DJ-created dance club music varies significantly by genre – techno, trance, bass music and others all fall under this genre umbrella.
Beats Per Minute (BPM) measures the tempo of a song.
Distortion – Distortion is a sonic effect which adds extra harmonics to sound waves, typically for more full or aggressive soundscapes. There are various forms of distortion like tube, overdrive and tape distortion available for use.
1. EDM
Electronic music boasts an ever-expanding list of genres and sub-genres. New sounds emerge regularly that challenge what came before; while this splintering has given birth to some amazing innovations, labeling these sounds has become more difficult than ever.
As part of their effort to market these sounds to potential audiences, many labels began using “EDM” as an umbrella term to represent all forms of electronic dance music. This encompassed historical styles like electro, techno and trance as well as emerging ones such as big room, trap and hardstyle; making EDM an easy-to-market term that seemed to work effectively.
However, EDM as a catchall has caused considerable tension within the dance music community. Some producers and DJs have voiced their dislike of it as a corporate way to lump all styles together into one umbrella category that disregards distinctions such as Avicii’s singalong melodic trance track “Believer”, Carl Cox’s taunting techno tracks or Skrillex’s destructive dubstep tracks.
Electronic dance music production relies on reliable tools. Both hardware and software play an essential role; having enough processing power for the software you are using is paramount to producing great electronic dance music, with laptops often preferred due to their portability and convenient use on-the-go. For optimal performance it is advised that solid-state drives (SSD) be utilized.
2. Electronic
Electronic music encompasses many subgenres of digital sound processing technology – this could include computer-based audio editors, effect plugins or synthesizers.
Electronic instruments and hardware have long been utilized in musical production since their introduction during the late 1950s. Composers like Luening and Ussachevsky founded Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (CPEMC) in 1959 as one of the oldest centers for research on electronic and computer music in the US.
As time passed, famous musicians began incorporating electronic instruments into their work. For instance, famous groups such as Silver Apples or The Beatles started using oscillators and synthesizers in their psychedelic rock sound; during the 80s, bands like Yello or Alphaville introduced synthesizers into pop music genres and helped establish what is now called synth-pop genre.
Beat – The beat is the steady timing and rhythmic quality that runs through a song or piece, often measured in terms of its tempo. It serves as the cornerstone for all other sounds to build from.
Bass is a low, bassy sound often created using synths or sampled drums and found throughout electronic music genres. Bass can range from being driving and energetic, to subtly ambient depending on its style.
Equalisation) – Equalisation (EQ) is a popular audio processing plugin which alters frequency content across an entire spectrum, enabling you to enhance or reduce certain frequencies across the board – usually found in digital audio editors such as Ableton Live.
Glitch – Glitches are audio effects that take an audio clip and repeat it at random intervals to produce a glitchy, digitally distorted sound, providing extra depth and texture in tracks. They can add extra depth and character while adding some visual flair as well.
3. Ethnic
Ethnic is a broad term, and can mean different things depending on who is using the term. For instance, it could refer to any group with shared cultural or social backgrounds, as well as nationalities or regions that share them. Furthermore, ethnic music refers to music that stems from particular cultures – this term covers folk, classical, and religious music genres alike.
Music plays an essential role in communities of new immigrants. Ethnic music helps preserve a piece of the past while giving meaning to today. Aside from traditional ethnocentric views on ethnicity, there are now other more modern perspectives such as primordialism, essentialism and perennialism – with this latter theory maintaining that specific ethnic groups have existed throughout history.
Researchers contend that ethnicity is fluid and evolving. This may be partly attributed to global migration patterns as people cross boundaries; and to postethnic cultures that emerge.
In our study, we asked participants to define what made up an ethnic group (EG). Most respondents (90%) included references to beliefs/values/morals when answering. Nearly 10% of Poles included an answer which suggested an EG could be defined as a community with similar interests, suggesting a more modern perspective could replace traditional ethnonationalism discourse.
Mexicans tend to include culture and traditions when discussing ethnic groupings (EG). Furthermore, some mention common language usage or geographical location as characteristics of an EG. Such findings demonstrate how ethnicity can be an ever-evolving concept.
4. Techno
Techno is one of the world’s most beloved forms of electronic music, boasting millions of fans around the world. It has strong connections to underground music scenes and has often been considered experimental and avant-garde. Techno has also gained great traction in club culture – often dancers move to its rhythm while listening to it play in clubs. Techno stands out with its distinctive sound which blends various musical genres; from dark industrial elements, through melodic soulful sounds all the way to its unique signature sound – one can find all these features and more in its unique sound alone!
Techno’s origins may be hard to pinpoint, but certain early pioneers were influential. Of particular note is Juan Atkins and Rik Davis of Cybotron who in 1981 released “Alleys of Your Mind”. Other Detroit techno tracks like Inner City’s “Good Life” and Model 500’s “No UFOs” also helped define and popularise techno, providing inspiration to future producers like Jeff Mills, Hawtin and Carl Craig among many others.
Roland introduced their TR-909 drum machine around this time, and an abrupt shift occurred. Techno became more synthesizer-driven and started to incorporate elements such as funk, jazz and hip hop. Furthermore, its lyrics often explored futuristic themes which has been linked with Alvin Toffler’s Third Wave concept from late 70s.
Techno has evolved over the years into an expansive genre with numerous subgenres. However, its influence remains an essential element of electronic music culture. Listening to techno can change your body chemistry – scientific studies even show this!
5. House
House is an electronic dance music genre first popularised during the early 1980s. House is considered to be the direct descendant of disco, having its origins in warehouse clubs catering to gay, predominantly black and Latino patrons in New York City; later it sparked a British youth culture explosion when its psychedelic bass lines proved effective with MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine).
At its inception, house music involved DJs remixing popular disco recordings with deeper sub-bass lines and drum beat patterns generated by drum machines to produce more synthetic sounds. It typically has four-to-the-floor beats with claps or snares every second and fourth beat, open hi-hats on offbeats between kick drum hits, and often features soulful or funk vocals from its lead vocalist.
Musically, jazz tends to employ traditional chord progressions with more “spread” voicings that give an open, spacious sound rather than being strictly limited to lower register notes. Bass lines are an important aspect of jazz music and frequently include repeated patterns played on different notes for added interest. Chords may be harmonized using higher thirds than usual to prevent dissonance that may otherwise leave harmony sounding bland and lifeless.
DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation and serves as the cornerstone of modern studios, such as Ableton Live, FL Studio or Logic Pro. A DAW allows its user to record and play back MIDI notes, add effects and modify parameters before mixing songs that will ultimately be exported as MP3 or other file formats.