Seems like there’s only a few people on here that actually listen to and want to produce breaks. If your out there and you’re feeling the breaks scene, let the others know!
Raymond
Depends on the breaks I suppose.
Funky breaks are really not my thing (at least they weren’t 10 years ago when I really last heard them…too many sirens and whistles and whatnot).
However if we are talking on the more progressive end I would say I enjoy them (though as a DJ I try to avoid playing them out at the club during peak times because most people just don’t know how to dance to breaks…at least in Chicago). A mix or a podcast is usually where they end up for me.
That said, a good question to ask would be what elements of breakbeat would you want to learn about? For me I would say it would simply be a tutorial on drum patterning, as that is the element that stands out the most for me in breaks.
Are there other aspects of breaks I am missing that a 4x4 tutorial wouldn’t cover?
Geoff
I’ll take that as a neigh with no tutorial. 
Yeah, but I can’t explain it if you’re not really into the funky breaks(there not so annoying these days). I think its about the swing applied to it. The sidechaining techniques are a bit different too…There’s something in the technique that makes it sound live, and not so machine like if you can understand what I’m saying. And as simple as the bass lines sound, they seem so impossible to make sit right in the mix and not sound like your just trying to write some bass heavy booming tune. Yo, you should check out Keith Mackenzie, he’s from Chicago, has a record label “illeveneleven”. His breaks label is blowing up right now putting Chi town on the map for breaks again. I was just recently out there and went to Liars Club or something like that. Anyhow, I’ll post a link. Anyone else care to comment?
Raymond
Click me for Chicago breaks
Checked him out Raymond. I think I would prefer dub versions of the tracks I listened to on his myspace page. The bootybombastic vocals aren’t really my cup of tea but I liked his sound. =)
Thanks for the link!
Geoff
p.s. bootybombastic is now copyrighted to me. 
beats and bass would be great to learn, nothing in that link sounded particularly live though. vocals aint really my thing but the rest sounds great.
also with the more live feel you’re talking about that probably come from instruments being played in and not programmed, i’ve always found that making funkier stuff works better if you stay away from the quantize button.
For sure! That link wasn’t really a reference to what I was talking about more than it was a breaks artist from Chicago, but there are good examples of what I’m talking about in there. To each there own on styles I guess, like I said, it’s really kind of hard to explain what I’m after. I guess its really the swing in the drums. It’s got to be groove templates or something more than just your typical swing. I think that maybe explains what I’m after better… It just feels more groovy then a typical pattern laid out and swing applied to.
Raymond
i know what groove you are talking about with the drums and you’ll be wanting the swing groove templates from the MPC
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachments/music-computers/21255d1150712565-mpc-swing-midi-files-groove-templates.mid.zip
those files can be used in logic and cubase but im unsure how to use them in live.
the best software drum machine for getting the same sort of grooves as the MPC is Guru
That is a fantastic bit, isn’t it! I used it on Windows a while back and loved it, but I couldn’t really get it to do what I wanted it to do. Maybe its just me
Raymond
ANyone who says no to a breaks tut is an idiot. Any and every tut will help in some way.
Just cause its not house doesn’t mean you can’t apply the techniques to house or trance etc.
I recorded a walk through tutorial of my Funkasaurus track Jackhammer this week so hopefully it’ll be up soon and there’ll be a few breaks tips in there!
You can check the track out here…
[url]http://www.myspace.com/funkasaurusni[/url]
or on my profile page
Just checked out the tracks Graham and must say I am really digging Bumblebath and the No No Funkasaurus Remix the most. That’s the breaks I enjoy and can easily hear why guys like Derrick and Ewan Pearson have had an influence on your music. Keep it up and looking forward to the tut.
Geoff