Electronic music stands out as being one of the few genres which cannot be broken down into specific subgenres; rather it encompasses hundreds of subgenres under its umbrella and offers an astonishingly complex landscape filled with variations within each category.
Hip Hop House music fuses euro dance music with American pop and R&B vocals, creating a head-nodding rhythm often featuring large shows of bass design wizardry.
House
Electronic music is an expansive genre with numerous subgenres emerging within its folds. While some might mistakenly assume “electronic music” refers solely to computer-produced tracks, its definition encompasses much broader sounds produced with synthesizers. Over the last few decades, its popularity has skyrocketed, giving rise to new subgenres of synthesized sound; new synthesizers are being developed regularly as new synthesized sounds emerge; creating diverse styles including glitch music, avant garde music, and ambient sounds among many more!
House music originated in Chicago during the 1970s as an electronic dance genre, rising from disco’s ashes and becoming one of the most beloved forms of the genre today. House is best known for its four-to-the-floor beat, which has become synonymous with dancing; its bass lines, keyboards and smooth pads often contain chord extensions and voicings from jazz music; drumbeats usually utilize Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines to provide its signature rhythmic percussion sound; modern artists such as Deadmau5 and Manix use house tracks within their tracks to their tracks.
Trance music originated in Detroit at about the same time as house music. It has various forms such as deep house, progressive house and breakbeat with an ideal BPM range of 115-125 BPM for optimal listening experiences. Trance features melodic anthemic vocals in addition to energetic club beats.
Hardcore music originated in the UK, Germany, and Netherlands during the early 90s. Characterized by distorted sawtooth kicks and synthesized basslines with distinctive tones that set it apart from other genres; its tempo usually falls between 160-200 BPM.
Electro
Techno is perhaps the best-known subgenre of electro, having first emerged in Detroit during the 1980s before rapidly spreading around the world. Characterized by a four-on-the-floor beat and use of drum machines such as Roland TR-808 drum machines, techno was popularized by artists such as Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Giorgio Moroder who used these drum machines to craft synth-heavy futuristic music using TR-808.
Electro is generally instrumental, although when vocals are used they tend to be delivered in a deadpan style using electronic distortion such as vocoders or speech synthesis. Most modern electro uses computerized sound effects to make beats sound heavier and distorted; giving this genre its characteristic aggressive sound.
One of the more recent subgenres of electro is Dubstep, combining Jamaican “dub” reggae beats with syncopated house and techno bass lines to produce an infectious head-nodding rhythm. Dubstep often features heavy wobble bass notes which distinguish it from other genres of dance music – although there is also an electronic form known as Glitch Hop which has been pioneered by artists like Aphex Twin and Autechre.
Other popular electro genres include Electro House, which blends energetic techno bass lines with catchy pop melodies and bright sounds to form an entertaining style of music; Tropical House (popularized by artists such as Kygo) blends tropical sounds with house drum patterns for an intoxicating yet relaxing sound; Vaporwave has also gained widespread acclaim since it originated solely online as an internet meme genre mocking consumer culture;
Techno
Techno is an influential genre of electronic music that can be found worldwide at dance clubs and festivals, providing an energetic burst to your soul while its experimental vibes spark your creative side. Additionally, its mind-bending sounds may help relieve anxiety; listening to techno is like active meditation that allows you to forget about everyday stresses for a while.
Detroit techno is one of the original forms of techno music and is associated with DJs such as Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Cybotron from Detroit. It features basslines, drum machines, synthesizers and vocal samples; sometimes jazzy chords may even appear!
Techno was initially inspired by disco and computer-based music from Europe and Japan, which combined disco’s melodies with computerized beats to produce hard-hitting, synthetic beats that focused on synthetic sounds instead of piano playing or gospel singing like house did. DJs could quickly create tracks using Roland TR-909 drum machines which enabled DJs to quickly produce music tracks quickly.
Techno is an umbrella genre with numerous subgenres each having their own distinct sound and style. Deep and Progressive House are two popular subgenres of techno, often having slower tempos than Chicago or Acid House. Other subgenres of techno include minimal techno, Detroit techno and Hard Techno; all three of these subgenres feature hypnotic beats in 4-on-the-floor rhythm and pads and basses produced from classic synthesizers such as Minimoog or Jupiter-8 synths – artists such as Celldweller or Blue Stahli play this genre of electronic music.
Hardstyle
EDM music encompasses many subgenres to explore. One such subgenre is hardstyle, which originated in the Netherlands in the early 2000s and features energetic jumps and arm movements as well as buildups and drops designed to create anticipation. Furthermore, hardstyle often features vocals which range from upbeat and welcoming to dark and aggressive – another subgenre popularly explored within EDM.
Hardstyle music evolved out of gabber and old hardcore styles, but also draws influence from hard house, hard trance, drum and bass and other genres such as drum and bass. Some hallmarks of hardstyle include its distinctive offbeat kick drum sound with reverse bass notes and vocal samples; its beat per minute typically falls within 150-1600 BPM which makes it faster than most EDM genres.
Like any thriving genre, hardstyle has evolved into a variety of subgenres. These include melodic hardstyle which includes emotional vocal rifts; rawstyle which emphasizes aggressive basslines; and dubstyle which blends wobbly bass lines with rhythmic intensity of hardstyle.
Hardstyle hybrids include psystyle and hard dance jumpstyle, which combine the sounds of hardstyle with other genres. Psystyle, for instance, blends psytrance with hardstyle’s screechy influences while rawstyle remains unchanged; hard dance jumpstyle is more modern form using faster beats and complex footwork.
As such, hardstyle has earned itself a wide audience and is a pivotal element of electronic dance music culture. The genre boasts its own special culture and fan base. Ravers have taken to it passionately while festivals across the world feature its music.
Reggaeton
Reggaeton originated as Jamaican dance music but has seen widespread adoption across Latin America in recent years. It is distinguished by a signature skank rhythm used in ska and rocksteady genres as well as American jazz, rhythm & blues influences and is typically performed at slower beat than rap music sung entirely in Spanish.
This genre of music typically incorporates acoustic instruments like drums, guitars and percussion while also employing synths for sound creation. Furthermore, hip hop lyrics may often feature in its songs.
This genre features a BPM range from 60 to 95 and serves as an amusing satirical commentary on early computer ads and internet culture, using ambient, lounge, and smooth jazz influences to craft its unique soundscape.
Development of Puerto Rican reggae was propelled forward by the success of artists like Daddy Yankee and others from Puerto Rico. Their albums such as El Regreso De La Bola and Te Imagino made reggaeton an international phenomenon.
However, it encountered strong opposition from the government due to its sexually explicit content and stereotypical depictions of race and ethnicity. Music videos featuring its songs were subjected to censorship while some radio stations even banned this genre from broadcast.
Reggaeton remains popular today among Latino youth and is becoming more mainstream across America; with catchy lyrics and hip-swinging music that ensure its growth.
Reggaeton’s popularity has lead to its crossover into other music styles, most notably RnB which utilizes its beat and features female artists singing it. Common topics covered include love, family and social issues but can sometimes touch upon more controversial subjects like gang life and machismo.