For my 4th blog assignment I am reviewing Danny Hakim's drum and bass track. Over all this piece did an excellent job of emulating the sound of an old-school drum and bass tune, and the structure was well designed. First and foremost, Danny gave heavy emphasis on the sampling in the piece, seeing as the entire piece was sample based. The drum break takes focus instantaneously, as it often does in a good drum and bass track. The sweeping filter in the introduction draws the listener in with apprehensive curiosity, and quickly rewards this curiosity by kicking in the bass drum and first sample.
One of the best parts of this piece is the fact that Danny made use of speed manipulation in his sampling. Old-school jungle/drum and bass tunes were often characterized by the upper frequencies of a sped up soul record sample and Danny's first sample is reminiscent of this. Conversely, Danny's Hendrix sample is slowed down for the original recording, providing a richer, denser spectrum of frequencies in his piece. This sample and the last one, the Bear vs. Shark, were made further captivating by use of gradual sound manipulation through distortion. Lastly, the samples are well placed in order to create further syncopation and polyrhythms in the song than that which the break beat provides.