Dance Music 1985-present day

Dance Music 1985-present day

Dance Music through History

Pre 20th Century: Waltzes, Ballroom dancing, Chamber Orchestras, very FORMAL, set dance moves in large groups

Dance Music through History

Pre-war (pre 1940’s): American influence, Jazz bands/Swing bands, Couples dancing, quite formal, Set dance moves

Dance Music through History

1950’s Rock n’ Roll: Influence of rock n roll, electric instruments, Couples dancing, more risqu?, informal, couples making up their own moves

Dance Music through History

2000’s Nightclubbing: Individuals, individuality, solo dance moves, Drink and drug culture, hedonism

The Evolution of Dance

What has changed?

Why dance

A night out with friends

Recreational drug use

Meeting people of the opposite sex

Entertainment

Party or Special occasion

Exhibitionism – showing off!

Unwind after a hard week

Drinking

Dance Music Styles

House

Dubstep

Disco

Techno

Garage

Drum n Bass

Ambient/Chillout

Dance Music – Why Now

New technology

More permissive society

Wealthier ordinary people

New form of mass entertainment

Dance stops being formal And becomes informal

Hedonistic society (pleasure seeking)

Roots of Dance Music

Influence 1: Jamaican Music

Dub sound systems MC’s - (Microphone Controller or Master of Ceremonies)

Influence 2: Disco

1970’s USA Big nightclubs Light shows Costume/outfits Solo dance moves

Influence 3: Hip Hop

Black American Block Parties Turntables DJ’s Samples

Influence 4: Electronic Music

European Synthesizers Computers Futuristic

Dance Music

Q3. How is dance music constructed? Q4. What are the main differences between the styles of dance music?

How to construct Dance Music

Samples

Vocal or sound effects

Riff / Hook

Short repeating melody line

Chord Pad/ Ostinato

Smooth, held chords OR Repeating pattern of notes

Beat

Style dependent

Bassline

Low sounding, repetitive

House

The ‘original’ dance club music, came from the Warehouse Club in Chicago, USA. Happy, good time music with a steady, simple four-on-the-floor beat.

Samples

Vocals, often female. Often uses ‘real’ instruments.

Beat

Four on the Floor, lots of offbeat hi-hat work. 120bpm

Techno

Harder, faster, more aggressive music. Techno is designed for serious dancing, often to sound mechanical or futuristic. Doesn’t really use any ‘real’ instrument sounds.

Instruments

Lots of synthesized sounds, mechanical and futuristic.

Beat

Very fast aggressive Four on the Floor, 140bpm or higher.

Drum n Bass

Drum n Bass uses faster and more complex beats. Often, they are speeded up Hip-Hop beats. Tends to be minimal, just drums and bassline, with a few vocal samples, often male, in a rap/spoken style.

Instruments

Very few.

Beat

Very fast, complex sounding beats. 160bpm or higher.

UK Garage

UK garage borrows beats from hip hop and vocals from RnB. It chops the beats up to put gaps in, making it sound ‘jumpy’ and disjointed.

Samples

Lots of RnB female vocals.

Beat

Fast hip hop beats, cut up to sound jumpy and exciting. 120bpm upwards.

Ambient / Chillout

Created for clubbers who have a bit of a sore head the next morning! Very chilled, relaxing music, often sounds ‘spacey’ or has samples of natural sounds e.g. birds, water etc.

Samples

Natural sounds, birdsong, water etc.

Beat

Very slow, relaxing, spacey ambient sounds. >100bpm.

Structure in Dance Music

Mix In

Music fades in, or instruments introduced one by one.

Main Section

This is the main section, with all your main ideas in.

Breakdown

The song breaks down to it’s simplest parts – usually a bass drum beat and bassline.

Build-Up

After the breakdown, introduce the instruments one by one again.

Mix Out

The music fades out.

Q5

What technology and techniques are used in Dance Music? Q6. What is the key vocabulary in Dance Music?

Synthesizer

A synthesizer (or ‘synth’) is an electronic keyboard that makes its own sounds by combining sound waves.

Turntable

Turntables (or ‘decks’) are record players, used to allow DJ’s to mix records together.

A ‘mixer’ is the box in the middle of the decks.

Sampler

A sampler is a machine that records short ‘samples’ from other records and edits them.

Sequencer Program

A music sequencer is a computer program that records and edits music and samples.

Loop

The most common way to make dance music is to take a short sample and loop it, so it plays over and over again.

Time Stretch

Once your sample is in the sequencer software, you can play around with the tempo of it.

Retrigger

If you take a tiny sample and repeat it, it gives a stuttering effect.

Quantize

If your notes are out of time, you can use the Quantize button to fix them.

Reverb

Reverb is the sense of SPACE you get. Not to be confused with ECHO.

Pan

Pan is the movement of sound between the LEFT and RIGHT speakers.

Remix

A remix is changing the style of a song, using the song PLUS some new material.

Dubstep Remix of Coldplay

Chillout Remix of Madonna

Techno Remix of Rhianna

Key Vocabulary

Styles: House Techno Drum n Bass Garage Ambient Dubstep

Influences: Jamaican Music Disco Hip Hop Electronic Music

Technology: Synthesizer Turntables Mixer Sequencer Program Sampler

Techniques: Sample Loop Time-Stretch Quantize Reverb Pan Retrigger Remix