Production Style by Genre: Trip-Hop
Genre ˈʒɒ̃rə,ˈ(d)ʒɒnrə/ — a style or category of art, music, or literature.
The genre of Trip-Hop originated in the early 1990s from Bristol’s underground and was birthed from the Acid House, Hip-Hop and Dub/Reggae sound system movements. Trip-Hop is a fusion of Experimental Breakbeat, Reggae/Dub, Hip-Hop, Punk, Soul, and Jazz musical styles blended together to form a unique sound and genre.
The defining forces of the genre Trip-Hop are the fusion of musical styles that merged from the melting pot of cultures in the diverse city of Bristol and the socio-political implications surrounding this. Many Caribbean and Jamaican migrants settled in Bristol suburb, St Paul’s. During the ’80s there were riots in Bristol from a divide between the youth and authorities, leading to the police easing their power in migrant areas like St Paul’s. This gave the people a sense of freedom to express themselves. The Jamaican immigrants brought their Sound System Culture made out of custom built large speaker stacks, where communities would come together to socialise and dance, this sound system movement aided in unifying the people. Pioneers of Trip-Hop, The Wild Bunch emulate this unification of cultures with members all coming from different socio-cultural backgrounds, with the love of music that bringing them together. The DIY ethos of the Sound System Culture was also reminiscent of the Punk movement in the UK during the late ’70s and early ’80s. Punk was a blend of white Rock music and Reggae with Jazz, Funk, and Dub elements, also due to the melting pot of migrants and working class with their diverse cultural and musical backgrounds, ideologies of Bristols youth finding common ground in both movements.
The Wild Bunch was a collective of DJ’s, MC’s, Punk and Dub musicians and graffiti artists, bringing Hip-Hop to Bristol through two members migration from New York, the birthplace of Hip-Hop. The Hip-Hop attitude gave Bristols’ youth a new found freedom of expression and fluidity of creative skills. The live performances of The Wild Bunch were mirrored from the Dub Sound System movement, where one member would be the selecta, choosing the songs, another would DJ, while MC’s would toast over the breaks. This is similar to Hip-Hop performances, both using vinyl decks with DJ’s and MC’s. The Wild Bunch eventually fragmented leaving members Tricky, Daddy G and 3D to form new group Massive Attack, releasing album Blue Lines in 1991 and birthing the genre Trip-Hop.
Trip-Hop borrows the technologies of vinyl records and sampling from Hip-Hop and Dub styles, blended with the reverb and delay processing also from the Dub/reggae genre. The musicology of Trip-Hop stems from the fusion of experimental breakbeat music, sped up from Hip-Hop breaks, a heavy bass thread with a simple yet driving groove, sample-based and live instrumentation, with melancholic melodies, ambient, downtempo energy, and ethereal vocals as the main elements. Collaboration is a key element to the genre with a mix of DJ’s, musicians, vocalists and sound engineers working together to create the production, also adding their musical diversities and impressions. Bristol had never had a musical identity until the ’90s with the creation of Trip-Hop. Through the unification of cultures the people of Bristol a sense of pride. Trip-Hop has gone on to influence future music styles like Trap, Halftime Drum and Bass, IDM, Dubstep, Acid Jazz, Illbient and Ambient and has made quite an impression on the music industry birthing or molding artists including Bjork, Bonobo, Faithless, FKA Twiggs, Gorillaz, Little Dragon, Morcheeba, and Portishead.
Pioneering the genre of Trip-Hop Massive Attack with album Blue Lines in 1991 thrust Bristol into the global music spotlight. Unfinished Sympathy was the biggest hit of their first album. Massive Attacks members had backgrounds in Punk, Hip-Hop and Reggae/Dub. Unfinished Sympathy contains the heavy bass end from Dub and the breaks from Hip-Hop gelling together musically and summing up the culture of Bristols youth and socio-political principals. This song musically contains elements of samples based percussion, vinyl jazz samples, beautiful ambient textures, slower tempo, live instrumentation, and ethereal wrapped vocals, Unfinished Sympathy is one of the first manifestations of the genre Trip-Hop.
Sound Engineer of album Blue Lines, Geoff Barrow went onto form another pioneering group of Trip-Hop, Portishead releasing their debut album Dummy in 1994. The multicultural and socio-political movements in Bristol were also of influence to group Portishead. Evident in Portishead’s musicology, based on the sampling, production, and DJ’ing of Geoff Barrow, lusty Jazz guitar from Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons beautiful ethereal vocals with deep personalised lyrics. Song Sour Times was the second release from the album and musically represents the fusion of genre Trip-Hop, with the Hip-Hop breaks, bass from dub, melancholy melodies and ethereal spine-tingling vocals.
A decade later Swedish group Little Dragon released their third album Ritual Union based in genre Trip-Hop but with a contemporary sound. Little Dragon is a collaboration of keyboardist, drummer, bassist, and vocalist, with their diverse musical identities fusing together to create a unique style. Song Ritual Union is a blend of breakbeats, percussive elements, warm textures, with a driving analog bass synth, beautiful ambient melodies, and ethereal wrapped vocals.
Trip-Hop’s fusion of genres and element of collaboration is also evident in UK’s group Gorillaz. Song Melancholy Hill was released in 2010 and elements of the genre are audible in the driving yet simple bass line, Hip-Hop drums, beautiful melody and vocals, and ambient atmosphere of the song. Gorillaz is a Collaboration with a fusion of visual comics from Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn's music, the virtual band in the comics represent the false idols of celebrities. Frontman Damon Albarn has worked and collaborated many artists including Trip-Hop groups Massive Attack and Little Dragon.
My music has been heavily influenced by pioneers of Trip-Hop such as Massive Attack and Portishead and contemporary Trip-Hop artists like Gorillaz and Little Dragon. I take inspiration from the Hip-Hop/breakbeats, driving bass and ambient energy of my predecessors, fusing this with my classical and African musical background, diverse musical influences, and sense of self, by way of emotions, thoughts or experiences, to create my unique form of Trip-Hop.
“We live in a post sampling era, we take the things that we love and we build on them. When we add something signifigant and original and we merge our musical journey to this, then we have a chance to be part of the evolution of that music that we love and be linked with it to become something new” (Ronson, M. 2014.).
My creative practices are based on using contemporary Trip-Hop with use of Trap and Drum and Bass drum samples. The bass in my productions is a blend of an old school 808 kick, reminiscent in Gorillaz and Massive Attack’s music and a warm driving analog bass synth, influenced from Little Dragon and Gorillaz. Layered with melodies on a piano synth, appegiated marimbas, ambient textures, and ethereal vocals. The context of my lyrics like Portishead’s is quite personal and expressive of experiences and emotions. Blending forms of old and new are represented in my sound. Working towards a definition to categorise my music to a genre is something I have always found difficult.
Does this fusion of musical elements and production techniques based on sampling and the electronic studio make my music a solid representation of the genre of Trip-Hop?
Is it appropriate for me to make Trip-Hop when I lack the socio-cultural implications that molded the genre?
The Bristol sound like Massive Attack and Portishead really inspire me but Post Trip-Hop artists like Little Dragon and FKA Twiggs also get my juices flowing. My music definitely has elements of both sounds in my productions.
Teardrop from Massive Attack has a nice tempo and vinyl sound during the song. I really like the drum sounds, jungle, tribal drum sounds, marching rhythm and percussion processing with the delays on certain rim shots, the pads, and the metronome melody.
The drum sounds and processing again are what draws me to this song as a reference track for my next production. The drum grooves and arrangement are so unique. I also really like the pads and ethereal vocals turned into pads.
The bass drum with the beautiful bellowing reverb and the rim shot with the long reverb tail nearly makes me weep. I also really like the old analog warm synth with filter processing.
The little effects and subtle sounds are an inspiration in the Portishead song Sour Times. The deeply personal lyrical concept is an element I feature in my productions.
Jeff Wragg states that the three elements of the Trip-hop genre are a producer-led outfit, opaque mediation, and intertextuality. An individual or a core group of two or three people composing and producing the music is what makes a Producer Led Outfit, with the focus being an interaction between humans and technology compared with the model of music making which was social with an interaction between either a band or producers, arrangers, and musicians. (Wragg. 2016, p. 43.). The application I use to audio production is also with interaction with technology, being a Producer Led Outfit myself. Wragg further explains the technological processes in recording; editing and processing sound are described as Mediation. Opaque Mediation is allowing these technological processes to show through the production almost highlighting the technological medium, unlike Transparent Mediation, which endeavors to harbor the medium that sculpted the sound. (Wragg. 2016, p. 43.). Trip-hop artists take this use of Opaque Mediation to extremes with emphasising and magnifying the aural trademark of pre-digital processes that were alluded to be overlooked, such as the crackling of a vinyl record, separating media from its source and applying it in a new digital context, explained as ‘schizophrenic experimentation’ by Brøvig-Hanssen. Exaggerated time stretching of audio, extreme edits and creation of unique spaces with unusual reverb applications. Evidence of Opaque Mediation is a consistency in Trip-hop production making it a main element of the genre. (Wragg. 2016, p. 44.). The use of Opaque mediation in forms of time stretching and unique reverb applications are consistent in my productions identifiable in the vocal processing, and the vinyl sample manipulations. Wragg describes Intertextuality as a form of sampling, either of another work as a quotation or reference to that particular artist or musical style, or the cultural or historical context of that musical work. Noted in Portishead’s use of Mission Impossible sample in song Sour Times, possibly unnoticeable to a regular audience. (Wragg. 2016, p. 44.). “Intertextual references are common throughout trip-hop and not only reference other works but also other styles, periods and cultures” (Wragg. 2016, p. 44.). The use of Intertextuality is a common trait in my music, with the use of referencing other cultures, in this example jungle tribes. I also want to add a sample of song Sour Times from Portishead. This will be in the final mix.
Analysis of musical style normally focuses on the three elements; form, rhythm, and harmony, explains Danielsen and Brøvig-Hanssen. Though Trip-hop can be ambiguous when it comes to these elements as is a fusion of several other styles of music, therefore is analyzed by the way Trip-hop artists shape the sounds and spectral space of their works. (Brøvig-Hanssen and Danielsen. 2013, p.71.). Wragg defines Trip-hop as an umbrella genre and breaks it down to three sub-genres, instrumental Hip-Hop, the Bristol sound. (Wragg. 2016, p. 44.). The two subgenres that I am focused on comparing are the Bristol sound, including artists Portishead and Massive Attack and post-Trip-hop, with the focus on artists Little Dragon, FKA Twiggs, and Gorillaz. Wragg goes onto explain that the three elements to analyse these sonic and spectral manipulations of the three different movements in Trip-hop are: Gestural Surrogacy, Spectra and Spartimophology. (Wragg. 2016, p. 45–47.). To analyse the Gestural Surrogacy Wragg defines the terms of analysis;
Second order surrogacy describes traditional instrumental/ vocal activity where an acknowledged performance skill is employed: the source and the gesture can be recognised. Third order surrogacy describes sound whose source and/or gesture is unknown: the relationship between sound, source and gesture is ambiguous. Remote surrogacy refers to the remnants of gesture when human interaction disappears completely: source and gesture are unknown. (Wragg. 2016, p. 45.).
Gestural Surrogacy’s of the second and third order are the common traits of post-Trip-hop. Known instruments encompass the arrangement of the work with unknown instruments or textures illuminating periodically, with intention of decoration. The Bristol sound also uses Gestural Surrogacy to the second and third order but with a functional intention rather than decorative, as in these sounds encompass the arrangement of the work and without them, the arrangement would sound fundamentally different. (Wragg. 2016, p. 45.). I can compare to both Trip-hop movements in relation to Gestural Surrogacy, at times I use it with functional intent, heard in the intro and outro cinematic sounds and also with intent to decorate periodically like the fx that come in randomly for emotion. The Spectra element of inharmonic saturation in post-Trip-hop is clean and natural sounding with little use of inharmonic saturation whereas the Bristol sound uses inharmonic saturation as the main tool in the processing of the spectra of instruments, distorting timbre noticeably, blending noise with note. The post-Trip-hop style in relation to the treatment of spectral space is with opaque density, compared to the Bristol sound with the treatment of a transparent density to their spectral space. (Wragg. 2016, p. 46–47.). I use both methods in the application of spectra, heard in the intro and outro sections and hard bass lines, with noise to note opposed to the clean reverbs on the marimbas. When analysing the Spartimophology, post-Trip-hop employs the use of a single spatial setting while the Bristol sound uses spatial simultaneity, where the sounds are set in contradictory surreal spaces. (Wragg. 2016, p. 48.). To analyse the use of Spartimophology is my works, they use the same method of spatial simultaneity of the Bristol sound, with each instrument and vocal situated in its unique space and unique reverbs. Each of the Genre and Style specific elements that mold the Trip-hop genre are comparable if not equivalent to my production style and artistic practices. (Thompson. 2017.).
I hope you enjoyed my deconstruction of the audio production and music style of Trip-Hop. If you are interested in hearing my music here is the link to my website. Please comment below if you would like to further discuss Music Styles or Audio Production.
References:
BBC & Massive Attack. (September, 12, 2016.). Unfinished: The making of massive attack [Youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt2e4wv7Q_o
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Trip-Hop [image]. (N.d.). Retrieved from https://au.pinterest.com/dlptarotreader/trip-hop/
Ronson, Mark. (2014.). Ted: How sampling transformed music [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_ronson_how_sampling_transformed_music/discussion?langu
Massive Attack (March 6, 2009.). Teardrop [Youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7K72X4eo_s
FKA Twiggs. (August 1, 2013.). Water me [Youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFtMl-uipA8
FKA Twiggs. (June 24, 2014.). Two weeks [Youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yDP9MKVhZc
Potishead. (February 13, 2008.). Sour times [Youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIcxMuORco
Thompson, L. (2017). Literature Review: Artistic Identity and Conforming the Non-Conformist [Personal works].
Wragg, Jeff. (2016, p, 40–50). Organised sound [Book]. Just don’t call it trip hop: reconciling the Bristol sound style with the trip hop genre [Peer Reviewed Journal]. Cambridge University Press: UK. doi:10.1017/S1355771815000369. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/24057815/Just_Dont_Call_it_Trip_Hop_Reconciling_the_Bristol_sound_style_with_the_trip_hop_genre
Wragg, Jeff. (N.d.). Tracing the roots of trip hop: how on city influenced a global genre [Article]. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/10235810/Tracing_the_Roots_of_Trip_Hop_How_One_City_s_History_Influenced_a_Global_Genre
