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:
-4X4 or "4 on the floor"- Term used to describe the repetative beat structure in all genres that have one (trance, techno, house).
-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.
-Cut/Cutting- Cutting is when a DJ crossfades from one record to another very quickly.
-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.
-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.
-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

Why does it say "Techno sample" or "Trance Sample" and stuff after you explain each of the genre's?

sweet thanks

don't forget vocal trance (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif) woooooah that was pretty educational, i learnt some nice new terms!

Can some one please tell me what IDM means...I have a suspicion....but I would rather hear someone describe then continue to feed my delusion.

could someone please define what the subgenres mean.

For example, the difference between progressive and goa trance. thanks.

Intelligent Dance Music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_dance_music

It could also mean Industrial Dance Music.

Hardcore voor het leven

btw, zin, i coudln't help but notice yur a D1 fan and your flilipino. got a car?

I think he's gonna add a link to a sample of said genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techno
so if you read this it tells you that techno is not the same as electronica
and that the trem has been misused refer to all forms of electronic dance music.

all of you guys HAVE to check this out

www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html

ishkur's guide to electronic dance music. most exhaustive library of thousands of streaming samples of all possible genres of edm.

of course, ishkur's hella jaded and probably made up a lot of the genres, but this is hands down the best guide for edm b/c of the FAST STREAMING SAMPLES...and ishkur's retarded commentaries.

wow

that is some good page right there, damn I wish I could have it on the go lol

i couldn't take my eyes off that thing, it was really addicting, plus all the different genres are insane, edm has become a little more scary for me now, lol "terrorcore"??????

that's one of the most useful sites I've ever been on.

it's not THAT accurate, but good enough to an extent, to at least show you what's out there. a lot of sites tend to explain somewhat differently.

Basically it's a good general guide but don't get worked up too much on the details. Some of the information is also not correct...

Well I don't have time to post an explanation on every subgenre there is, but to answer your question, and this is not the official definition of them, but a brief explanation so you can better understand them.

Progressive came about in the early to mid 90's. It means to progress, or to slowly build or add layers while the song progresses. Progressive is usually moody, deep, and fairly slower than trance or house. Average bpm about 129. It's also a fairly versatile genre and there's many different styles one can take with it. You have progressive trance, progressive house, progressive breaks (My personal favorite), and even progressive psy or psygressive. So how can you tell which is which? Easy. If you already understand the differences between trance, house and breaks, you can apply that same knowledge with progressive tracks. If a progressive track has lots of trance elements in it, it is most likely progressive trance. Ex. Andy Moor, Markus Schulz, David West, Tilt. Same if a progressive track has lots of house elements, it's more than likely progressive house. Ex. Michael Burns, 16 Bit Lolitas, Oliver Lieb, Steve Lawler. Progressive breaks is the easiest to differentiate because all you need to look for is a broken beat, not the 4/4 kick. Good examples of artists for this subgenre are Jacob Todd, Rhino Drum, Starecase, and Stefan Anion. Generally, progressive tracks are slower, invoke a dream-like feel, are fairly chill but can still have danceable qualities as well. It's a wonderful genre that I"ve had the priviledge to explore and learn a lot about.

Goa trance also emerged in the early 90's, and its name comes from the place it was born in, Goa India. It is a sub-genre of trance which speed ranges from 134-138 bpm and is very similar to psy trance. The tracks usually have that rolling bassline with weaker kicks, much like psy, but focuses more on the melody and synth-work than the bass. The idea of goa trance is to put the listener into an altered state of mind, to not just enjoy but to also reflect upon the different melodies that are played. Goa tends to also steer away from the full on sounds and noises that are all too common in psy trance tracks, but over the years, goa and psy have grown so similar to each other that it is difficult to tell if a track is either psy or goa. I've nicknamed Goa trance, Diet Psy, because you still get the great taste minus the fillings. A few Goa artists to look for are Domestic, Astral Projection (90's era), Goasia, and John 00 Fleming. People will say JOOF is more psy trance, but his style is more fitting of Goa to me.

Hopefully that helps. Otherwise, that's 30 minutes of my Life I won't get back.

ahem...


WHERE MAY HARDSTYLE BE ON THIS LIST?

forgot breakcore.. i flippin love breakcore =D