The Sleng Teng Edition

Colin here. All music, particularly electronic music, has its building blocks. The earliest drum and bass was built from sped-up samples of iconic drum fills layered over filthy bass lines, synth melodies, and compression. The “Amen” drum break was one of the most foundational bits in music history, and when you pull apart a lot of iconic tracks, it is the skeleton underpinning everything. 

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The track was originally an overlooked b-side until hip-hop producers in the late 80s re-discovered a particular drum sequence. And since then, the “Amen Break” has been used in more than 4,000 songs and played a role in the formulation of the drum and bass sound. 

Why is this interesting? 

I was pulling the thread a bit on musical “backbones” and found a delightful and unlikely example rooted in the preset rhythm pattern programmed into the Casiotone MT-40, released in 1981.

According to Nippon.com, “Casio wanted to develop instruments that would be capable of providing an automated accompaniment to musical performances. As a stop-gap measure, the company decided to release mini-keyboards programmed with preset rhythm tracks as a stepping stone toward this target.” 

One of the programmers working on the project, a new graduate, Hiroko Okuda, was more familiar with popular styles of the moment and programmed a pre-set that would live in infamy in Jamaican dancehall history.

You’re no doubt familiar with her contribution:

According to Dancehall magazine,

Okuda told the Nippon Communications Foundation that the trajectory of the Sleng Teng beat was “wasn’t a total accident”, but to her feels “almost inevitable”, and for that, she is extremely happy. “That the rhythm I made for the MT-40 spread around the world and is still loved today by so many people is one of the great joys of my life.  It’s right up there with the happiness I felt when my children were born. In musical terms, I’ve never been able to top that first child!” she said.

In 1985, producers Wayne Smith, Prince Jammy, and Noel Davey built a track of the pre-set, Under Mi Sleng Teng, which kicked dancehall into another gear.  Sleng Teng became one of the most re-recorded Jamaican riddims of all time, with more than 350 songs being made on top of its bubbling, funky digital chassis. 

So, like the humble Amen Break, the pre-set created by a young Japanese music student with reggae on her mind took on a life of its own and impacted culture in the process. (CJN) 

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)

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