Electro house
| Electro house | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Electro • Electroclash • House • Pop • Synthpop • Tech house |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s, worldwide |
| Typical instruments | Drum machine, Keyboard, Personal computer, Sampler, Sequencer, Synthesizer |
| Derivative forms | Complextro • Dutch house • Fidget house • Moombahton |
Electro house is a subgenre of house music. Its origins are obscure, with varying influence attributed to 1980s-electro,[1] electroclash,[2] pop,[3] synthpop,[2][4] and tech house.[2][3][4] A hard form of house music,[5] electro house found mainstream popularity around 2005. The term has been used to describe the music of many of the world's top DJs (as voted in DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs poll) such as Deadmau5, David Guetta and Tiësto.[6]
Characteristics
Electro house sometimes contains elements of tech house[1] such as prominent basslines, short and high-pitched riffs, and minimal to medium amounts of percussion. Unlike tech house, however, it can include abrasive, electro-influenced synths and vocal or instrumental samples.[1] The tempo is usually around 128 to 130 BPM. Recent compositions tend to feature a "dirty" bass sound created from saw waves with compression and distortion.[7]
History
The genre has been described as a fusion genre of house and electro,[8] either in its original form or as fused with synthpop and techno in its late-1990s revival, electroclash.[2] It has also been seen as a term created from using "electro" as an adjective (meaning "futuristic" or "hard") for "house".[5]
Early songs that have been labelled retroactively as electro house include "Transamerican" by Sublime in 1993, "Dark Invader" and "The Arival" by Arrivers in 1996, and "Raw S*it" by Basement Jaxx in 1997.[9] Mr. Oizo's 1999 hit "Flat Beat" has also been considered an early example of the genre.[10]
Benny Benassi, with his track "Satisfaction" released in 2002,[11] is seen as the forerunner of electro house who brought it to the mainstream.[2][3] In the early 2000s, the genre saw the emergence of new producers such as David Guetta and Yasutaka Nakata.[12] In 2005, electro house saw an increase in popularity.[13] In November 2006, electro house tracks "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fedde Le Grand and "Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana held the number one and number two spots, respectively, in the UK Top 40 singles charts.[14] Since then, electro house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party, and Skrillex[15] have emerged and become increasingly popular.
Subgenres
Complextro
Complextro is typified by glitchy, intricate bass-lines and synth leads created with many instruments in quick succession.[16][17] The term, a portmanteau of the words "complex" and "electro",[16][17][18] was coined by Porter Robinson to describe the sound of his music.[19][18] He has cited video game sounds, or chiptunes, as an influence on his style of music along with 1980s analog synth music.[20] Other producers of the genre include Deadmau5, Digitalism, Knife Party, Madeon, Savant, Skrillex,[16] The M Machine, Uppermost, and Wolfgang Gartner.
Dutch house
Dutch house, often nicknamed dirty Dutch, is a style of electro house that originated in the Netherlands.[21] It is primarily defined by complex rhythms made from Latin-influenced drum kits, a lower emphasis on basslines, and squeaky, high-pitched lead synths. Influences on the subgenre include Madchester, hip hop, Detroit techno, and other urban styles of music.[22] Related artists include Afrojack, Chuckie, Hardwell, R3hab, Sidney Samson, Switch, and Tiësto.
Fidget house
Fidget house, or fidget, is "defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent dirty basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats."[23] It contains influences from Baltimore club, Chicago house, Kuduro, bassline, bouncy techno, rave, UK garage, US hip hop and world music.[23] Purveyors of the genre include The Bloody Beetroots, Crookers, Danger, Hervé, Sinden, and Switch. The term fidget house was coined by DJs/producers Jesse Rose and Switch, "as a joke, which has now gone a little too far."[23][24]
Moombahton
Moombahton is a mixture of Dutch house and reggaeton.[25] Its identifying characteristics include a "thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills",[26] but it has "no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range."[27] A portmanteau of "moombah" and "reggaeton", moombahton was created by DJ Dave Nada when he slowed down the tempo of the Afrojack remix of the Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie song "Moombah" to please party-goers with tastes in reggaeton.[26] Other producers of the genre include Diplo, Porter Robinson, and Munchi.[27]
Moombahcore is a style of moombahton with influences from dubstep and electro house outside of Dutch house.[28] Characteristics of the genre include chopped vocals, dubstep-influenced bass sounds, and extensive build-ups.[28] Artists who have produced moombahcore include Feed Me, Knife Party, and Skrillex.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "Music Definitions - House music : styles". DJ Cyclopedia. 3345.
Electro house : Sometimes resembles tech house, but often influenced by the 'electro' sound of the early 1980's, aka breakdancing music, via samples or just synthesizer usage.
- ^ a b c d e "Electro House". Tumblr. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
It was in the early 2000s when a big movement of electroclash being mixed with synthpop. Meanwhile, tech house was also becoming more known and gaining some serious buzz. When the two were combined that is when Electro House came to be the way it is now. ... 'Satisfaction' was one of those songs that people would have stuck in their head for days. This song still continues to receive a lot of attention even now. It won world wide rewards as well as make Benny Benassi the father of Electro House.
- ^ a b c music2electro. "Electro House of Style Music". HubPages.
Many people want to to find out exactly where did this style of music emerge from. There isn't any factual evidence to prove anything. As with most music history, it isn't certain. ... It is noted that about ten years ago there was a large revolutionary time in electro music being mixed with pop. At the same time tech house was gaining popularity. When the two were mixed that is when Electro House came to be the way it is now.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Electro Man. "Quick Introduction to Electro House Genre". Electronic Music Blog!. Blogger. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
It was in the early 2000s when a big movement of electroclash being mixed with synthpop. At the same time tech house was gaining popularity. With the right events happening at the right times, the two came together [to form electro house].
- ^ a b Lopez, Korina. "Electronic dance music glossary". USA Today. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
Electro: 'It's meant so many things in the last 30 years. Originally, it meant futuristic electronic music and was used to describe Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa. Now, it means hard electronic dance music.' Electro can be used as an adjective, such as electro-house and electro-pop.
- ^ "Top 100 DJs 2011". DJMag.com. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ^ Suhonen, Petri (2011-10-11). "How To Create Electro House Style Bass". How to Make Electronic Music. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- ^ "Electro House" (in Russian). oXidant. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
Electro House - это смесь двух стилей Electro и House.
[unreliable source?] - ^ "Electro House". Beatport. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ "Flat Beat". Beatport. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Satisfaction". Beatport. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Perfume Interview" (in Japanese). bounce.com. 2008-02-07. Archived from the original on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-06-02. (English translation)
- ^ angry. "Eric Prydz - Eric Prydz presents Pryda". inthemix. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
But even more defining was the '80s aesthetic, one of the key inspirations behind the explosion of electro house in 2005.
- ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". everyHit.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ Lester, Paul (1 September 2011). "Skrillex (No 1,096)". New band of the day. The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
... Skrillex, a 23-year-old electro-house/dubstep producer ...
- ^ a b c Barboza, Trenton. "What is Complextro? An Emerging Genre Explained". Voices. Yahoo!. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
The genre's name is a combination of the words 'Complex' and 'Electro' creating 'Complextro.' Producing this form of music is incredibly intricate and often requires a large amount of instruments that are layered close to each other within a piece of music sequencing software. This often results in a glitch, giving the genre its unique feel. ... Complextro is slowly gaining worldwide popularity due to high profile electronic producers such as Skrillex, Porter Robinson, and Crookers.
- ^ a b Nutting, P.J. (April 21, 2011). "Electronic Music... through 18-year-old eyes". Boulder Weekly. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
Like conducting for a punchy electro orchestra, each 'instrument' gets a moment of focus before leaping to another, uniting them all in a compelling way. YouTube generation musicologists have dubbed this sound 'complextro' (a mash-up of 'complex' and 'electro') ...
- ^ a b "Tweet by Porter Robinson".
when i made [the word 'complextro'], i wanted a portmanteu to describe my sound. complex+electro=complextro. it has since became the name of the style:)
- ^ "Porter Robinson: Skrillex's Best Advice - Lollapalooza 2012 - YouTube". YouTube. 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
- ^ Hurt, Edd (June 28, 2012). "Electro wunderkind and self-described 'complextro' Porter Robinson recognizes no technological constraints". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ "Dutch House Music". Retrieved 2012-08-19.
- ^ Dirty Dutch (17 Jul 2012). "Dirty Dutch moves from RAI to Ziggo Dome". Retrieved 2012-08-03.
Known for their fusion of musical genres such as house, hip-hop, electro, urban and techno showcasing both Dutch and internationally acclaimed artists alike, the Dirty Dutch events have escalated to accommodate the huge demand, consistently selling out to tens of thousands of partygoers.
- ^ a b c McDonnell, John (September 8, 2008). "Welcome to the fidget house". Music Blog. The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
... fidget house - a joke term made up a few years ago by Switch and Jesse Rose. ... Fidget producers like to think of themselves as global music connoisseurs, hand-picking bits from genres such as Chicago house, rave, UK garage, US hip-hop, Baltimore club, Kuduro and other 'authentic' world music genres.
- ^ "Jesse Rose Interview". DJMag.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
We came up with 'fidget house' as a joke, which has now gone a little too far.
- ^ Yenigun, Sami (18 March 2011). "Moombahton: Born In D.C., Bred Worldwide". The Record. NPR Music. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
... Moombahton is a cross between Dutch house music and reggaeton.
- ^ a b Fischer, Jonathan L. (December 24, 2010). "Our Year in Moombahton: How a local DJ created a genre, and why D.C.'s ascendant dance scene couldn't contain it". Washington City Paper. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
The sound has a few basic identifying characteristics: A thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills.
- ^ a b Patel, Puja. "Hot New Sound: Moombahton Goes Boom!". Spin. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
Nada says Moombahton has 'no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range.' ... Munchi, a 21-year-old Dutchman who released heavily club-influenced Moombahton tracks ...
- ^ a b "Moombahcore". Freaky Loops. Loopmasters. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
The sound proved irresistible on the dance floor – slow and sexy like reggaeton, but hard-edged like electro house even dubstep at the same time. ... Characteristics of the Moombahcore; chopped vocals, monster dubstep basses, extended and enhanced build-ups and the introduction of fat kicks and percussion elements.