The "Amen Break": the world's most important 6-sec drum loop

This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute... This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music -- a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison's 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.

Great vid. The exposition on copyright and how the use of it determines/stifles cultural development is interesting of course - and an important message to get out. Nothing to disagree on there. But Ive got to admit it was the first half, about the actual history of the loop, that I enjoyed the most. Not least because the examples practically mirror how my own musical interest developed, from 3rd Bass to NWA to Shy FX to Squarepusher - was listening to it all, at the time, and yet would never have suspected that all the while, it was the exact same loop I was hearing. Fascinating.