Progressive electronic dance music
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| Progressive | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hi-NRG Eurodance House Trance Breakbeat Drum & bass Techno |
| Cultural origins | Early to mid-1990s Europe |
| Typical instruments | Synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, sampler, electronic keyboard, personal computer, keyboard |
| Mainstream popularity | Relatively large in the first years of its appearance, moderate since 2001—02 |
| Subgenres | |
| Dream house/trance, Melodic trance, Nu skool breaks, Neurofunk | |
| Other topics | |
| Tech house/trance, Psytrance, GRP fusion | |
The term progressive, in electronic dance music, refers to a variety of 1990s musical genres that tended to break away from the electronic simplicity of their origins and derive onto new, experimental grounds.[citation needed] The term itself first referred to house and trance music only (as a tendency to develop progression from such simplistic subgenres as deep house and psytrance), but eventually, progressive made its way into the mainstream, and it also started being applied to breakbeat, drum & bass and techno genres.[citation needed]
Roots of progressive can be traced back to the early nineties, when digital technology allowed DJs to beatmatch tracks together,[citation needed] creating the possibility of mixing structural elements of various to then stylistically different genres into one melody. The technique could also be used to indicate progression of one melody into another without the need to interrupt them, as was done before.[citation needed] Both trance and house largely influenced one another during this era (which allowed for appearance of such subgenres as dream house), and even though later minimalist movement opposed progressive around 2000 or 2001, the influence of their fusion is still felt in various electronic dance music tracks today.[citation needed]
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[edit] Development
Progressive is thought to have served as basis for at least four different dance electronic music genres that strongly influenced each other in the first half of the 1990 decade in Europe. Two of the most precursory of these genres, house and trance music, have been colliding in style on numerous occasions, with the most prominent being Leftfield's Song of Life single, released in January 1993. Although their collision can be seen as influence of trance over house, trance music did not feature steady electronic beats prior to the point, whereas house did share complex musical structure before (already present in 1988—89 in some acid house tracks, for example).
Although Song of Life clearly defined the common base of progressive, similar sound has been reached by DJs Sasha and John Digweed in the Renaissance dance club, which opened in Mansfield in 1992. Earliest tracks were purely instrumental and featured dub-influenced basslines of house mixed with high-energy Roland TB-303 riff at various stages and posed over the regular 4-to-4 beat rhythm. The term itself was then coined by Mixmag editor Dom Phillips in 1994.
Derived from Great Britain, progressive met considerable success in nightclubs in France, Germany and Italy starting 1995. Upon becoming widespread in Western Europe, sound contrasted analogue instrumental melody (mostly violin or piano) with regularized basslines, with effort from such producers as Robert Miles and Nylon Moon. Miles has even defined the result as "dream dance" (often dubbed "dream house" or "dream trance" today), which is considered to be the first of the subgenres of progressive to reach mainstream popularity. By 1996—97, it gained attention from worldwide DJs, and also fused with other than prominent dance genres, notably breakbeat, drum'n'bass and techno.
The following years are considered to be the peak of progressive as practically any musical composition produced around that time featured elements of progressive. As house-trance fusion remained the primary example of progressive, notable later tracks included mixed digital and analogue sound. Examples of this can be found in Luna Park's Space Melody (1998) and AnnaGrace's Castles In The Sky (2001). By 2000, the movement was strongly opposed by minimalist tech house and its derivatives, which gained moderate mainstream popularity after being featured in various TV commercials. Both genres shared the dance scene until around 2002, when electroclash started influencing tech house and progressive slowly lost popularity in house/trance scene, with techno being the last of subgenres to keep prominence until 2004—05.
Although the term itself is no longer applied to tracks in electronic dance music, influence of progressive can be found today in many other genres, especially in those that remix or remaster popular 1990s tracks and incorporate new, fresh sound into old compositions.
[edit] Variations
[edit] Progressive house/trance
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Sasha's progressive trance track "Xpander" from the Xpander EP, and the soundtrack of the popular PlayStation game, Wipeout 3.
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Progressive house/trance is the main derivative of the progressive wing. Although no firm classification rules exist, the structure is generally reminiscent of house with notable variations. For example, phrases are usually a power of two number of bars and begin with the introduction of a new or different melody or rhythm. The tempo is a theoretical fusion of both, ranging from approx. 128 to 140 bpm (which is faster than typical earlier house, but slower than the one featured in more recent trance tracks). Such structure is intuitively described as consisting of three major structural elements: (1) build-up; (2) breakdown ; (3) climax. These three structural elements are expressed either temporally or in their intensity, if not both. A 'build-up' sequence can sometimes last up to 3 or even 4 minutes. Subtle incremental/decremental acoustic variations (i.e., gradual addition/subtraction of instruments) anticipate the transition to each subsequent structural element of the track. The initial build-up and the final break-down are generally very similar, adding a feel of symmetry to the general structure of the melody. Furthermore, a progressive trance/house track is usually longer than a regular composition, ranging in length from 8 to 12 minutes (as opposed to 5—6 of radio format).
Although there is a general and increasing tendency to associate progressive trance with progressive house (or vice-versa), virtually rendering these two sub-genres identical, there are however distinctive characteristics apart from the strong similitudes between them: progressive trance inherits from its parent genre (trance) a wider melodic flexibility, while progressive house is usually darker and more minimal. Examples of a resulted two-sided influence in later genre development include Luna Park's Space Melody (1998) and AnnaGrace's (formerly Ian Van Dahl) Castles in the Sky (2001).
Notable genre DJs include: James Holden, Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, James Zabiela, Eddie Halliwell, Jason Jollins, Hernan Cattaneo, Max Graham, Danny Howells, and Anthony Pappa. DJs who originated from the same branch, but have later on followed trance movement include Laurent Veronnez, Sasha, Mike Dierickx, Matt Darey, Vibrasphere, Miika Kuisma, Brian Transeau (aka BT), Christopher Lawrence, Armin van Buuren, Above and Beyond, and Markus Schulz. Progressive house/trance usual labels include Anjunabeats, Audiotherapy, Baroque Records, Bedrock Records, Global Underground, Renaissance and Source of Gravity.
[edit] Progressive breaks
Progressive breaks essentially grew out of nu skool breaks and progressive house. Due to its origins in those genres, progressive breakbeat typically features atmospheric pads and melodies. Most artists working in this genre also work in other closely related genres such as breakbeats and progressive house. Hybrid is one of the most popular artists in this genre. Other popular breaks artists include Digital Witchcraft, Luke Chable, Momu, and Way Out West.
[edit] Progressive drum & bass
There are a few forms of drum & bass considered progressive. Neurofunk, a variant of the techstep subgenre, incorporates elements of jazz, funk, and multiple electronic influences, including techno and house. The style also follows the progressive form found in other genres. Drumfunk, a relatively new subgenre, could also be considered progressive. Contemporary atmospheric drum'n'bass and Liquid funk have also been described as progressive.
[edit] Progressive techno
Progressive techno (short "progtech") is a very limited term for a subgenre of progressive appearing in 1999—00, which consisted of mixing progression into elements of techno, usually resulting in half-dance compositions. Progtech songs tend to feature steadier than regular techno beats (ranging from around 100 to 120 BPM), but usually derive on higher tones where their electronic sound becomes heard. This has a purpose of indicating that the instruments themselves are electronic in nature. There are no notable definite progtech artists, however both Moby and The Prodigy used elements of progtech in their later albums.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
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