Riddim
Under Riddim (of English rhythm , rhythm ') is in the language of reggae - and Ragga understood an instrumental musician, about the different singers sing their songs. Musically, the term roughly corresponds to the beat in hip-hop and the groove in funk , but the meaning within the reggae and ragga genres is more central, as more artists usually sing over the same riddim here. This ranges from at least 3–5 to several 100 for the classic riddims (see below).
Characteristics
A riddim is essentially defined by a short bass run over 1–4 bars. Reggae riddims usually include a characteristic short melody, often played by wind instruments. In ragga, the bass is usually so simple that the characteristic is more the pattern of the drum computer combined with special sound gimmicks. The basis of a typical ragga riddim is the syncopated bass drum, which distinguishes it from an offbeat reggae riddim:
Cymbal . . . . . . x . Snare . . . . . . o . Bassdrum o . . o . . . .
Reggae riddims
In reggae there is an original of every riddim, all other recordings are versions , vocal, instrumental or pure dub versions. Most singles from Jamaica contain a dub version on the B-side, ie the instrumental track on the A-side, which is enriched with echo effects, fading in and out of instruments and brief fading in of individual concise vocal lines. Deejays (in the reggae sense) use the B-side to toast over it (comparable to rapping hip-hop), which, pressed on vinyl, is another version of the riddim. In the 1970s and 1980s in particular, it was common for competing producers to release versions of the same riddim with different artists within a few weeks of a hit, which was possible due to the lax handling of copyright law in Jamaica.
Riddims are ennobled by their longevity: Most of the classics date from 1965 to 1970 and have so far been reversed several hundred times . In addition to singers and vocal groups, popular instrumentalists such as saxophonist Dean Frazer or Bongo Herman also use the riddim tracks as a basis for their own recordings.
The name of a riddim is a matter of convention, often it is the name of the original ( Real Rock , Ali Baba , Stalag ), sometimes that of a known version ( Answer , General , M 16 ). Some riddims are known by multiple names ( Full Up / Kouchie ) or have been re-labeled on newer recordings ( Revolution / Intercom , Hot Milk / Quicksand ).
Ragga / dancehall riddims
The flood of versions of ragga riddims (dancehall riddim is a synonym ) that began in 1986 came about differently: the music was created digitally for the first time, and the producers concentrated on creating the basic track, the riddim. Depending on the estimated hit potential, 10-20 and more singers were assigned to the riddim in order to record as many different versions with different lyrics and different vocal melodies in the shortest possible time. Thrown onto the Jamaican market at the same time, the 10–20 singles (the Selection ) increased the producer's chances of a hit. The second form of marketing, mostly more successful outside of Jamaica, was the one-riddim album with 10 tracks on one LP and since the beginning of the 90s with 16-20 tracks on one CD.
The naming of the riddim is less and less based on a certain cut of the riddim, rather the name is determined arbitrarily by the producer. Sometimes it is related to the musical elements of riddim ( Bollywood , Cell Phone , Bounce ), sometimes current events or political topics are taken up ( SARS , Zero Tolerance , Saddam Birthday Party ), and it is often humorous to meaningless ( Bookshelf , Tixx , Spanish Fly ).
Important riddims
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Classic reggae riddims
- Real Rock: According to statistics from www.riddimguide.com , this is the riddim with the most versions (369 entries, whereby the actual number should be well over 1,000 versions). Real Rock was recorded as an instrumental piece by CS Dodd's studio band Sound Dimension in Studio One in 1967. In the mid-1970s, Dodd Willie Williams had the song Armagideon Time , which was later also covered by The Clash, recorded, which marked the beginning of the ongoing flood of versions of Real Rock . The riddim is minimalist: the bass line consists of a single bar that is repeated continuously, the wind instruments play 5 notes, the organ a third audio sample
- Answer: Also a Studio One original is Never Let Go by Slim Smith from 1969. In 1976 the eponymous The Answer by Lone Ranger was created in the same studio . Later producers, from Don Mais to Bobby Konders , recorded hundreds of other cuts of the riddim. Similar to Real Rock , it is an extremely simple but very distinctive riddim. Audio sample
- Stalag : Winston Riley produced in 1973, the instrumental piece of Ansel Collins called Stalag 17 , named after Billy Wilder's film Stalag 17 . At a soundclash in 1985 tenor Saw improvised Ring the alarm, another sound is dying over the riddim that Massive (visitors to the clash) raged, and a few days later one of the first Soundbwoy Burials was created in the studio, which turned the reggae-aggressive riddim into a classic Clashes made. Audio sample
Digital reggae riddims
- Sleng Teng : 1985 is the year of birth of digital reggae ( Digi ). Under Me Sleng Teng by Wayne Smith , produced by King Jammy, was so different and new that right at the beginning of the legendary transatlantic radio clash of 1985, Barry G and David Rodigan tried to outdo each other with countless versions of the riddim. The riddim is minimalist (one-stroke), the bassline is reminiscent of Eddie Cochran's Something Else . A slightly modified form of Sleng Teng is the Agony-Riddim (also by King Jammy), of which the Sick / Westmoreland Sensi-Riddim is a modified riddim version. Audio sample
- Tempo: King Jammy's rival in the 1980s was King Tubby , who made a name for himself as the inventor of dub in the 1970s. Also in 1985 he recorded a hit with Tempo (a modified spelling of Temper ) by Anthony Red Rose , in which a tweeter box for the first time alienated the singing voice. Tempo and Stalag sound similar, the former goes with minor, the latter with major harmonies. Audio sample
Dancehall / Ragga riddims
In recent times, copyright laws have been taking effect in Jamaica, so that ragga riddims are usually only published by one producer. It remains to be seen which riddims will become classics. The following would be good candidates in chronological order: Joyride , Filthy , Badda Badda , Street Sweeper , Diwali , Doctor's Darling , Eighty Five , Coolie Dance , Applause , Wipe Out , Marchout .
Important riddim producers
From Jamaica
- Lloyd "King Jammy" James / Labels: Jammy '$, Kingston 11 (in addition to some of the most important riddims of the digital era (Sleng Teng, Punaany, Duck Dance and Della Move) also dozens of new versions of Studio One and other classic riddims, often with newly sung versions of the original songs with their previous singers (for example A Love I Can Feel, Far East, Stalag, Death In The Arena, No Warrior and Real Rock) in digital manner)
- Robert "Bobby Digital" Dixon / Labels: Digital B, Brickwall (including One To One Riddim and numerous replicas of classic (for example Stalag, Undying Love and Hold On) and digital riddims (for example Soap, Sick and Poco Man Jam))
- Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson / Label: Black Scorpio (in addition to digital riddims such as Lazy Body and Friends For Life as well as many newly established classic riddims, he also created riddims such as the "Angel" riddims that can be assigned to the "Modern Roots" genre)
- George Phang / Labels: Power House, Kemarley (especially in the 80s many top hits with versions of Heavenless, Talk About Love and Rougher Yet)
- Dave "Rude Boy" Kelly (many successful dancehall riddims, including Pepperseed, Joyride, Fiesta, Eighty Five, Overdrive, Stage Show)
- Don "Corleon" Bennet (Dancehall riddims: for example Drop Leaf, Sweat, Gully - Singles: for example Sean Paul - Give It Up To Me)
- Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor (his dark riddims have been more and more popular since 2007 and are currently shaping dancehall)
From Germany
- Pionear (including Rodeo (Seeed - Ding, Dr. Ring-Ding - Lala), Typhoon, Cure (Seeed - Release), Money Bag (Ronny Trettmann - Sommer), Messer Banzani, World Report (Seeed - Na clean), Bitch , Geisha, arena)
- Seeed (including Doctor's Darling Riddim ( Nosliw - Nur beim, Seeed - Waterpumpee, Tanya Stephens - It's A Pity, Dr. Ring-Ding - Doctor's Darling, General Degree - It No Matter), FrogAss-Riddim (Seeed - Dickes B) , Pharaoh Riddim (Seeed - Music Monks, Seeed - Miss Gorgeous, Dr. Ring-Ding - Bombs Over Baghdad))
- Ganjaman (among other things Too long (Nosliw - Is it about us?))
- Pow Pow Movement (Riddims including: Shanty Town, Blaze, Superior, Gladiator, Overstand)
From France
- Scorblaz (Riddims including: Aspic, Vernum, Godzilla)
- Traxx (Riddims including: B52, Dirty Tighty)
- Laskez (Riddims including: Aaxxia, Savage, Horseride, Aaxxiom, Axx Attack)
Web links
- dancehallmusic.de Riddim database with more than 3000 riddims, 1000 sound samples and convenient search
- riddimguide.com Riddim database with more than 52,000 music tracks