A Guide To Electronic Dance Music

A Guide To Electronic Dance Music

So many styles, so little time

With the invention of the 1st electronic synthesizer in 1876 by Elisha Gray ( that's right, 1876!! ), nobody knew where that invention would lead to in the future. Well ladies and gents, welcome to the world of electronic dance music, where synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers rule. I personally have been a techno dj and producer since 1996 and I have released electronic techno music all over the world in different mediums such as vinyl records, Cd's and digital downloads. I have opened my mind to other genres of electronic dance music such as house, trance, IDM ( Intelligent Dance Music ) and drum & bass. There are many sub-styles of those genres also but there are to many to list but maybe I will go into those in another hub. I will try to explain in my own words the different genres of electronica and list some popular artists of that particular style.

Techno:

I have a soft spot for techno not only because its my favorite style of electronica but also because it was born in Detroit, Michigan and so was I. Known as the innovators of techno, the Belleville 4 aka Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Eddie Folwkes started creating techno music in the early 1980's. Little did those guys know what impact and influence the music would have in the near future. Techno music has a BPM ( Beat per minute ) of anywhere from 130 BPM to 155 BPM. If you need a reference, the 70's disco music was usually at 120 BPM. Techno is also created in a 4/4 time measurement which is 4 quarter beats in 1 measure. Techno is created by using electronic synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers or hardware. But nowadays anybody with a computer and a basic understanding of music can create any kind of electronic dance music with music creation software such as Reason or Native Instruments. Techno is usually heavy with the drums, especially the bass kick and high hats. Voice samples and snippets heavy with effects also are very popular in techno music. You might be saying to yourself, " yeah, but it so repetitive!! ". That might be the case with most techno music but you have to remember that atechno track that is being used in a dj mix like it supposed to be, then the track only plays for 2-3 minutes. If the dj knows what he or she is doing, then a techno mix can be very exciting and intense at any volume. Here are some top artists for techno music.....

• Derrick May
• Juan Atkins
• Kevin Saunderson
• Eddie Fowlkes
• Richie Hawtin
• Adam Beyer
• The Advent
• Dave Clarke
• Carl Cox

House:

House Music came out of Chicago in the early to mid 1980's and was influenced by the disco music of the 70's. The beat per minute for house is anywhere from 115 BPM to 135 BPM and has been created with real instruments such as a piano or a bass guitar. But the majority of housemusic is created using electronic hardware and of course, computer music software as I said earlier. House is also made with funky and soulful lyrics and basslines but voice samples and snippets are used from time to time to add another funky element to the music. There are also many sub-styles to house music but are too numerous to list and explain them all. Here is a list of popular artists in house music........

• Frankie Knuckles
• Jesse Saunders
• Bad Boy Bill
• Richard " Humpty " Vision
• Chip-E
• Mr Fingers
• Jamie Principle
• DJ Pierre
• Adonis
• Farley Jackmaster Funk

Trance:

Frankfurt, Germany is the place believed to be the birthplace of trancemusic in the very early 1990's. Trancemusic has a tempo of anywhere from 130 BPM to 160 BPM and is also in a 4/4 beat measure. Melodic synthesizer phrases are used quite often in trance as are numerous build ups and breakdowns of the track. Voice phrases and samples are placed throughout the music to enhance the track. Computer software and electronic hardware like synthesizers, sequencers and samplers are used in the creation oftrance. So if you like your electronica with heavy analog synth lines and rolling snare build ups, then this is the genre for you. Here are some top artists for the trance genre......

• Paul Oakenfold
• Armand Van Buuren
• Tiesto
• Paul Van Dyke
• BT
• Ferry Corsten
• George Acosta
• Lange
• Christopher Lawrence

Drum & Bass:

Also known as " Jungle " Drum & Bass emerged from the underground of the UK breakbeat scene in the early 1990's. Drum & Bass is an offshoot of many styles and genres such as reggae, electro, hip hop and funk. The BPM is pretty fast, usually at anywhere from 150 BPM to 180 BPM. It is really more for listening like the IDM ( Intelligent dance music ) genre because of the speed and chaos of the drums and beat. The early form of Drum & Bass consisted of ragga vocals with broken beats and basslines and was known as " Jungle " in the UK underground scene. Later on in the 90's, the genre's name changed to Drum & Bassbut the djs were still known as " junglists ". But in the late 1990's, Drum & Bass broke out of the underground and became more mainstream. Nowadays, you hear Drum & Bass music everywhere you go including TV, movies and the radio. Drum & Bass is created from electronic music hardware and computer music software. One thing I always loved about Drum & Bass were the amazing and intense break downs that are incorporated into the track. Sometimes a MC will sing and rap along with a Drum & Bass dj set or live performance to add that extra " oommfffff' to the music. Don't get me wrong, it is possible to dance to Drum & Bass music but I like to just stand there and listen and bob my head to the beat. Here are some top artists for the Drum & Bass genre....

• Goldie
• Aphrodite
• Ed Rush & Optical
• Konflict
• A Guy Called Gerald
• Shy FX
• Adam F
• Bad Company
• LTJ Bukem

There are sooooooo many sub-styles and genres to these styles of electronic dance music that I mentioned above but like I said.....there is to many to list and describe but i will list just a few to peak your curiosity......

Techno:

• Acid
• Ghetto
• Minimal
• Schranz

House:

• Deep
• Hard
• Acid
• Tribal

Trance:

• Goa
• Acid
• Progressive
• Uplifting

Drum & Bass

• Darkstep
• Hardstep
• Jazzstep
• Ragga Jungle

That is only just a few and maybe I will write another hub about that later on but I hope this article can help you in trying to choose and listen to a particular style or genre of electronic dance music and knowing the details of each genre I mentioned above. I will add some helpful links and videos for your enjoyment. Thanks for reading.

Coz