Transcript Dance Music - WordPress.com

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 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
Jan Garb
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
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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
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. 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
Beat
Lots of RnB female vocals.
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
Beat
Natural sounds, birdsong, water
etc.
Very slow, relaxing, spacey
ambient sounds. >100bpm.
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.
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
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