I was out of the Drum & Bass and IDM musical genres for a while, but I've gotten back into them recently. I think its mainly due to my latest tinkering with Fruity Loops Studio and my obsession with creating breakbeats.

After attempts at creating some tunes in FL Studio, I have a much greater appreciation for DnB and IDM producers than ever before. Often the stereotype of electronic music is that it doesn't take musicianship to create it and that anybody can do it. I think that stereotype is half true. In my opinion, being a musician requires some physical activity to produce and organize sound [1]. I'd argue that putting samples or synths together into a sequence on a computer and letting the computer output the performance of those organized samples is not musicianship. So I agree that it doesn't necessarily take musicianship to create electronic music...  and there's nothing wrong with that.

However, I don't believe that anybody can do it. I've been a "musician" for almost 20 years and I have a very difficult time creating electronic music of the complexity that I want. While the producer in DnB music doesn't actually create the sounds or perform the arrangement, a significant amount of creativity is demanded of them to produce and organize an interesting and polished product. A DnB or IDM producer is not necessarily a musician, but they are most certainly skilled artists.

So what's my point? I'm going to push some music on you to try out. One of the best DnB/IDM producers out there is Edgey. He's created over 100 tunes which are all available for download on his site.  His styles range from downtempo ambient to brash techstep. Plenty to wrap your head around.  It's definately material you can  listen to.  Here's a mix of his stuff in all styles:

• This Is Jungle - Check out the breakbeats from about 1:20 to 2:25.
• Technology Process - the first Edgey mix I ever heard
• When It's Time
• Good Star
• Pericardial Space
• Delila
• Dead in '73
• Recussant
• For You
• Lodestar

Why am I pushing this guy? I have no idea. I just enjoy his stuff and wanted to write about his work. Check out his site at www.edgey.net and check out his full list of mp3's.

If you like his stuff and want more in the same genre, visit www.dnbscene.com.  Lots of producers and free mp3's.  Use the ratings of the music wisely - there's a lot of crap to weed through and I'd suggest sticking to the top rated mixes.  The styles also range much differently than Edgey too, so there's stuff on there that's closer to trance/dance that I really dislike. 

[1] This would include activities such as singing, hitting, bowing, plucking, strumming, blowing, etc.  Subtopic: are keyboardists and DJ's musicians?