A few thousand people dancing at Kyiv raves, festivals or parties is already commonplace. But how many of them really know electronic music, know something besides techno, and can distinguish one genre from another (let’s say, IDM from UK Garage). Do you go to such events, but are afraid to admit that you don’t know electronic music? Or maybe you’re sure that you’ll give the electronic musicians a head start?
HOUSE
For house we have to thank the clubs of Chicago. There, in the 1980s, musicians with the help of drum machines and synthesizers created new music exclusively for dancing. According to one version, the genre was named after the club WareHouse, in which DJ Frankie Knuckles mixed the classic disco with European synth-pop, adding beats made on a drum machine Roland 909. And the first house track is considered to be the composition On and On Tracks by Jesse Saunders.
For house is characterized by a straight beat and speed of 118-135 beats per minute (BPM), and its basis – bright and beautiful passages, major chords and simple, but catchy melodies. Already since the 1990s, house began to be divided into different sub-styles. All of its directions are recognized by the disco rhythm 4×4, expressive keyboard parts and sometimes vocals. House is softer and more melodic than techno. And the arrival of one of the leaders of the German electronic scene Christian Leffler to Kyiv is a good opportunity to be convinced of the versatility of house.
TECHNO
The word “techno”, which often mistakenly refers to all electronic music, first appeared more than 40 years ago in Berlin: a store owner grouped records of early synth artists (Kraftwerk, Neu!, Klaus Schulze) under the sign Tekno. That is why the term “techno” is sometimes mistakenly used as a generic term, referring to electronic music in general.
But the birthplace of techno is considered American Detroit. In the second half of the 1980s, local teenagers, under the influence of German bands, began to create their own music on synthesizers. Techno is the brother of house music, which uses all the same elements, but is characterized by a faster tempo. Techno is dark, austere and mechanical. As one of its founders Juan Atkins said, “It’s music that sounds like technology. It is also characterized by a 4×4 rhythm and a speed of 120-150 BPM.
ELECTRO
First there was electro funk, which originated in the 1970s in New York City. It is, as you guessed from the name, a late version of funk music that uses synthesizers and effects. But the birth of electro was inspired by hip-hop and rap influenced by bands like Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). The first electro tracks sounded like James Brown’s music was overlaid with a broken drum beat and the sounds of lasers.
The defining characteristics of the genre are broken rhythms, dominant synth lines and rhythm sections created on a Roland TR-808 drum machine. The vocals in the electro tracks have a robotic sound or are distorted by effects.
TRANS
Trance appeared on the British rave scene in the late 1980s, continued its active development in Germany, and then spread all over Europe as a more melodic offshoot of techno. It focuses on melody more than any other genre of electronic music, and its recognizability is provided by pronounced synth melodies, which always form its core. And the name itself expresses its main goal: to hypnotize and put the listener in a trance state.
This music is characterized by the tempo between 110-150 BPM, the repetition of melodic phrases and the musical form that creates tension throughout the entire track.
DRAM-N-BASS
Drum ‘n’ bass was a phenomenon of the mid-1990s, an offshoot of the product of the British rave scene. Heavy, broken hardcore beats were chopped and glued together to create a new accelerated rhythm. Initially, this music was represented by two different styles, and later merged into one: on the one hand, there was a softer, more rational approach to rhythm, and on the other hand, an emotional approach, the voice of the generation, influenced by the appropriate tempo and rage (jungle). Drum’n’bass was part of the western, more “sophisticated” culture of London, while jungle was played in the clubs of east London. Over time, these genres merged into one musical movement.
Along with the maximal rhythm (160-180 BPM), the main focus of drum’n’bass tracks is on drums and hard bass line.