Dance Music 1985 -present day Dance Music

Dance Music 1985 -present day

Dance Music through History Pre 20 th 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 risqué, 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 Party or Special occasion Drinking Entertainment Exhibitionism – showing off! Unwind after a hard week

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 Dance stops being formal And becomes informal New form of mass entertainment 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 Q 3. How is dance music constructed? Q 4. 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 Beat Smooth, held chords OR Repeating pattern of notes 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 Beat Vocals, often female. Often uses ‘real’ instruments. Four on the Floor, lots of offbeat hi-hat work. 120 bpm

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, 140 bpm or higher.

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. 160 bpm or higher.

UK Garage UK garage borrows beats from hip hop and vocals from Rn. B. It chops the beats up to put gaps in, making it sound ‘jumpy’ and disjointed. Samples Beat Lots of Rn. B female vocals. Fast hip hop beats, cut up to sound jumpy and exciting. 120 bpm 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 Beat Natural sounds, birdsong, water etc. Very slow, relaxing, spacey ambient sounds. >100 bpm.

Structure in Dance Music Mix In Music fades in, or instruments introduced one by one. Main This is the main section, with all your Section 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.

Q 5. What technology and techniques are used in Dance Music? Q 6. 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.

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

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 Techno Remix of Rhianna Chillout Remix of Madonna

Key Vocabulary Styles: House Techno Drum n Bass Garage Ambient Dubstep Influences: Jamaican Music Disco Hip Hop Electronic Music Mixer Sequencer Program Technology: Synthesizer Turntables Sampler Techniques: Sample Retrigger Loop Remix Time-Stretch Quantize Reverb Pan