As I launched the evening's foray into the classifications of electronica, one crystal-clear fact emerged: WAY to many sub-genres exist. The next paragraph lists each one as presented by Wikipedia. Please have something better to do with your time than reading through this drivel.
Ambient, Ambient house, Ambient techno, Apres Rave,Dark ambient, Drone music, Psybient, Breakbeat, Baltimore Club, Big beat, Broken beat, Florida breaks, Nu skool breaks, Progressive breaks, Rap, Disco, Cosmic disco, Eurodance, Euro disco, Hi-NRG, Italo dance, Italo disco, Nu, disco, Spacesynth, Downtempo, Acid jazz, Balearic Beat, Chill out, Dub music, Ethnic electronica, Glitch, Illbient, Minimal Electronica, New Age music, Nu jazz, Trip hop, Electronic music, Berlin School, Electroacoustic, Electro, Electro backbeat, Electro-hop, Electro-grime, Freestyle music, Techno bass, Electronica, Electropop, Folktronica, Glitch, IDM, Nu Jazz, Post-disco, Trip hop, (UK) Garage (UKG), 2-step, 4x4, Bassline, Breakstep, Dubstep, Funky, Grime, Speed garage,, Hardcore/Hard dance, Bouncy techno, Breakbeat Hardcore, Breakcore, Darkcore, Digital hardcore, Doomcore, Freeform, Gabber, Happy hardcore, Hardstyle, Jumpstyle, Makina, Noisecore, Speedcore, Terrorcore, UK Hardcore, House, Acid house, Boogie, Bubblegum dance, Chicago house, Crack house, Dark house, Deep house, Disco house, Dream house, Electro house,Euro house, Fidget house, French house, Freestyle house, US garage, Ghetto house, UK Hard house, Hard NRG, Hi-NRG, Hip house, Italo house, Jackin' house, Kwaito, Latin house, Merenhouse, Minimal house/Microhouse, Progressive house, Scouse house, Swing house, Electronica, Tribal house, Tech house, Hi-NRG, Eurobeat, Eurodance, Hard NRG, Italo Disco, Nu-NRG, New Beat, Techno, Industrial, Aggrotech, Ambient industrial, Cybergrind, Dark ambient, Dark electro, Death industrial, Electronic body music, Electro-Industrial, Industrial rock, Industrial metal, Coldwave, Noise, Japanoise, Power noise, Jungle/Drum and bass, Clownstep, Darkcore, Darkstep, Drumfunk, Hardstep, Intelligent drum and bass, Jump-Up, Liquid funk, Neurofunk, Oldschool jungle, Ragga-jungle, Darkside jungle, Raggacore, Sambass, Techstep, Trancestep, Rock/Punk influenced electronic music (Dance-rock), Alternative dance, Coldwave, Cyber metal, Dance-punk, Dark Wave, Digital hardcore, Electroclash, Electro rock, Electropunk, Ethereal Wave, Industrial rock, Industrial metal, New Rave, New Wave, Synthpop, Post-disco, Progressive rock, Synthpunk, Techno, Acid techno, Detroit techno, Free tekno, Ghettotech, Minimal, New beat, Nortec, Schranz / Hardtechno, Tech house, Tech trance, Techno-DNB, Techstep, Yorkshire Techno, Trance, Acid trance, Ambient trance, Classic trance, Dream trance, Euro-trance, Hard trance, Hardstyle, Nu-NRG, Progressive trance, Psychedelic trance/Goa trance, Dark psy, Full on, Nitzhonot, Psyprog, Psybient, Psybreaks, South African psytrance, Suomisaundi, Tech trance, Uplifting trance, Vocal trance, Post-disco, Dance-pop, Boogie, Nu rave, Hardcore breaks, Rave breaks, Jungle techno, Chiptune, 8-bit, Bitpop, Demoscene music, Picopop, Scoobycore, Game Boy music, and Gamewave.
Several of these sub-genres have strikingly similar definitions, with little or no nuance standing them apart. Coming clear is the conclusion that too many artists think (or thought) too highly of their musical compositions, and ridiculous classifications emerged where pieces of music could have tidily nestled into existing categories.
Master percussionist Kinah Boto, who taught me drum set during my masters program at Georgia State University, floored me with a comment he once made. "Music is all about twos and threes, nothing more nothing less."
He is mostly right: I venture a guess that 99% of all music heard in this country has rhythms that can be subdivided into two beats or three beats. Boto's point is that the labels we slap on various musics are mostly worthless. Every piece of music is a purposeful set of sounds, and the sonic characteristics of a composition are unaffected by any terminology pinned to them.
As this week commenced, I was determined to define the major genres of electronica, delving into the idioms and finding my place in them. This has become an overwhelming and pointless proposition; one that has undoubtedly bored most of my readers. You have my apologies along with my word that I shall return to the more gripping autobiographical tales that brought you here in the first place.
This quasi-academic exploration germinated moments after I put the finishing touches on a piece of electronic music for the Redline Project. Pretty well pleased with the result, I wondered how the sounds would stack up against other music in the same genre. It was only natural then to wonder which genre would comfortably hold this music.
My best guess was, and still is, Trance music. Wikipedia claims Trance pieces have the following characteristics: a tempo between 130 and 155 beats per minute, short synthesizer phrases, and a form with dynamics that build and deconstruct throught the piece. Check, check, check.
Settled then; this composition entitled Tremont is a textbook example of Trance music. I am positive that electronica aficionados everywhere would have a bird over this classification. Ahh, the beauty of solo writing an uncontested blog.
Showing posts with label Dance Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dance Music. Show all posts
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Bit of a Trance
I have no idea if the music I am sculpting tonight qualifies as actual Trance music, but its mesmerizing groove has all but hypnotized me. I intended to compose this cocktail for an hour and chase it with an hour of blogging. Both time slots are long gone and a few extra slid by with them. Woopsie daisy.
The bell tolls midnight, and my fluffy bed is looking mighty fine at this moment. Tomorrow I shall post definitions for the many sub-genres of electronica here, or at least as many as I can scrounge up. I look forward to seeing if my composition in progress actually qualifies as Trance music, or if it simply has that effect on my mind.
The bell tolls midnight, and my fluffy bed is looking mighty fine at this moment. Tomorrow I shall post definitions for the many sub-genres of electronica here, or at least as many as I can scrounge up. I look forward to seeing if my composition in progress actually qualifies as Trance music, or if it simply has that effect on my mind.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Intonarumori
Everyone knows they can trust the internet as a source of information, right? I am working a full time job, developing a non-profit, chiseling away at a 365 day music project, and adopting a son. There is no time for actual research, so good-old Google and Wikipedia will have to do. Trust at your own risk.
I am knee-deep in the muck of electronica this week as I piece together an exotic trance composition that may just squeeze its way onto the final recording of the Redline Project. As I massage the textures into coherence, working and reworking over and again, a fascination with this new array of sonic possibilities is taking hold of me. I am also gripped by utter lack of knowledge about this genre.
The goal of this post and others to follow is to snag snippets of mostly-true information from potentially unreliable sources and garner a shred of knowledge. The topic of my exploration: electronic music.
When I studied the western tradition of music history, page one of chapter one transported me to the era of Gregorian Chant, about 800 years ago. Compared to the likes of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths, the history of music (as Europeans and Americans know it) is all relatively new. Reason declares electronic music a mere baby then, since the advent of harnessing watts did not come along until 1752 when Ben Franklin flew his kite into the sky on a less-than-clear day.
A cross-breed of mad scientist and musician began to emerge in Italy during the early part of the 20th century. This experimental group of artists called themselves Futurists. One such loon named Luigi Russolo assembled devices he referred to as Intonarumori, or noise machines. In his own words, these aural contraptions were "acoustical noise-instruments, whose sounds (howls, roars, shuffles, gurgles, etc.) were hand-activated and projected by horns and megaphones."
Stop right there. We have a gathering of fellows in Italy around 100 years ago who focused their life work on producing concerts of noise. My best guess is that their elevators failed to visit the top floor. Hail the Futurists - these are my kind of folks.
The first instruments with sound produced purely from electricity were invented during the 1920s and 1930s. Devices such as the Etherophone (also known as the Theremin) debuted on stage of symphonies in novelty pieces composed for orchestra and electronic instruments. 1929 saw the founding of Laurens Hammond's electronic instrument company, which would later go on to produce the iconic Hammond B3 organ.
Though these rumblings of electronic sound were a far cry from the thumping synth-driven club music made popular in the 1980s, this collection of early forays begged deeper explorations of sonic possibilities that would carpet the continents with new music in under 50 years. Electronica is brand new but has spread like wildfire.
This highly-paraphrased synopsis was produced using the single source of Wikipedia. My middle school teachers, and probably my mother, would be horrified. Tune in this time tomorrow for a loosely factual pontification about the invention of synthesized sound.
I am knee-deep in the muck of electronica this week as I piece together an exotic trance composition that may just squeeze its way onto the final recording of the Redline Project. As I massage the textures into coherence, working and reworking over and again, a fascination with this new array of sonic possibilities is taking hold of me. I am also gripped by utter lack of knowledge about this genre.
The goal of this post and others to follow is to snag snippets of mostly-true information from potentially unreliable sources and garner a shred of knowledge. The topic of my exploration: electronic music.
When I studied the western tradition of music history, page one of chapter one transported me to the era of Gregorian Chant, about 800 years ago. Compared to the likes of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths, the history of music (as Europeans and Americans know it) is all relatively new. Reason declares electronic music a mere baby then, since the advent of harnessing watts did not come along until 1752 when Ben Franklin flew his kite into the sky on a less-than-clear day.
A cross-breed of mad scientist and musician began to emerge in Italy during the early part of the 20th century. This experimental group of artists called themselves Futurists. One such loon named Luigi Russolo assembled devices he referred to as Intonarumori, or noise machines. In his own words, these aural contraptions were "acoustical noise-instruments, whose sounds (howls, roars, shuffles, gurgles, etc.) were hand-activated and projected by horns and megaphones."
Stop right there. We have a gathering of fellows in Italy around 100 years ago who focused their life work on producing concerts of noise. My best guess is that their elevators failed to visit the top floor. Hail the Futurists - these are my kind of folks.
The first instruments with sound produced purely from electricity were invented during the 1920s and 1930s. Devices such as the Etherophone (also known as the Theremin) debuted on stage of symphonies in novelty pieces composed for orchestra and electronic instruments. 1929 saw the founding of Laurens Hammond's electronic instrument company, which would later go on to produce the iconic Hammond B3 organ.
Though these rumblings of electronic sound were a far cry from the thumping synth-driven club music made popular in the 1980s, this collection of early forays begged deeper explorations of sonic possibilities that would carpet the continents with new music in under 50 years. Electronica is brand new but has spread like wildfire.
This highly-paraphrased synopsis was produced using the single source of Wikipedia. My middle school teachers, and probably my mother, would be horrified. Tune in this time tomorrow for a loosely factual pontification about the invention of synthesized sound.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Intuitions and Ignorance
After an unbelievably drawn-out meeting that monopolized most of yesterday, I decided to unwind by throwing together a little groove. In less than ten minutes, I had some intriguing bits of electronica tracked into in Logic. I tossed some synth pads in the pot along with a dash of electric guitar long-tones.
To my ears, this ditty is a simple but addictive recipe that keeps me wanting another bite. The issue is that I have no actual awareness of what to call this music, or what elements it needs to take it to the next level.
In the realm of electronica, there are labels like Techno, Trance, House, Hip-Hop, and Club, each of which is defined any number of ways by a plethora of unofficial websites. Complicating the conundrum is the endless love-child spin-offs that result from the blurred lines between the vague genres. We have Trance-hop, Trip-hop, Techno House, and so on.
My training in classical and jazz music has not exactly encouraged a working knowledge of electronic music. Though I am lost in terminology and clueless of how to construct convincing tracks, I am excited that the Redline Project, and its resulting collection of hardware and software, has cracked open the door to a new universe of music.
Electronica is a realm to which I once turned up my nose. In downright snobbiness, I considered sonics produced with computers and synths to be a cheap knock-off of actual musicianship. As I commence exploration of this infinite array of possibilities, I quickly realize my opinions were formed in ignorance.
This week, I am going learn as much as I can about the evolution and nomenclature of electronic music, posting my findings on this blog. If any readers want to offer information (favorite electronic music artists, historical resources, genre classifications), please send it over.
To my ears, this ditty is a simple but addictive recipe that keeps me wanting another bite. The issue is that I have no actual awareness of what to call this music, or what elements it needs to take it to the next level.
In the realm of electronica, there are labels like Techno, Trance, House, Hip-Hop, and Club, each of which is defined any number of ways by a plethora of unofficial websites. Complicating the conundrum is the endless love-child spin-offs that result from the blurred lines between the vague genres. We have Trance-hop, Trip-hop, Techno House, and so on.
My training in classical and jazz music has not exactly encouraged a working knowledge of electronic music. Though I am lost in terminology and clueless of how to construct convincing tracks, I am excited that the Redline Project, and its resulting collection of hardware and software, has cracked open the door to a new universe of music.
Electronica is a realm to which I once turned up my nose. In downright snobbiness, I considered sonics produced with computers and synths to be a cheap knock-off of actual musicianship. As I commence exploration of this infinite array of possibilities, I quickly realize my opinions were formed in ignorance.
This week, I am going learn as much as I can about the evolution and nomenclature of electronic music, posting my findings on this blog. If any readers want to offer information (favorite electronic music artists, historical resources, genre classifications), please send it over.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
From Out of Somewhere
To say that something came out of nowhere is an existential impossibility. I do not make any claims to be a philosopher, but I am certain that all things germinate from other things. Tree to seed to sapling, water to cloud to rain, human giving birth to human. That's the way it goes.
Consider the sobering words from the book of Ecclesiastes (1:9)
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
If you have been following along, you are aware that songwriting daunts me. As I sat down yesterday evening for another wrestling match with the empty page, I remembered a conversation with an old friend and fine musician, Jake Armerding.
He composed a brilliant song titled Color You In that uses the names of various crayon shades to paint a picture (as it were) portraying a young, vibrant love. It is one of those tracks that makes you mash the repeat button twice so you can listen carefully 31 times. Right around repeat number 24 I knew I had Jake pegged. I could rattle off the entire story of a delicious youthful romance set in the backdrops of quaint New England townships.
No more than a week later, I inquired about the deeper meanings behind the song, to verify that my interpretation was on the money. "What did you mean by the words of this song?" I took the nonchalant angle. He thought about it, "I just wanted to do something with the colors... that's what I came up with."
Like a once-inflated piece of grape Bazooka, all the meaning I superimposed onto the track splattered to the floor with an alomst-audible 'pop.'
So there the truth was. His idea did come from somewhere, but a much simpler 'somewhere' than I had imagined.
I contemplated this as the cursor dared me yet again to type. So I thumbed my nose at the blinking demon, conjured up a relatively simple concept, and got to work. (I think I deserve some bonus points too for squeezing the word 'redline' into a verse.) Enjoy this first official attempt at lyric writing and the scratch recording that follows.
If you want to check out Jake Armerding's music, follow this link:
www.jakearmerding.com
Can you figure out the idea behind my first song? (Don't overthink it.)
________________________
SLIPS AWAY
v1
Footbridge over river
Sidewalk into square
Down to the basement diner
Thought you were waiting there
v2
Found a wallet in the back booth
With a card that held your sign
The only thing to do was chase after you
Had a time and a telephone line
v3
Red line to the garden
Green line to the shore
Blue line to the airport
Take the line to the end of the line
Chorus
Jamaica Plain is the name of the game
That you play with your fierce green open eyes
Say it’s luck of the draw that calls off the war
It slips away, it all slips away.
Consider the sobering words from the book of Ecclesiastes (1:9)
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
If you have been following along, you are aware that songwriting daunts me. As I sat down yesterday evening for another wrestling match with the empty page, I remembered a conversation with an old friend and fine musician, Jake Armerding.
He composed a brilliant song titled Color You In that uses the names of various crayon shades to paint a picture (as it were) portraying a young, vibrant love. It is one of those tracks that makes you mash the repeat button twice so you can listen carefully 31 times. Right around repeat number 24 I knew I had Jake pegged. I could rattle off the entire story of a delicious youthful romance set in the backdrops of quaint New England townships.
No more than a week later, I inquired about the deeper meanings behind the song, to verify that my interpretation was on the money. "What did you mean by the words of this song?" I took the nonchalant angle. He thought about it, "I just wanted to do something with the colors... that's what I came up with."
Like a once-inflated piece of grape Bazooka, all the meaning I superimposed onto the track splattered to the floor with an alomst-audible 'pop.'
So there the truth was. His idea did come from somewhere, but a much simpler 'somewhere' than I had imagined.
I contemplated this as the cursor dared me yet again to type. So I thumbed my nose at the blinking demon, conjured up a relatively simple concept, and got to work. (I think I deserve some bonus points too for squeezing the word 'redline' into a verse.) Enjoy this first official attempt at lyric writing and the scratch recording that follows.
If you want to check out Jake Armerding's music, follow this link:
www.jakearmerding.com
Can you figure out the idea behind my first song? (Don't overthink it.)
________________________
SLIPS AWAY
v1
Footbridge over river
Sidewalk into square
Down to the basement diner
Thought you were waiting there
v2
Found a wallet in the back booth
With a card that held your sign
The only thing to do was chase after you
Had a time and a telephone line
v3
Red line to the garden
Green line to the shore
Blue line to the airport
Take the line to the end of the line
Chorus
Jamaica Plain is the name of the game
That you play with your fierce green open eyes
Say it’s luck of the draw that calls off the war
It slips away, it all slips away.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thumping in the Rain
Sunday afternoons offer the idyllic backdrop for snoozes, and the gray blanket of rain sputtering from Atlanta's cloudy heavens sings a lullaby. But the studio wafts the aroma of that new keyboard smell in my direction, and it is going to win the day.
What might be the perfect genre of music to compose and record on this bleak January weekend? When all I want to do is drift off to dreamland, there are no sounds I crave more than the thump and bump of a solid club track.
Not even remotely true. The quiet storm outside most likely finds me huddled under a blanket cradling a mug of green tea and spinning discs by the likes of Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Norah Jones, Amos Lee, Damien Rice... Bonus points if the tracks lull me into a light sleep.
I am an acoustic instrumentalist who has never touched a piece of digital gear. So why trance music today, or even at all? Among several other chotchkies in my closet of surprises, I am enamored by the sounds and textures of club music; so much in fact that when I made an initial move towards a musical renaissance six months ago, I bought myself two second-hand turntables, a mixer, and a pile of used vinyl. Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies clad in Dolce Gabanna moonwalked through my head as I contemplated a switcheroo from the common man to DJ Redline.
Didn't work. I was pretty terrible. The remnants of that misadventure sat in a tangle of wires on the living room floor until three days ago when a pimply high school junior handed me $210 for the lot.
There is a confession in all of this: I love dance music and I love to dance, though I know virtually nothing about either one. You are invited to have a gander at my first experiment with creating this sort of sound. This is my second scratch recording to emerge from the Logic Express engine, and I am pleased to report that the software did not stump me for hours on end as it did the first time.
Here are some specs:
Total Composing/Recording Time: 2 Hours
Software: Logic Express 8
Midi Input: M-Audio KeyRig 49
Audio Interface: Alesis MultiMix12 Firewire
Microphone: Audio Technica AT4033a
Where's Waldo?
Though it is not instantly obvious, I actually sing in this scratch recording. Can you pick it out the textures?
What might be the perfect genre of music to compose and record on this bleak January weekend? When all I want to do is drift off to dreamland, there are no sounds I crave more than the thump and bump of a solid club track.
Not even remotely true. The quiet storm outside most likely finds me huddled under a blanket cradling a mug of green tea and spinning discs by the likes of Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Norah Jones, Amos Lee, Damien Rice... Bonus points if the tracks lull me into a light sleep.
I am an acoustic instrumentalist who has never touched a piece of digital gear. So why trance music today, or even at all? Among several other chotchkies in my closet of surprises, I am enamored by the sounds and textures of club music; so much in fact that when I made an initial move towards a musical renaissance six months ago, I bought myself two second-hand turntables, a mixer, and a pile of used vinyl. Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies clad in Dolce Gabanna moonwalked through my head as I contemplated a switcheroo from the common man to DJ Redline.
Didn't work. I was pretty terrible. The remnants of that misadventure sat in a tangle of wires on the living room floor until three days ago when a pimply high school junior handed me $210 for the lot.
There is a confession in all of this: I love dance music and I love to dance, though I know virtually nothing about either one. You are invited to have a gander at my first experiment with creating this sort of sound. This is my second scratch recording to emerge from the Logic Express engine, and I am pleased to report that the software did not stump me for hours on end as it did the first time.
Here are some specs:
Total Composing/Recording Time: 2 Hours
Software: Logic Express 8
Midi Input: M-Audio KeyRig 49
Audio Interface: Alesis MultiMix12 Firewire
Microphone: Audio Technica AT4033a
Where's Waldo?
Though it is not instantly obvious, I actually sing in this scratch recording. Can you pick it out the textures?
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