Hi all! This is just a short list of music terms and genres to help people familiarize themselves with electronic music. Keep in mind that there are many (sometimes dozens) more subgenres in addition to the ones listed below.
One thing I'd like to address real quick is what to call all Electronic music. There's been several different terms used throughout the years and in different regions. "Techno" used to be the term used to describe all electronic music, then MTV made up the buzzword "Electronica" and that became the next big word to use. I've switched to using "Electronic Music" cause using Techno can get confusing since Techno is also a genre and I personally don't like the word Electronica. But no electronic term is absolutely correct in all ways and all places so IMHO you shouldn't get pissed at people for not using the same music terms that you use. If they are way off base or totally incorrect it's ok to try and educate them, but it's not cool to get angry and flame someone for using a term you don't use or personally like.
General Electronic Music Terms:
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4X4 or "4 on the floor"- Term used to describe the repetative beat structure in all genres that have one (trance, techno, house).
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Acetate or Dub Plate - Acetates/Dub Plates are temporary records that can be played 40-60 times. They were the standard for record promos before CD burning became popular. The Acetate is the plastic coating that goes on the outside of the record and it normally has a hard plastic or aluminum core.
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Cut/Cutting- Cutting is when a DJ crossfades from one record to another very quickly.
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Dub- A style of recording or mixing where you remove some of the sounds and layers from a song and accentuate the remaining ones. This was a style made popular in the mid 70's by the Reggae scene.
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Mix/Mixing- The Mix is a DJ's entire set of songs all blended together. For example if you buy a CD that's been mixed by a DJ it's called a "Mix CD". Mixing is the actual blending of 2 or more songs.
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Trainspotting- This is when people stare the DJ to see what tricks he is doing, how he mixes, and what records he is playing.
Genres:
Breaks- Breaks are exactly that, any kind of music with a broken beat. Popular subgenres include Acid, Big Beat, Electro, Garage, and Nu Skool. Breaks Sample
Drum and Bass (aka D&B or Jungle)- D&B is the other major type of electronic music with a broken beat. D&B is much faster than Breaks and has a large bass sound in addition to the drums. Popular subgenres include Hardstep, Intelligent, Jump Up, Ragga, and Techstep. d&b sample
Hardcore- Hardcore is a 4x4 genre that is very very fast and agressive. Popular subgenres include Freeform, Gabber, and Happy. Hardcore Sample
House- House shares the same repetative beat structure as other 4x4 genres but generally has a funky drum arrangement and funkier samples. Popular subgenres include Acid, Chicago, Deep, Disco, French, Hard, Progressive, and Tribal. House Sample
Techno- A harder and more repetative 4x4 genre with harder samples and few distinct melodies. Popular subgenres include Acid, Detroit, and Hard.Techno Sample
Trance- Trance is characterized by its extensive use of layering and melodic sound structure. Popular subgenres include Acid, Deep, Goa, Hard, Progressive, Psy, and Tech. Trance Sample
Jun 12 2006, 03:08 PM
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