Full Article:
http://www.okayafrica.com/african-polyrhythms-club-music-yenkyi-taxi/
Except time signatures, such as 4/4, in which “house” very specifically is written, is of European/Western origin.
Look, my heritage is European, Middle Eastern and African. I have a huge mix in my family, my roots can be traced geographically across the globe like that.
I’m all for recognizing the importance of polyrhythms and history of drums, and the influence of African beats on modern music. I’m also for intellectual honesty.
The article in and of itself does not provide any references, examine any recordings and show how certain artists employed certain elements that link back to use of said polyrhythms. If anything this is more of an editorial than a true documentary.
The interviewers asks: " In your opinion, how are African polyrhythms the root of European Club music?"
The respondent Mike than says, “When it comes to clubbing genres, European crowds have always had a natural inclination for tracks that have a particular emphasis on percussive elements. It’s not a mystery that the greatest producers in techno, drum & bass and house have always looked to the African drumming tradition with a sense of reverence and as a sort of historical reference.”
He doesn’t name a single artist, nor does he name a single album, nor does he recognize the history of Europe’s own beat culture.
The article also says, “Within it’s contemporary context, the polyrhythm is an export firmly incubated in improvisation from highlife, jazz and funk. The advent of sampling machines soon allowed the percussive break patterns from those genres to be recorded and sampled as loops. As music software became more sophisticated, so did the innovation in changing the tempo of the polyrhythms playing at various speeds, yet still providing the backbone of the beat. A thread later emblematic in hip-hop, the broader-styled breakbeat within the early epoch of the UK rave scene to jungle and drum ‘n’ bass across the Atlantic.”
Unfortunately, goes back to time signatures. EDM is primarily in 4/4 and Jazz, Highlife, and Funk employ multiple time signatures. Also, "The Funky Drummer, is not an African Polyrhythm. Funk traces to Rhythm and Blues, which traces to Jazz and Blues, which traces to America and the music that evolved in the history of slavery.
They really don’t know what they are talking about here. When they talk about, “sampling,” they can’t even name one or two records that prove their point.
I can go on forever here, because the history of music is so complex, but since this documentary seems to be primarily concerned with the polyrhythms of the house genre - here is a well cited article that states the roots of house are in Chicago (should be common knowledge to music producers) but here is a quote and cited article nonetheless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house
“Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago, the term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s.”
Now the roots of house are in Chicago – which again we should all know. They stem from the sampling – again should be common knowledge on this board. They stem from sampling Jazz, Blues, Funk etc – American genre’s of music.
The roots of American music are found in the history of slavery.
Me totally agrees with ur thoughts here; I would also add that the mechanical 4/4 Machine-like Beat might also have to do with the european industrial - era, while mothers working in those huge factories getting their offspring used to the sound of the ‘Machine’ - since then our ‘natural’ sound - environment has changed quiet a Bit. Now while Times have also changed for us since then, the Machines are still active & pumping the Dancefloors to their Beat. Could be wrong with this, though…an ex - girlfriend of mine once introduced me to this idea, which actually came from her ex - friend, who was a rich son of an industrial - family.
It all started thousands and thousands years ago.
The first ape-man hit a hollow tree with his stick - he enjoyed the sound and and hit it again. Other ape-men and ape-ladies enjoyed the sound too and joined in.
Thus was the beginning of instrumental music.
It all started thousands and thousands years ago.
The first ape-man hit a hollow tree with his stick - he enjoyed the sound and and hit it again. Other ape-men and ape-ladies enjoyed the sound too and joined in.
Thus was the beginning of instrumental music.
^This & this:
Edit, and I have to rethink the post to make more sense
I wonder who invented counting
Hollow trees have a fat sound
We all kno who invented counting, or not? 
europe is an ordinary guy… burning down the house… you are fine, dont worry about it…
I feel that, to someone who has just stepped out of a time capsule from the middle ages, a lot of club music is generally more relatable than going to, say, a Britney Spears concert.
Spike Jones illustrates the point nicely: