too.
funky at garage speed would have to compensate rhythmicaly for the sped like garage did by squashing the syncopation together, at 130 it's got lots of space for more complicated funky patterns, if it was at dubstep speed it would have to go like garage.
it still feels fast and has a lot of weight at this speed.
dubstep i think is a bit too fast anyway, but then i pitch down stuff naturally usually.

seconded on upping the audio :)
 
V

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
msoes said:
Marcus Nasty takes a GIANT leap!!

The pioneer of the UK Funky/UK House movement has been looking for a new place of residence for a while with guest appearances on various radio stations such as BBC 1xtra, Choice FM, BBC Radio 1 and Kiss FM, following various concerns with his former station regarding lack of support of the Funky Movement on top of unprofessionalism and feeling that at as a leading Funky DJ his most appropriate homage would be at a location that is still in possession of true innovation within the scene.

With a number of consecutive guest appearances on the station of leading competition, it has come as no surprise that Marcus Nasty has found his new residence on London’s Rinse 100.4 FM/www.Rinse.fm.

Being the home of various UK Funky producers, the official releases of a series of mix CDs, as well as the option to download regular podcasts of weekly shows, Marcus Nasty is delighted to inform his followers that you are invited to join him at his new home on Wednesdays 7-9pm GMT, where he will continue to provide the best selection available within the UKhouse/UK Funky category.
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Amusing swagger to that...

He played a couple of great stripped down technoy ones. Marcus Nasty for Rinse007!

Just checked his myspace...wow, man is playing out a lot.
 
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M

mms

sometimes
viktorvaughn said:
Amusing swagger to that...

He played a couple of great stripped down technoy ones. Marcus Nasty for Rinse007!

Just checked his myspace...wow, man is playing out a lot.
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really odd, convoluted , over complicated language and sentence structures. It's as if someone from the council wrote it. It's basically a big diss as well to deja and all other djs on the scene.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
It's like someone trying to sound mega intelligent when there is no need.

If only councils did send out missives on the state on funky...
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
nomos said:
it seems to me that working around 130 is partly about it feeling a bit weird or off and finding rhythmic ways of dealing with it. and it also seems like a conscious move to do something far enough down the speed dial that 140 stuff can't easily mix with it.
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Yeah, you're right - new bpm = new vibe. But where I'm coming from is:

a) I've already done 130bpm. I did it with Culture Killer and a load of other stuff. Move Down Low is 120. Obviously there'll be a funky version of Culture Killer, maybe a bit quicker. I might do a bit more at that speed.

b) I want to draw a line from banging early grime / sublow - in particular Mark One's Amazon, which is an iconic track for me - through early Kode 9 and into funky. So you can mix easily between a tougher version of funky with grime and dubstep, as well as heavy latin MAW-style gear. (i.e. without it turning into techno.)

c) I really love the soulful stuff, supa D's sets are fabulous!
 
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