A Beginner's Guide to Jungle Breakbeats

A beginner’s guide to jungle breakbeats. I kick off with some context and history, then cover how to chop and process breaks in your DAW.
I'm now offering tuition and music production assistance, hit me up for more details!
bit.ly/TimCantContact
Check out my DnB music on Spotify!
open.spotify.com/playlist/6P9...
Check out my latest happy hardcore EP:
endorrecordings.bandcamp.com/...
Chapter markers:
00:00 Intro
00:33 Chapter 1: What are breakbeats?
03:31 Chapter 2: UK breakbeat music
10:06 Chapter 3: Why do breakbeats sound good?
14:29 Chapter 4: Where do I get jungle breaks?
17:31 Chapter 5: Old school breakbeat technique
21:10 Chapter 6: Automatic slicing
24:13 Chapter 7: Contemporary technique
29:49 Chapter 8: Breakbeat processing tips
If you'd like to use my Live slicing preset you can find it here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1Py_5...
This should be placed in your Ableton user library in the Defaults/Slicing folder.
Tunes mentioned:
The Winstons - Amen Brother
• Amen Brother
Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (I’m Coming)
• Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants...
Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
• Lyn Collins - Think (A...
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
• Led Zeppelin - When Th...
Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea
• Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea
Mantronix - King of the Beats
• Mantronix - King Of Th...
MC Duke - I’m Riffin’
• MC Duke - I'm Riffin
Hardnoise - Untitled
• a1-hardnoise - untitled
Shut Up & Dance - This Town Needs A Sheriff
• This Town Needs A Sheriff
The Scientist - Exorcist
• The Scientist - The Ex...
Shut Up and Dance - Derek Went Mad
• Shut Up And Dance - De...
Low Noise Block - Rave In The Bedroom
• Low Noise Block, Rav...
Lennie D’Ice - We Are I.E.
• Video
The Prodigy - Charly
• The Prodigy - Charly (...
Meat Beat Manifesto - Radio Babylon
• Radio Babylon
The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
• The Stone Roses - Fool...
Awesome 3 - Don’t Go
• Don't Go (Original Mix)
RatPack - Searchin’ For My Rizla
• RatPack - Searching Fo...
Big Daddy Kane - Raw
• Big Daddy Kane - Raw (...
DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer - In Effect
• In Effect
Q-Project -Champion Sound (Alliance Remix)
• Q Project - Champion S...
Shut up and Dance - Raving I’m Raving
• raving i'm raving Shut...
Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis
• Marc Cohn - Walking in...
DJ Crystl - Meditation
• Video
Deep Blue - The Helicopter Tune
• Deep Blue The Helico...
LTJ Bukem - Music
• Music
Omni Trio - Renegade Snares
• Omni Trio - Renegade S...
Engineers Without Fears - Rhythm
• Engineers Without Fear...
Omni Trio - Renegade Snares (Foul Play VIP)
• Omni Trio - Renegade S...
DJ Krome & Mr Time - The Licence
• DJ Krome & Mr Time - T...
Model 500 - The Flow (Alex Reece Remix)
• Model 500 - The Flow (...
Alex Reece - Pulp Fiction
• Alex Reece - Pulp Fict...
Nasty Habits - Shadow Boxing
• Shadow Boxing
DJ Trace - Mutant Revisited
• DJ Trace - Mutant Revi...
Codename John - The Warning
• Codename John - The Wa...
Boymerang - Soul Beat Runna
• Boymerang - Soul Beat ...
D’Cruze - Watch Out
• WATCH OUT (ORIGINAL 94...
Mark from Solardo talks about sampling the break from "Tribesmen":
• Producer Masterclass |...
Software mentioned:
Ableton Live
www.ableton.com/
Akaizer
the-akaizer-project.blogspot....
ReCycle
www.reasonstudios.com/recycle
Eventide Audio H3000 Factory
www.eventideaudio.com/plug-in...
Oeksound Soothe 2
oeksound.com/plugins/soothe2/
Inphonik RX950
www.inphonik.com/products/rx9...
D16 Group Decimort 2
d16.pl/decimort2
Airwindows
www.airwindows.com/
iZotope Neutron 3
www.izotope.com/en/products/n...
FabFilter
www.fabfilter.com/
Jungle photo by Chris Abney on Unsplash:
unsplash.com/@chrisabney

[@TimCant]

I just saw a post on the Facebook group Jungle Sample Beardstroke Massive by one Robert Jones that cites the Untouchables remix of Creep by TLC as the main element of Alex Reece's The Flow and Pulp Fiction beats. The beat can be heard at 4 mins 13 seconds: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6bUfKKBl6qCgKMsi=GS3Vj7e6wb1E3G5w&t=253

[@RalfalfaBeats]

Only started producing a year ago even though I’m 46. I couldn’t get my head around when I tried in 97! Having great fun and success now largely thanks to YT tuts. This has to be one of the best. Wicked Tim. The most maximum of big ups to you!

[@jermainereid1790]

Bro I was exactly the same as you ,nuff respect

[@supahfly_uk]

I'm 45 still banging out the beats keep it up mate :)

[@joeycollinshttp]

ive just starting at 49

[@tyjakkty8668]

well done mate im in the same boat as you next stop super stardom

[@nutelumusic1985]

I started to make music around 2 years ago and am now 14. Learned everything trough youtube and experimenting, and I'm still passionate about this. I think that you start to do music at any age, as with pretty much any hobby. Age is just a number, at least in this context

[@blasder007]

i would pay for an online course made by this guy

[@user-sj1ny1br3o]

Made an iceberg video without a clickbait thumbnail. I salute you sir.

[@GreatBallsOfAcid]

This is not a guide, it’s a masterclass! Thank you for helping keep this magnificent culture alive!

[@PeePeePrivate]

I’ve basically been asking the universe for a video like this for the past 4 months and here it is exceeding my expectations in terms of overall entertainment, information, and lasting understanding. Thank you very much

[@tecjunkyard]

I asked today

[@spiral_23]

@@tecjunkyard today - lol

[@nullmo42069]

top tier comment

[@tehf00n]

True story. I was at school in 1987 when acid music started to appear. I said to my friends, as a joke because I was into heavy metal, "They should make an acid tune from that Charly advert". When The Prodigy released it I thought they did it as a joke.

[@YanickFM]

one thing i really liked about this was that you used a lot of the built in features of the DAW. I do like learning about plugins that other people use, but I also love to see a focus on stuff i can actually do immediately, without downloading anything new.

[@living_in_exile]

Incredible guide, I am not a producer but, as a jungle fan, now I understand way more about how my favorite artists produced their stuff. Forever grateful for this!

[@Breakbeats92.5]

As a beat nerd the breaks you mentioned were a refresher course. My favorite part was learning about early adopters of said breaks. Most of whom were very obscure to me.

[@kidsonicofficial]

The "elongating" of these beats was originally called Juggling, until Grandmaster Flash came up with the Cueing system, where it was then called "the Merry-go-round". Also, Get RhythmLab or DoubleClick's packs. Jungle Warfare was rereleased a while ago but they removed the breaks because of the copyright issues.

[@idleprepress]

I love playing those types of beats on normal drums, it's an endless dynamic meditation to play around with the rhythms, chop them, emulate all that "retrigger" and "beat crushing" stuff making the flow continuos and organic. You just throw some random fat bass riff and can then do anything as long as you're in the pocket.

[@JohnDoe-rd2qw]

Never thought I would be getting tips on jungle producing from Stephen Merchant

[@bontempo1271]

Lol. My dude. You just made probably the best reference video for Jungle breakbeats. Excellent research. Accurate information. And your covering of a broad range of styles and techniques is what makes this an excellent video for reference and inspiration. If you wasn't involved in Jungle production back then, you certainly did it justice here. Hats off to you ! Any beginner would do well to take this all in. Particularily the importance of getting the beat adjustment and timing right.

[@xmc3060]

That was fuckin excellent, really loved the short history of it with artists. Would have been cool if while you mentioned each artist/song the album track was playing in the background softly with a brief pause on describing it and switch to full volume of the track to hear how the artist implemented it in their track. But for real very helpful vid. Subbed!

[@TimCant]

Yeah I totally agree with you on having music clips in the video… but I didn’t do it because I didn’t want to get a load of copyright strikes 🙄 There’s links to the tracks in the description but I forgot to mention that in the intro 🤦‍♂️ Thanks for watching and for the feedback, respect 👊

[@japhy6536]

that was an INSANE amount of knowledge and passion shared - thank you so much. I'm a seasoned electronic music producer and I've still picked up a few new techniques. Kindest thanks

[@r1cht3a]

Simply outstanding video. Can't wait for more!

[@matiasocarez]

I was looking for this kind of content for a long time, amazing channel!!

[@seladore]

what an amazing vid, i need to watch it all again !! i hope you channel is full of stuff like this

[@bazathedon]

tim your a lifesaver mate! no more wondering how my favourite breaks were made, you've laid it all out in an engaging format. got the ep i love it! hardcore eruption and unity are phenomenal. vibena has returned!

[@slickheisenberg8208]

This is a very well rounded video covering all the bases. Subscribed. Keep ‘em coming.

[@Reapertips]

Tim this was spectacular. Thank you so much for this! Learnt a lot.

[@alasdairkeddie]

Amazing depth of breakbeat history and technique. I've wanted to have a crack at DNB production since the 90s, no excuses now :)

[@danekiez1756]

AMAZING video! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge

[@scrillahands]

That was effin brilliant. Very informative, appreciate the history lesson. Thank you!!

[@MrBendixxx]

This is one the most well presented and informative breaks video I’ve watched. Superb.

[@JoelWest]

This is a ridiculously good guide, we don't deserve this. Thank you mate, instantly subbed.

[@niceup1177]

this is gold tim, thanks for sharing

[@graceintheplace13]

Instant sub. Thank you for all the effort and amazing content in this video!!! Wow!

[@robtronik]

This is an absolutely outstanding video. Thank you for putting it together. Coupled with Stranjah’s tutorials, it is worth its weight in gold. I appreciate the historical context in the intro - and some good memories came from your examples shown. Well done and thank you!

[@essaim_]

you have a beautiful music collection! its so nice to learn of someone with such great experience!! keep up the good work :)

[@limbobitch]

Man your channel is pure gold!! I'm so glad you got recommended to me!! I've been looking for this type of content for quite a while now, this is really helpful, thanks!

[@DMS198526]

Such a brilliant video mate. Thank you

[@GregDixson]

Amazing stuff 👍🏻 comprehensive guide more like! Well presented and detailed info. Cheers 🙂

[@ezraezra-yo6ju]

I love this genre so much

[@communityoflearners]

The history part of this video has been extremely helpful for me. Well done. Thank you.

[@deiciderob]

Incredible video man, thanks so much!. I learned a lot of excellent material. Cheers!!

[@armignac]

Really great video with nice research as far as I can tell! You deserve way more viewers. Great easy to understand content!

[@enkimerlin3209]

this is without a doubt the best breakdown of the evolution of Jungle - DnB and so on etc. Great work !

[@NullnVoid.]

wowowowow. I'm rewatching this tomorrow and doing so much more research and resource accumulation. Thank you. You are a legend

[@bud1390]

Thanks! I love hearing about the history of electronic genres. Well narated, very informative with some good examples!

[@alfiekovacs]

this video is so in depth and useful and exactly the type of tutorial that's rare to find on youtube thanks, plz make more

[@gameplayti2909]

This is history class folks. Thanks a lot for sharing Tim Cant.

[@federico7367]

Great Video!!! hoping to see more videos on sampling and glitch techniques 🙌

[@pauldavison6460]

This is fecking brilliant. Top work. Thanks.

[@SazLowify]

just incredible!! wish i had this video when i started listening to these tunes back when covid started. keep up the amazing work!!

[@bunbun2181]

I love learning the history about music generas. It's so cool to think about all the diffrent factors that made the generas what they are today!

[@FatalFriction]

Literally amazing! thanks so much for this! probably one of the best yt vids Ive see hands down!

[@Hawk7886]

Phenomenal amount of knowledge, cheers!

[@FallerToon]

No words. That was magical for me. The history part into educational part was perfect. It confirms some of my thoughts about breakbeat samples that i heard like everywhere. And you come with some bangers like these (34:02) oh my god. One of coolest youtube tuts i have seen (and mostly listen). I don't make music but this was enjoyable to watch and gives me vibes to produce beats like these. :D Thanks for the video (and thanks youtube algorithm i guess ?)

[@turgutbelen6374]

Wow! History of Jungle breaks. Excellent job. Thank you.

[@curtiswrightdj]

Awesome Video, took me ages to find someone to explain it in a way which helped me do it in Logic. Slicing the audio to midi has made my breaks so much more creative, Thanks man.

[@EasyHeat]

This thorough breakdown tutorial is absolute gold. Thank you!

[@stefanoristicano6902]

I cannot express my graditude towards you for posting this video! Its super informative, gets straigh to the point with crystal clear clarity, extremly well done with gret examples. Im super thankfull for this

[@rorz999]

Very nice video, thanks. Digging for breaks that haven't been used before is one of my favourite hobbies. I've found some absolute stormers 🔥

[@sine0]

top tier video showing all your tricks, well done mate.

[@selm1313]

i love slow paced and explanatory videos like this i wish people had more attention span to watch this stuff

[@lowrezable]

Pure GOLD !!! Thank you so much !

[@Samplers]

Super comprehensive! This would have taken ages to make is clearly a work of love.

[@siktwstd]

dude this is literally the best youtube video ive ever seen keep up the fantastic work

[@KountKasper]

I really enjoyed this video. While I was already aware of some of the history the structure of you video was a nice watch and relearning of the history.

[@SamO-jf8zq]

The quality of your videos is outstanding. I'm extremely grateful for these. You solved an issue I was having with trying to transpose a break - I wasn't changing the loop mode. Your videos are a history lesson and production lesson all in one. Brilliant. You've just cost me rent to own subscriptions on splice for Neutron & D16 >:( Keep them coming!

[@dreampillet]

Awesome video! Some great advice and I especially loved how you went into the history of the technique and that the description had links for all songs mentioned!

[@hb3393]

This is an absolutely superb video thank you!

[@bigupz6818]

Loved this. I will use this as a reference for sure

[@f0rl0ve68]

this is one of thee BEST videos on youtube thank you so much wow.

[@krzysztof8545]

really great tutorial. the first i saw that actually helped me with understanding how to make jungle thanks.

[@growingcrystals1133]

This video is so profound! Wow! Amazing material

[@DaftFader]

Dang man, casually just dropping banger after banger! Just watching the intro background explanation brought back so many memories! :D

[@rubinprince100]

been looking for something like this, i cant get enough AMEN!!

[@homelessbeats]

Meant to skim through this for the essential info, ended up sitting down and absorbing every word. So much love for your genre emanating through this content. Bless !

[@owenedwards9807]

Great work Tim!

[@TheAverageInternetUser]

Oh my god this video is something I've been looking for so long! It's perfect! Everything makes sense and I just feel being on a new level of my knowledge. I am a huge fan of DnB/Jungle because of the breaks, and I wanted to start producing. Thank you so much, it's really useful and helpful for me! I love it!

[@lastsonofktn]

Massive video and information thank you

[@laurencestoker7315]

Exceptional. Thank you very much.

[@StanleyKubick1]

bookmarking this for future reference. what a great resource for inspiration and tips

[@dudewithsticks4358]

This is by far the most comprehensive yet easely understandable Video on this Topic AND it´s done in Ableton. I simply love it! Great Work!

[@andy_hawkins]

This is great! Thanks Tim

[@absurdanomaly427]

No clickbait, informative video, couldn't ask for more. Thank you!!

[@Zeagods-CyberShadow]

I recently watch a video about PlayStation Jungle and it has inspired to start making Jungle. Ive never done anything with EDM or DnB so im a Complete newbie to making EDM. But PlayStation Jungle has always been my favourite style and i really want make my own Jungle and DnB. So thank you for this Guide to help me understand Jungle

[@LunaRoseManor]

Tim Cant stop making amazing tutorials.

[@Andrija_12345]

Absolutely fascinating video... I'm a guitar player from a more rock/jazz world but recently started using Ableton and kinda branching out into the electronic side with samples and such so I'm a noob. I enjoyed some jungle but had no idea where do these beats come from or how to use them. This vid cleared it all up for me - thanks a ton

[@pessoaboyo]

one of the best pieces on making music out there. thank u Tim!

[@adecayingskeleton3651]

Knew right away from the tracksuit and the records behind you this would be legit. Thanks!

[@Thought-Forms]

Great video, Tim! Ultra comprehensive. History and practical tips, love it

[@TimCant]

Big fan of the tunes and vids Bobby, biggup!

[@Gibbonik71]

Nicely put together. Subbed.

[@shiven6759]

Super informative and insightful video, much appreciated bossman !!

[@deanwild7641]

What a great video. Really enjoyed it 👍

[@Booshay__]

I've watched I don't know how many slicing videos on YT, but this technique in the drum rack is brilliant.

[@issac1074]

Wow! this is a brilliant video! please make more:

[@jahhah6719]

Nice history break down of beat styles... 👍🏾

[@dmnbkr1256]

educational, practical, inspiring. what else would you want for the perfect content 😍😍 love and thanks so much 🥰🥰

[@HAZARDOUS88]

An awesome guide. Thanks!!

[@gregplanchuelo]

Incredibly interesting video, thank you.

[@goddamnsam]

Very nice video! Great job! super informative, lots of suggestions for creative breaks and even a good amount of history. Anyone who watches should be ableto walk away with the tools to get choppin

[@paullawson8610]

Thanks Tim this is gold

[@jdavis.fw303]

Amazing!!! Thank you, this really made it about as easy to understand as possible.

[@Househeadz]

Loving this - you have a new subscriber - greatr work Tim.

[@PianoDentist]

This is an excellent history of the breakbeat and their uses.

[@spherical5815]

Excellent Excellent I'm very old school and own lots of the vinyl from the first half of vid. You done an excellent job 👏 I may even start using a DAW again ,there was lots to learn all round.