| Relationships |
|
|
|
| Parents |
MusicalWork |
A Work intended to be perceivable as a combination of sounds, with or without accompanying
text.
|
| Children |
AcidHouse |
Lively, quirky, mid-tempo, and defined by the unique “acid” squelching sounds of the
Roland TB-303, produced by modulation of its filter resonance and filter cut-off.
Developed in the mid-1980s by Chicago house DJs.
|
| |
AcidTechno |
Prominently features the 'squelching' sounds of synthesizers such as the Roland TB-303,
like its predecessor acid house. Different from acid house in the same ways that techno
is different from house - it has faster tempos and is dark, driving, and hypnotic,
opposed to house’s more upbeat, soulful feel.
|
| |
Ambient |
Foregrounds tone and atmosphere over structure and rhythm. Repetitive and slow-paced.
It is meant to be able to be listened to both actively and passively. Emerged in the
1960s and 1970s in the United Kingdom, and the style was first described as 'ambient'
by ambient music pioneer Brian Eno in 1978.
|
| |
AmbientHouse |
Fusion of ambient music and house music that emerged in the United Kingdom in the
late 1980s. Features 4-on-the-floor beats, vocal samples and atmospheric synth pads.
Prominent practitioners include The Orb and Aphex Twin.
|
| |
Bassline |
Inspired by the pop sound and strong basslines of 2-step garage, but utilizing four-on-the-floor
rhythms at tempos around 135-142 BPM. Bassline became popular around Sheffield/Leeds,
United Kingdom in the early 2000s.
|
| |
BigBeat |
Characterized by distorted, compressed breakbeats, moderate tempos (i.e. 120 to 140
BPM), intense, distorted bass lines, acid house-style synthesizer patterns, and heavy
loops from 60s and 70s funk, jazz, rock, and pop songs, often punctuated with punk-style
vocals. Other common elements include crescendos, builds, drops, dramatic sound effects
such as explosions or sirens, and extended drum rolls. As with other contemporary
electronic dance genres, the use of effects such as cut-off, phasing, and flanging
is pervasive. Emerged in the late 1980s and enjoyed mainstream success throughout
the 1990s and early 2000s. Well-known acts include The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers,
and Fatboy Slim.
|
| |
BreakbeatGenre |
Prominently features drum breaks sampled from earlier funk, jazz, and R&B recordings.
First emerged as a distinct phenomenon among American hip-hop DJs in the 1970s.
|
| |
BrokenBeat |
Consists of stilted or 'broken' staccato drum machine rhythms and drum break samples
along with heavy basslines. The music is typically described as soulful, and it sometimes
contains keyboards and vocals that are reminiscent of both jazz and soul music. Emerged
in London in the 1990s.
|
| |
ChicagoHouse |
Earliest form of house music. Developed in Chicago from the mid to late 1980s, and
characterized by an upbeat, pointed, driving, and straight but syncopated musical
arrangement. Contains a four-on-the-floor rhythmic core alongside syncopated, lively
hi-hat and snare drum patterns (including frequent snare drum roll break downs), simple
bass-lines, textured synth pads, thematic synth stabs and arpeggiation. Vocal question
and answer techniques frequently alternate between a featured R&B vocalist and spoken
lyrical motifs, either performed by an emcee or made up of sampled vocal phrases.
All other variants of house, save for garage house, are effectively descendants of
this style.
|
| |
DeepHouse |
Relatively laid-back, melancholic, and down-tempo (110-125 bpm). Characterized by
a hypnotic sound featuring continuously evolving motifs and few dynamic shifts. Features
characteristically sparse arrangements which often contain harmonic ostinatos outlining
jazz chord colors and simplified drum machine patterns with soft kick drum sounds
and short, subtle hi-hat patterns. Typically involves overt usage of production techniques
such as reverb, delay, and filtering.
|
| |
DetroitHouse |
Particularly Afrocentric, subtle, and groovy strain of house that often avoids the
standard 4-on-the-floor rhythm prevalent in most house music. Key artists include
Theo Parrish and Moodymann.
|
| |
DetroitTechno |
Funky and robotic. Techno’s embryonic form. Essentially a darker, faster, and more
futuristic variant of early Chicago house. George Clinton meets Kraftwerk. Birthed
in Detroit, Michigan by the Belleville Three: Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick
May, and prominent from the mid-1980s through the early 90s. Music in this style is
not necessarily from Detroit producers, though the vast majority of it is.
|
| |
DigitalHardcore |
High-tempo, abrasive, piercing, and distorted dance music that finds the common thread
in the speed, heaviness and attitude of hardcore punk, industrial rock, and aggressive
electronic styles such as techno and drum and bass. Some bands such as Atari Teenage
Riot incorporate rapping and other elements of hip-hop. Electric guitar is common
and is played in conjunction with samplers, synthesizers and drum machines, and occasionally
supported by traditional electric bass guitars and acoustic drum kits. Vocals are
more often shouted than sung, and often by more than one member of the group.
|
| |
Downtempo |
Laid-back, dreamy, and hypnotic electronic music. Usually contains a beat, but is
slower and gentler than music intended for dance.
|
| |
DrillNBass |
Uptempo music defined by extremely frantic, aggressive, pointed, intricate, syncopated
and complex, often metrically irregular drums programmed to sound like rapid drum
breaks combined with abstract, mechanical, spherical and often pointed and syncopated
synthesizer lines which outline a minimal harmonic and melodic structure. Developed
in the mid-1990s in the UK as stylistic mixture of IDM, drum n bass, breakbeat, and
jungle.
|
| |
DrumNBass |
Driving, uptempo (i.e. 160-180 BPM), breakbeat-based electronic dance music. Features
intricate, pointed breakbeat drum sequencing coupled with deep, powerful sub-bass
basslines. Melodic elements are similarly complexly sequenced and usually feature
many effects. Vocals are relatively uncommon, though when present, are often reminiscent
of the soulful vocal elements of house music. Beats are generally simple, fast, and
repetitive.
|
| |
Drumstep |
Fusion of drum and bass and dubstep. Typically in the 160-180 BPM range, like drum
and bass, but with a halftime feel, like dubstep, so it feels slower than drum and
bass. It features the drum breaks of drum and bass along with the wobble bass of dubstep.
|
| |
DubstepUK |
Dark, halftime and uptempo (i.e. 138-142 BPM). Characterized by sub-bass wobble bass
lines (created by modulating the filter cutoff and envelope attack) juxtaposed against
drum patterns that include a straight ahead kick drum pattern frequently syncopated
in turnarounds. Build ups and breakdowns are common. Mostly instrumental, though sinjaying,
rapping and R&B-style singing occasionally show up. Originated in South London in
the late 1990s. Highly influenced by 2-step and dub reggae, with lesser influence
from other genres such as jungle, broken beat, and grime. Standout artists include
Burial and Kode 9.
|
| |
DubstepUS |
American spin-off of UK dubstep. Features aggressive robotic sounds and synthesized
growling bass.
|
| |
Dubtronica |
Consists of repetitive electronic beats played in a downbeat manner. Highly influenced
by dub reggae. It is much slower in speed than techno and generally warmer than dance-oriented
electronica. Some tracks employ reggae toasters or singers to produce a more accessible
form of the music.
|
| |
DutchHouse |
Characterized by complex percussion and drum beats, dramatic buildups, and short riffs
of high-pitched synths. Emerged in the Netherlands in 2006.
|
| |
EBM |
Industrial music infused with lighter forms of electronic music. More danceable and
melodic than industrial. Lively, dark, synthetic, mechanical and mid-tempo (i.e. 128
BPM). Makes use of four-on-the-floor and rock-like syncopated kick drum patterns fused
with bright and repetitive arpeggiating synthesizers. Vocals are either clean or only
slightly distorted, and are often made up of talk-singing, growls and shouts. The
name was coined by Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk to describe the group’s album The Man-Machine,
and the style came to prominence in the 1980s in Germany and Belgium.
|
| |
Electro |
Funk, boogie and electropop-influenced style of electronic music that largely emerged
in NYC’s early 1980s hip-hop culture. Features heavy use of synthesizers and drum
machines, particularly the Roland TR-808, which are programmed to emulate funk grooves.
Kick drums are syncopated and snares or claps accent the backbeat. Vocals are often
absent, and when present, are typically presented deadpan and through vocoders or
talkboxes. Seminal recordings include Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and Hashim’s
“Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)”.
|
| |
ElectroHouse |
Robotic, pointed, playful, lively and mid to uptempo (i.e. 125 to 140 BPM). Incorporates
heavy bass, minimal, processed four-on-the-floor beats, melodically rich synth leads
and anthemic, trance-like harmonic progressions. A fusion of electro and house. Example
tracks include Benny Benassi's 'Satisfaction' and Knife Party's 'Antidote'.
|
| |
ElectronicaEclectic |
Electronica/Eclectic is an umbrella term used to describe the emergence of Electronic
Dance Music increasingly geared to listening instead of strictly dancing (i.e. Post
Club Music), Electronica is normally considered more intelligent than dance music.
The music is more about using technology to create unusual sounds, melodies and heavily
processed drums (often in patterns where the same bar is never repeated requiring
painstaking programming). These elements are crafted into an intricate and some times
emotive piece of music. The results are usually closer ambient and experimental music
than they are to dance music.
|
| |
Eurodance |
Combines elements of techno, trance, Hi-NRG & Euro disco. Typically between 110-150
BPM. Characterized by euphoric, melodic synthesizer riffs, catchy hooks, female vocals
and occasional male rapping. Like most styles informed by house, it features strong
four-on-the-floor kick drum patterns and has a cheerful mood. Often in a minor key,
with contrasting, positive lyrics. Originated in the late 1980s in Europe.
|
| |
ExperimentalElectronic |
Electronic music that pushes boundaries. |
| |
FrenchHouse |
Groove-oriented, anthemic, and mid-tempo (i.e. 110-130 bpm). Combines four-on-the-floor
kick drums with filter cut-off & phaser effects and classic disco samples and traits.
Exemplified by groups such as Daft Punk and AIR.
|
| |
FutureGarage |
Combines off-kilter rhythms from 2-step garage with synth pads and other dark atmospheric
elements. The style came out of the UK in the mid 2000s.
|
| |
Gabba |
Driving, aggressive, and frantic uptempo (i.e. 160 to 220 BPM) derivative of hardcore
techno. Characteristically loud and often aggressive. Uses a driving and wildly distorted
four-on-the-floor Roland TR-909 kick drum pattern, often overdriven to the point where
it becomes a square wave and makes a recognizably melodic tone. It usually has either
a scary or a happy mood. Vocal delivery is aggressive and rough. The hoover sound
is prominent - a distorted, grainy, sweeping sound which when played on a low key
can create a dark and brooding bass line. Alternatively, when played at higher pitches
the hoover becomes an aggressive, shrieking lead. Faster tracks often apply extremely
fast hoover patterns.
|
| |
GarageHouse |
Draws influence from various styles of R&B, featuring soulful vocals, piano riffs,
and stylistic imitation and sampling of disco records. Developed in the 1980s in New
York City and New Jersey around the same time as house initially developed in Chicago.
While similar to the Chicago style, garage house is typically more vocal-led.
|
| |
Glitch |
Uses and emulates sounds created by malfunctioning digital technology - bugs, crashes,
system errors, hardware noise, CD skipping, and digital distortion. Pointed, robotic,
mechanical and somewhat hectic. Modern glitch tends to use software to recreate these
sounds rather than capturing the sound of defective technology itself. The increased
ease of creating glitch elements has resulted in the style expanding out into other
genres, such as glitch pop and glitch hop.
|
| |
HappyHardcore |
Driving, happy, four-on-the-floor, uptempo (i.e. 160-180 BPM) derivative of hardcore
techno. Distinguished from the highly similar gabba by its extremely quirky and happy
emotional energy paired with solo vocals which are often cheerful and sometimes dreamy
and sentimental.
|
| |
HardTrance |
Blend of typical trance structure and elements such as melodic lead synths with harder,
driving kick drums and resonant, sometimes offbeat bass lines. Tempo are higher than
other forms of trance, varying from 140-180 BPM. Developed amongst the hardcore breakbeat
production community in early 1990s Western Europe.
|
| |
Hardcore |
Characterized by fast tempos (160 BPM and up), intense kicks, synthesized bass, saturation
and distortion, similar to industrial music. Prominent in the late 1980s and early
1990s.
|
| |
HardcoreBreakbeat |
Upbeat, driving music that features 4-on-the-floor kick drum rhythms, breakbeats,
and shuffled drum machine patterns alongside synths and short fragments of vocal samples.
Derivative genre of acid house and techno that emerged in the UK in the late 80s and
which remained popular through the early 1990s before fragmenting into jungle music
and happy hardcore.
|
| |
Hardstyle |
Mixture of hardcore and techno. Consists of overdriven, sustained kick drums and intense,
reversed basslines. Often incorporates distorted synthesizers and other distorted
sounds. Began to emerge among hardcore DJs in the Netherlands in the late 1990s.
|
| |
HipHouse |
Fusion of the rhythmic, harmonic, melodic and production elements of classic Chicago
house with the performance style of hip-hop; effectively rap over a house track.
|
| |
House |
Emerged among Chicago club DJs in the early 1990s. It is characterized by 4 on the
floor kick drums, drum machine rhythms, hi-hat hits on offbeats, and synthesized basslines.
It is typically instrumental, though some house music features wordless singing or
lyric singing. Prominent early house musicians include Chip E. and Frankie Knuckles.
|
| |
IDM |
Wide-ranging post-rave style with elements of glitch and noise. Suited more for headphones
than the dance floor. Through the late 1990s, IDM morphed into the primary label for
electronic experiments with a beat. Prominent practitioners include Aphex Twin and
Autechre.
|
| |
JazzHouse |
Various fusions of house and jazz. Can merely feature jazz-like chords, or may go
as far as actively incorporating improvisation.
|
| |
Jungle |
Uptempo (i.e. 150-170 BPM), pointed, syncopated, and minimal. Typically comprised
of fast and frantic breakbeats, particularly the 'Amen break' - and frequently defined
by a lively, high-pass filtered, syncopated hi-hat and snare beat. Breakbeats are
varied by filtering and splicing over the course of a track's development, and are
often paired with a slower, syncopated, sine-wave reggae dub/dancehall influenced
bass line (i.e. a tuned 808 kick) rhythmically matched with a kick drum (i.e. often
a punchy, filtered acoustic kick drum sample). Emerged in urban England in the 1990s.
Generally acknowledged to be the predecessor of drum n bass. The frequent use of ragga
and reggae vocals and jungle's tendency towards traditional groove-oriented breakbeats
differentiates it from drum n bass.
|
| |
Kwaito |
House with prevalent African drum samples. Hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. |
| |
LatinHouse |
Features the distinctive harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements of Latin musical
styles such as those originating in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic
along with quintessential house elements such as four-on-the-floor kicks. Vocals are
typically in Spanish.
|
| |
MinimalHouse |
Sparse, minimal style, with house’s typical percussion sounds replaced by clicks,
static, glitches and noise. Features extensive use of extremely short samples of voices,
instruments, computer-generated tones and other noises arranged together to form sophisticated
patchwork melodies. Driving and repetitive, like techno, and groovy, like house, with
faint synth strings and dreamy pads. Emerged in the late 1990s.
|
| |
MinimalTechno |
Minimalist style that emerged in early 1990s Detroit out of an attempt to reclaim
techno’s funky, soulful roots following its hitting the rave mainstream and subsequent
drug-fueled speedup and sterilization. Average BPM ranges from 125 to 130. Techno
stripped down to its raw, funky, robotic core. Despite its emergence in Detroit, the
style may have been even more popular in Berlin at its height.
|
| |
NoiseMusic |
Expressive use of noise within a musical context. Created primarily through electronic
means, as opposed to other, generally earlier noise styles which primarily used electric
and acoustic noise sources. The use of noise in music has a deep history tracing back
to Europe in the early 20th century, but strictly noise music has been popular in
Europe, the United State, and Japan since the 1970s.
|
| |
NuDisco |
Essentially disco music made with the sleek production values of early 21st century
electronic music. Came about amidst a renewal of interest in disco in the 2000s.
|
| |
ProgressiveHouse |
Anthemic, melodic, dynamic, evolving, and uptempo (i.e. 128 - 140 BPM). Characterized
by three underlying anatomical elements of form shared with trance music; a build-up
(a dynamic or energetic anticipation building sequence of sometimes three to four
minutes in length), a break-down (an dynamic or energetic dissipation of the build-up)
and a climax (a dynamic or energetic explosion of the build-up). Subtle variations
in instrumentation (i.e., increasing and decreasing ensemble participation) anticipates
the transition to each subsequent anatomical element. The introductory build-up and
ending break-down are similarly related adding a feel of symmetry to the overall anatomical
form.
|
| |
ProgressiveTrance |
Mid-tempo, dark dance music (i.e. 130-140 BPM). Often without vocals and focused on
deep, dark ostinatos that evolve over a long period of time and feature long builds,
subtle breakdowns and arpeggiated, gated synths.
|
| |
PsychedelicTrance |
Evolving, syncopated, distinctive, uptempo dance music (generally between 140 and
150 BPM) that features a driving four on the floor kick drum pattern and often uses
arpeggiated 16th or 32nd notes. New elements and musical ideas are typically added
every 4 or 8 bars. Will typically build up to an energetic section in the second half
of the track and then taper off fairly quickly toward the end. Tracks are generally
8-12 minutes long, and usually feature noticeably stronger bass lines than other forms
of trance music alongside acid's organic 'squelchy' sounds. It was largely developed
by and for Western hippies and partygoers in Goa, India during the late 1980s and
early 1990s.
|
| |
Schranz |
Uptempo (150-170 BPM), aggressive, frantic, overwhelmingly repetitive style of European
techno music. Makes use of massive kick drums, driving percussion and distorted, looping
synthesizers. Harsh, abrasive, and mechanical, with compact rhythmic patterns.
|
| |
SpeedGarage |
Uses sped-up 4-on-the-floor NY garage beats combined with breakbeats. Heavily warped
basslines influenced by jungle music are characteristic. Originated in the UK in the
1990s.
|
| |
Synthwave |
Synth-centric music with a retrofuturistic aesthetic inspired by film and video game
music of the 1980s. The genre was created in the 2000s and gained more popularity
in the 2010s. Prominent artists include Kavinsky and Com Truise.
|
| |
TechHouse |
Mid-tempo fusion of techno’s minimal sterility with house’s soulful color. Akin to
both minimal techno (i.e. shorter, deeper, darker kick-drum sounds, smaller, filtered
hi-hats and noisier snares) and deep house (i.e. dark, soulful, groove-based, minimalistic,
and energetic). Occasionally borrows from the dynamic variation of progressive house
and the dirty, hollow acid-style synth textures of acid house.
|
| |
Techno |
Inspired by and similar to house music, but is typically faster (120-150 BPM), darker,
and more concerned with futuristic themes. Emerged in Detroit in the mid-1980s.
|
| |
Trance |
Developed in the late 1980s UK rave scene and in the early 1990s in Germany. It is
typically more melodic than contemporary electronic dance music genres, using melody
and harmony to build tension and create a sense of progression, and also to build
to peaks or drops in the music. It is typically between 110 and 150 BPM, and it prominently
features beats as well as more atmospheric, beatless sections, which typically occur
after musical climaxes.
|
| |
TribalHouse |
Characterized by sophisticated, polyrhythmic percussion over four-on-the-floor kick
drum patterns. Reminiscent of African and South American tribal music – hand drum
samples and passionate vocal shouting and chanting are frequently employed. Unlike
other styles of house, core melodies and prominent synthesizer parts are rare, as
percussion is foregrounded.
|
| |
TripHop |
Mellow, melancholy fusion of hip-hop and electronica, with influence from a variety
of other styles, including funk, dub, soul, and R&B. Features bass-heavy drum beats
and often makes use of a wide array of samples of both live and electronic instrumentals,
including turntable scratches and vocal melodies. The beats often invoke a psychedelic,
hypnotic, dreamy and slightly dark atmosphere. Vocals are typically female, and draw
influence from R&B and jazz. Standout artists include Massive Attack and Portishead.
|
| |
TwoStepGarage |
Lacks a 4 on the floor kick drum beat, instead favoring beat-skipping kick drums.
Prominently features jittery, irregular percussion and synths. MCs and sung vocals
(often female, in a contemporary R&B style, and/or cut up and looped) are often featured.
|
| |
UKFunky |
Characterized by the use of bass loops and drum beats along with African/Latin percussion
often playing dem bow rhythm and contemporary R&B vocal styles. The style was born
in London in the mid 2000s.
|
| |
UKGarage |
Descendant of House music which originated in the UK, UK Garage is a lively, mid-tempo,
pointed, syncopated, and groove-based Broken-Beat focused Electronic Dance music.
UK Garage quintessentially features a distinctive syncopated, hi-pass filtered Broken
Beat which interplays with a syncopated dub-style synth bass, frequently combined
with 'chopped up' and time or pitch-shifted vocal samples and a pop sensibility-focused
song structure. The defining musical elements of Garage were largely absorbed into
other sub-genres in the mid-2000s, including Grime, UK Funky, Dubstep and Bassline.
|
| |
VocalHouse |
Driving, majestic, anthemic, and over-the-top. Soulful R&B vocals over house music's
four-on-the-floor rhythmic core.
|
| Belongs to AVS |
avs:ClassifiedGenre |
A Type of genre.
|
DDEX Data Dictionary, 19-12-03