Electronic Education Thread

djchameleon · 08-03-2009, 04:51 AM

I had to fix this grave error. I went looking for one and couldn't find one so I decided to do a little research. I will come back and edit it with suggestions from members that know other sub genres that i'm not familiar with.

Electronic

Reaching back to grab the grooves of '70s disco/funk and the gadgets of electronic composition, Electronic soon became a whole new entity in and of itself, spinning off new sounds and subgenres with no end in sight two decades down the pike. Its beginnings came in the post-disco environment of Chicago/New York and Detroit, the cities who spawned house and techno (respectively) during the 1980s. Later that decade, club-goers in Britain latched onto the fusion of mechanical and sensual, and returned the favor to hungry Americans with new styles like jungle/drum'n'bass and trip-hop. Though most all early electronic was danceable, by the beginning of the '90s, producers were also making music for the headphones and chill-out areas as well, resulting in dozens of stylistic fusions like ambient-house, experimental techno, tech-house, electro-techno, etc. Typical for the many styles gathered under the umbrella was a focus on danceable grooves, very loose song structure (if any), and, in many producers, a relentless desire to find a new sound no matter how tepid the results.

Grime

During the early 2000s, garage rap grew as an unavoidable mutation of 2-step garage, with the role of the MC elevated from support to star. Groups like So Solid Crew, Pay as U Go Cartel, Dem Lott and Nasty Crew (molded in part in the image of rap crews in the U.S.) surfaced as the popularity of the relatively R&B-based garage scene waned in popularity, but one-man-group the Streets was the style's biggest star. Grime, garage rap's younger sibling, was relatively jagged and aggressive - it's where the legacies of hardcore rap and hardcore techno collide -- and is sometimes downright punishing. Though Dizzee Rascal became a breakout star and received moderate print exposure in the U.S. during 2003 and 2004, the style thrived on white label releases and was best documented by the Run the Road compilation.

Examples : Sway , Kano, Dizzee Rascal, The Streets

Broken Beat

More a scene centered in West London than an easily fenced-in sound, broken beat looks as far back to '70s Jazz-Funk and Dub Reggae while also containing germs from '80s and '90s movements like house, techno, drum'n'bass, and contemporary R&B. Unlike the polite tendencies of acid jazz -- a movement of the '80s and '90s that also blended several styles -- broken beat takes its inspirations as mere launching points and often utilizes frenetic, syncopated beat structures that sound sputtery and stuttered more often than they sound straightforward. Vocalists, predominantly female, feature in many of the tracks, all of which are bold, bright, and -- for the most part -- full of rhythmic tension. Keyboards are another major factor, often taking cues from the likes of George Duke and Herbie Hancock. Immediately after its late-'90s germination, broken beat underwent a fast growth throughout West London. Several labels (2000 Black, Bitasweet, People, Co-Op, Laws of Motion, Main Squeeze) were started by producers -- producers who often worked under several aliases. The fact that the scene was heavily reliant upon collaborations made the style's family tree all the more difficult to diagram. Outposts have since developed in several other countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

Ambient

Ambient music evolved from the experimental electronic music of '70s synth-based artists like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk, and the trance-like techno dance music of the '80s. Ambient is a spacious, electronic music that is concerned with sonic texture, not songwriting or composing. It's frequently repetitive and it all sounds the same to the casual listener, even though there are quite significant differences between the artists. Ambient became a popular cult music in the early '90s, thanks to ambient-techno artists like the Orb and Aphex Twin.

Examples: Orbital, The Orb, Shplonge, Groove Armada

Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic music that has its roots in London's early 2000s UK garage scene. Musically, dubstep is distinguished by its 2step rhythm, or use of snare sounds similar to 2step garage and grime, and an emphasis on bass, often producing "dark" sounds, but just as frequently producing sounds reminiscent of dub reggae or funky US garage. Dubstep tracks are generally produced at a tempo of around 140 beats per minute and in recent years have developed signature half time rhythms, often heavily shuffled or syncopated, and usually, though not exclusively, including only one snare drum hit per bar, often on the third beat. Such factors make dubstep rhythms markedly different from four-to-the-floor rhythms used in other styles of electronic dance music such as house music, which usually have two snare hits accompanying the second and fourth kick drum. Often, the sense of rhythm in dubstep is propelled more by the bassline than by the percussive content.
The earliest dubstep releases, which date back to 1999, were darker, more experimental, instrumental dub remixes of 2-step garage tracks attempting to incorporate the funky elements of breakbeat, or the dark elements of drum and bass into 2-step, which featured as B-sides of single releases. In 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted at London's club night Forward>>, which went on to be considerably influential to the development of dubstep. The term "dubstep" in reference to a genre of music began to be used by around 2002, by which time stylistic trends used in creating these remixes started to become more noticeable and distinct from 2-step and grime.
Dubstep started to spread beyond small local scenes in late 2005 and early 2006; many websites devoted to the genre appeared on the Internet and thus aided the growth of the scene, such as dubstepforum, the download site Barefiles and blogs such as gutterbreakz. Simultaneously, the genre was receiving extensive coverage in music magazines such as The Wire and online publications such as Pitchfork Media, with a regular feature entitled The Month In: Grime/Dubstep. Interest in dubstep grew significantly after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs started championing the genre, beginning with a show devoted to it (entitled "Dubstep Warz") in January 2006.

Examples: Digital Mystiks, D1, Skream, Elemental, Flying Lotus, Search & Destroy, Boxcutter

08-03-2009, 04:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
djchameleon A.B.N. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: NY baby Posts: 11,455	Electronic Education Thread I had to fix this grave error. I went looking for one and couldn't find one so I decided to do a little research. I will come back and edit it with suggestions from members that know other sub genres that i'm not familiar with. Electronic Reaching back to grab the grooves of '70s disco/funk and the gadgets of electronic composition, Electronic soon became a whole new entity in and of itself, spinning off new sounds and subgenres with no end in sight two decades down the pike. Its beginnings came in the post-disco environment of Chicago/New York and Detroit, the cities who spawned house and techno (respectively) during the 1980s. Later that decade, club-goers in Britain latched onto the fusion of mechanical and sensual, and returned the favor to hungry Americans with new styles like jungle/drum'n'bass and trip-hop. Though most all early electronic was danceable, by the beginning of the '90s, producers were also making music for the headphones and chill-out areas as well, resulting in dozens of stylistic fusions like ambient-house, experimental techno, tech-house, electro-techno, etc. Typical for the many styles gathered under the umbrella was a focus on danceable grooves, very loose song structure (if any), and, in many producers, a relentless desire to find a new sound no matter how tepid the results. Grime During the early 2000s, garage rap grew as an unavoidable mutation of 2-step garage, with the role of the MC elevated from support to star. Groups like So Solid Crew, Pay as U Go Cartel, Dem Lott and Nasty Crew (molded in part in the image of rap crews in the U.S.) surfaced as the popularity of the relatively R&B-based garage scene waned in popularity, but one-man-group the Streets was the style's biggest star. Grime, garage rap's younger sibling, was relatively jagged and aggressive - it's where the legacies of hardcore rap and hardcore techno collide -- and is sometimes downright punishing. Though Dizzee Rascal became a breakout star and received moderate print exposure in the U.S. during 2003 and 2004, the style thrived on white label releases and was best documented by the Run the Road compilation. Examples : Sway , Kano, Dizzee Rascal, The Streets Broken Beat More a scene centered in West London than an easily fenced-in sound, broken beat looks as far back to '70s Jazz-Funk and Dub Reggae while also containing germs from '80s and '90s movements like house, techno, drum'n'bass, and contemporary R&B. Unlike the polite tendencies of acid jazz -- a movement of the '80s and '90s that also blended several styles -- broken beat takes its inspirations as mere launching points and often utilizes frenetic, syncopated beat structures that sound sputtery and stuttered more often than they sound straightforward. Vocalists, predominantly female, feature in many of the tracks, all of which are bold, bright, and -- for the most part -- full of rhythmic tension. Keyboards are another major factor, often taking cues from the likes of George Duke and Herbie Hancock. Immediately after its late-'90s germination, broken beat underwent a fast growth throughout West London. Several labels (2000 Black, Bitasweet, People, Co-Op, Laws of Motion, Main Squeeze) were started by producers -- producers who often worked under several aliases. The fact that the scene was heavily reliant upon collaborations made the style's family tree all the more difficult to diagram. Outposts have since developed in several other countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Ambient Ambient music evolved from the experimental electronic music of '70s synth-based artists like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk, and the trance-like techno dance music of the '80s. Ambient is a spacious, electronic music that is concerned with sonic texture, not songwriting or composing. It's frequently repetitive and it all sounds the same to the casual listener, even though there are quite significant differences between the artists. Ambient became a popular cult music in the early '90s, thanks to ambient-techno artists like the Orb and Aphex Twin. Examples: Orbital, The Orb, Shplonge, Groove Armada Dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic music that has its roots in London's early 2000s UK garage scene. Musically, dubstep is distinguished by its 2step rhythm, or use of snare sounds similar to 2step garage and grime, and an emphasis on bass, often producing "dark" sounds, but just as frequently producing sounds reminiscent of dub reggae or funky US garage. Dubstep tracks are generally produced at a tempo of around 140 beats per minute and in recent years have developed signature half time rhythms, often heavily shuffled or syncopated, and usually, though not exclusively, including only one snare drum hit per bar, often on the third beat. Such factors make dubstep rhythms markedly different from four-to-the-floor rhythms used in other styles of electronic dance music such as house music, which usually have two snare hits accompanying the second and fourth kick drum. Often, the sense of rhythm in dubstep is propelled more by the bassline than by the percussive content. The earliest dubstep releases, which date back to 1999, were darker, more experimental, instrumental dub remixes of 2-step garage tracks attempting to incorporate the funky elements of breakbeat, or the dark elements of drum and bass into 2-step, which featured as B-sides of single releases. In 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted at London's club night Forward>>, which went on to be considerably influential to the development of dubstep. The term "dubstep" in reference to a genre of music began to be used by around 2002, by which time stylistic trends used in creating these remixes started to become more noticeable and distinct from 2-step and grime. Dubstep started to spread beyond small local scenes in late 2005 and early 2006; many websites devoted to the genre appeared on the Internet and thus aided the growth of the scene, such as dubstepforum, the download site Barefiles and blogs such as gutterbreakz. Simultaneously, the genre was receiving extensive coverage in music magazines such as The Wire and online publications such as Pitchfork Media, with a regular feature entitled The Month In: Grime/Dubstep. Interest in dubstep grew significantly after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs started championing the genre, beginning with a show devoted to it (entitled "Dubstep Warz") in January 2006. Examples: Digital Mystiks, D1, Skream, Elemental, Flying Lotus, Search & Destroy, Boxcutter Last edited by djchameleon; 08-10-2009 at 08:23 AM.