This journal’s articles investigate all facets of electronic dance music (EDM). These topics include its history, culture, production technologies and reception.
EDM’s rhythmic structures engage the body’s haptic senses through volume, bass frequencies and an abundance of percussive sounds – which also increase body awareness when listening to other genres. These characteristics also offer enhanced body experiences in other musical genres.
EDM History
Electronic music‘s roots can be traced back to the 1940s and 50s when pioneering artists such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Schaeffer, and Lev Sergeyevich Termen first began experimenting with tape loops and audio synthesizers. By using these instruments to compose avant-garde pieces that broke with conventional musical norms – known as musique concrete (or acousmatic art). Also during this era was created Theremin (an instrument played without physical contact) as well as Buchla and Moog synthesizers.
The 1980s witnessed an explosion of dance music popularity, with artists like Pet Shop Boys and Erasure producing hit songs combining synthpop with vocals – this eventually gave birth to genres such as acid house, techno and trance. Furthermore, DJ culture flourished across Europe: musicians would spin records in clubs, fitness centers, fields or warehouses across Europe.
Electronic music experienced an unprecedented boom during the 90s and 2000s, thanks to more advanced technologies like home computers and digital audio workstations (DAW). These enabled musicians to easily create their own beats and melodies resulting in more versatile and dynamic styles of music. Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, Aphex Twin became household names during this era due to these advancements.
Modern electronic music continues to flourish, with radio stations and websites dedicated to it. The genre has even become mainstream activity with many attending music festivals for an immersive musical experience. Research conducted in Journal of Humanistic Psychology discovered a relationship between EDM music and well-being.
Dancecult, a new open access journal dedicated to electronic dance music culture research, offers a platform for study of its multidisciplinary nature. Scholarly articles published here investigate its sites, technologies, sounds and cultures from both historical and contemporary perspectives; its multidisciplinary approach gives its readers unique insights into this genre’s evolving landscape.
EDM Culture
Modern music has evolved beyond being just an expressive outlet; it is also a major social force and cultural phenomenon. So it comes as no surprise that so many are drawn to electronic dance music (EDM). EDM has seen tremendous popularity over recent years and continues to gain fans from all corners of the globe, creating a vibrant global culture.
EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is a genre characterized by the use of electronic instruments and technologies to produce dance music, such as computer programs or hardware such as drum machines or synthesizers, creating dance tunes. EDM has quickly become an international sensation with fans hailing from all walks of life worldwide; EDM culture has helped shape both the music industry as a whole as well as youth culture at large.
Another prominent characteristic of EDM culture is its emphasis on community and belonging; this sets it apart from other genres of music which tend to emphasize individualism and self-gratification. EDM has become an integral part of contemporary culture as one of the world’s most influential genres thanks to this emphasis.
EDM culture is also marked by its use of cutting-edge technologies both on stage and in the studio. New tech allows producers to craft never-before-heard sounds while exploring unique approaches; plus dazzling lighting effects help provide an unforgettable multisensory experience that few other genres can match.
EDM’s expansion from a small underground subculture into mainstream industry had its own set of costs, as promoters had to adopt policies which ran contrary to rave culture ethos – such as disclosing event locations in advance, ticketing events with collected taxes, and prohibiting common paraphernalia such as pacifiers, glow sticks and neon clothing.
Participants in the study reported having various experiences at EDM events, but four themes emerged from their accounts: social experience, musical experience, emotional experience and shared values. Social experience included ease of sociability and feelings of belonging as well as reduced inhibitions that promoted mesmeric engagement with music.
EDM Production
Producing electronic music is an intricate process requiring both technical skill and creative acumen, which has made this genre one of the world’s most beloved musical forms. Furthermore, this growing field offers various career options as a producer, DJ or music industry professional; one which should only expand with new technological advances.
As with any creative project, electronic music production begins by finding inspiration and visualizing how a track will sound and structure. Once this initial vision has been set in stone, the next step involves selecting instruments and sounds to use; here lies true creativity as producers must find combinations that resonate with a wide audience.
Producers in this stage typically experiment with various soundscapes and effects to find what works best. The process can be daunting for new producers, who might become overwhelmed by all the available choices; but remembering that as more recordings are created over time will only make you better at your craft – another reason to work hard and never give up.
Once you reach the intermediate stage, your skills will accelerate dramatically. Here, you will begin to grasp how electronic music is created and how best to utilize your tools.
At this stage, it’s likely you will post your tracks to social media and begin building an audience. At the same time, this is also an ideal time for honing your mixing skills; EDM mixing differs significantly from mixing bluegrass tracks; making it challenging for beginners.
As soon as you reach an advanced stage of electronic music production, you’ll come to realize its limitless possibilities. While in the past expensive equipment was needed to produce electronic music, nowadays anyone with access to a laptop and some software can start producing electronic tunes – making the industry much more accessible than before!
EDM Reception
EDM events provide unconventional spaces where attendees can forge relationships both actively through dialogues with one another, as well as indirectly via shared memories of the event. Social interaction was the dominant overarching theme identified during our thematic analysis; participants described how easy it was for them to meet new people through events like these; numerous subthemes related to building friendship bonds were also identified – Alice shared how attending allowed her to deepen friendship bonds between her attendance companions.
Other subthemes related to escapism and inhibited behavior were also reported, often as a result of musical aesthetics at events; participants described how they could lose themselves in the music and become fully immersed in the moment; this may relate to Maslow (1962)’s concept of peak emotional states, with people often reporting feelings of euphoria during EDM events.
The final theme was feelings of belonging at the event, which were strongly impacted by musical aspects of it. Participants commented on how unique music at the event made them feel they belonged to an “exclusive” community; this correlation also corresponded positively with PWBS and SWBS scores as well as accounting for most variance in hierarchical regression analyses.
As this study highlighted the significance of musical experiences during EDM events, future research should examine these moments as they happen through optical motion tracking methodologies as implemented by Solberg & Jensenius (2016) to investigate social and emotional responses elicited by physical contact between bodies and sound systems. Furthermore, exploring how various genres of EDM affect these responses would also prove valuable in uncovering any variation depending on system structure.