Stephen Bolen's Internet Awesomesauce

Quite possibly the world’s most famous drum break:

From the description on YouTube:

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.

This sample has been all over the hip hop world – from N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton to Lupe Fiasco’s Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. Even pop music has taken it’s turn – Oasis, Perry Ferrel (Jane’s Addiction) and Nine Inch Nails have all used this loop.

Sadly, because the Amen Break has been used so many times and cut up/re-sampled over and over again, neither drummer G. C. Coleman or Composer (copyright owner) Richard Spencer have ever received any royalties.

If you’re looking to play this beat, here is the notation: