The Essential Elements To Jungle Music

An Intro To Jungle Music

Jungle music has seen a massive resurgence in the past few years. It’s not like it ever went away or anything it just sort of took a back seat to the other forms of Drum and Bass that were being created. 

I think it’s safe to say though, that jungle music has always held a special place in our hearts. When you go back and listen to the early stuff it sounds quite far removed from the music we know and love today. That being said, it’s really quite easy to understand and recognise jungle as soon as you hear it. For those that may only be making their first forray into the world of DNB it might be a bit harder to separate it out from the other styles and forms, as so many elements now bleed into each other. 

Sample pack, live samples and the ability to create all kinds of sounds with synths has enabled producers to successfully blend many different samples and styles together so that a completely unique sound is produced. 

Now, I’m not necessarily saying that jungle music is formulaic. All music is formulaic to some degree, but the whole point of jungle was that it was constantly changing throughout the track. One of the defining features of jungle was the breaks that were chopped and cut to almost random beats, breaking up the flow and overall pace of the track. There are, however, several elements that will clearly categorise the sound into that of jungle. So much so, in fact, that there are even specific breaks that have been used for over 25 years and continue to be used today to give the trak that authentic jungle feel. 

I’ll be breaking down the key elements of jungle music in this article so that you can instantly pick out your jungle track from your neurofunk. (This one might be a bit obvious but you get what I mean).

Breaks

When it comes to breaks, the one break that defines the whole genre is the Amen break. Famously created by The Winstons, this 5.2 second drum break has been sampled countless times over the years and is the most sampled break in the history of modern music. 

In one form or another you are likely to hear the Amen break rolling through a jungle track. Seldomly you will hear it being played straight through. It will often be chopped and rearranged to make a completely new drum pattern, but the sound of it is simply undeniable. 

 

This is not the only break that is synonymous with jungle music. The Apache break is also part of the classic jungle sound. Much like the Amen break, it can be sped up or pitched down to create new elements, but those tom-tom top notes are clearly audible. There are several others that have been associated with jungle and the thing they all share in common is that they are samples from other tracks in history.

Unlike more modern Drum and Bass, who’s drum patterns are programmed, these are simply sampled and chopped.

Bass

What jungle track would be complete without bass? Bass plays a huge role in jungle music, and all music for that matter. It helps to fill space, tie in with melodies and even be used as the main melody for that matter. Jungle was defined by its basslines. Often built to be speaker shaking sounds that you can feel in your chest and there is none more so iconic than the 808. 

First designed by the Roland TR-808, this bass was produced as a one-hit sound that was meant to punch through the sound and create an anchor point in the music. Jungle producers soon came to realise that the 808 kick was able to be modified into polyrhythmic patterns that would carry a track. So powerful were the kicks that they were often left on their own, only accompanied by the break and sound effects. They way they can move the music along and focus the sound of the track is like no other.

With the advent of more advanced synthesisers and wavetable machines came a more familiar and still oft used sound of a Reese bassline. Characterised by the way it increases in intensity the higher up the scale it goes, these types of bass lines are often long notes set to sub bass that creates an all encompassing sound. Usually quite simple and following a rising and falling pattern Reese bass lines have come to embody the mid to late sound of jungle music.

Vocals

Every good track needs some vocals to add variety to the music. The vocals used were often from the reggae or ragga spectrum. This was in part to the heavy Jamaican influence that early jungle music benefited from. This was in part due to the amalgamation of dancehall. Simple reggae guitar riffs and lyrics focusing around cannabis lent itself to jungle in a way that no other music was able to do. Reggae and dancehall are very MC focused, so the offered a wide variety of lyrics and vocals to chose from.

 

 

This is one of the clearest giveaways that you’re listening to a jungle track. Reggae style vocals or even song samples from old reggae songs will be easily audible. In fact some of the most famous tracks around have reggae samples.

Melody

Jungle music is melodical. Other forms of Drum and Bass are melodical too, most notably, that of liquid. However, jungle tends to have more of a groove to it. This is, of course, due to the heavy influence of reggae and dancehall sounds. Being, sometimes, at a slower tempo than more modern drum and bass, it needs to have more melody to it, especially if the track in question has a huge bassline in it. 

You will also notice that the melody is not limited to the samples or leads in the higher section of the overall sound. As stated before, even a bass line can provide the melody source in jungle music.

Jungle Music Is A Vibe

Whilst jungle is a clearly definable genre within the realms of Drum and Bass, much like all other sub-genres of DNB, it is incredibly fluid. You can take out any part of the sections above and it still can be clearly defined as a jungle track. Some people think that a jungle track without vocals is simply breakbeat, but this is not the case. 

Jungle is, and always has been a vibe. If you listen to some of the earliest jungle tracks, they don’t have any vocals in them, nor do they feature massive 808 basses. Those bass lines also tend to be quite simple and repetitive, however, the vibe is unmistakable.

The whole point of jungle was to get people dancing. If you haven’t got something that gets people on their feet and moving then you have no vibe. This vibe is being brought into the modern era with many producers looking to recreate and develop the style that jungle music originally created. 

 

If you love jungle, then take a look at our killer range of jungle themed t-shirts in our store.