Reynolds defines DnB's distinctive essence as 'breakbeat-science and bass-mutation' — not genre-borrowing

Against the jazz-fusion trend, Reynolds proposes that genuine depth in DnB comes from developing what no other genre has: hyper-complex, polyrhythmic breakbeat programming and inventive bass design. He calls this ‘breakbeat-science and bass-mutation.’ The implication for production students is that a genre’s core language is the set of techniques it has evolved that are unique to it — the things that cannot be simulated by borrowing chord progressions or textures from an admired ancestor. Reynolds cites Roni Size, Dillinja, and Droppin’ Science as practitioners of this genuine depth, contrasting them with artists who imposed external ideas of ‘maturity’ (jazz sophistication, ambient serenity) onto the music.

Examples

Roni Size’s ‘11.55’ — stripped to ‘densely tangled breaks and multiple basslines’ with only spare jazz colouration — is Reynolds’ exemplar of ‘breakbeat-science’: polyrhythm and bass as the complete expressive vocabulary, nothing borrowed from jazz beyond a faint colour.

Assessment

Name two techniques Reynolds counts as DnB’s unique essence. Explain why he argues that reaching outside the genre for legitimacy can dilute rather than deepen a style.