House Music of the 1980s

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Contents

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the 1980s. It was created by disco DJs and music producers from Chicago’s underground club scene.

Origins

In the early 1980s, the use of music sequencers, drum machines, and synthesizers increased in popular music. This article reviews the house music of the 1980s, a genre that emerged from disco, and hip hop. House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by DJs and music producers in Chicago in the 1980s.

Chicago

Chicago house is a genre of house music originally produced between 1984 and 1985 by dance music and post-disco artists from Chicago. The style was developed as a subgenre of the earlier disco facilitation, soul, and funk-influenced boogie. early house tracks featured drum machines, effects, and synthesizers while later house was typified by synthesizers and samplers. House music quickly spread to other American cities such as Detroit, New York City, Baltimore, and Newark – all of which developed their own regional scenes. By the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as major cities in South America, Australia, New Zealand.

Detroit

Detroit is the birthplace of techno music. Techno is a type of electronic dance music that is characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. The first techno track was produced in Detroit in 1981 by Juan Atkins, who is often referred to as the “godfather” of techno.

Key Figures

Ron Hardy and Farley “Jackmaster” Funk were popular house DJs in the 1980s. Hardy was known for playing at the Music Box in Chicago while Funk was known for his strong connection to the street and his radio show. These two DJs were responsible for helping to shape the sound of house music during the early years of the genre.

Frankie Knuckles

Frankie Knuckles was a house music pioneer and DJ who was born in 1955 in the Bronx, New York. He is widely considered to be the “Godfather of House Music” due to his influence on the genre. He began his DJ career in the 1970s, and by the early 1980s, he was playing at The Warehouse, a club in Chicago. It was here that he helped to popularize House Music, which would go on to become a global phenomenon. He continued to DJ and produce music until his untimely death in 2014.

Juan Atkins

Juan Atkins (born December 9, 1962) is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. The three, sometimes called the Belleville Three, attended high school together in Belleville, Michigan, near Detroit. Atkins has also been credited as the first person to use the term “electronic music” to describe his work while performing at a club in 1986.

Atkins began his career in 1981 when he and Cybotron co-founder Rick Davis recorded “Clear,” an influential single which topped Billboard’s dance chart in early 1983. With Cybotron, Atkins recorded several other songs including “Techno City,” “Alleys of Your Mind,” and “Cosmic Cars.” All three of these songs were included on Cybotron’s debut album Enter (1983) which was produced by Atkins and Davis.

In 1985, Atkins left Cybotron and founded his own label, Metroplex, on which he released his debut solo album No UFOs (1985). This album included the track “Metroplex,” which is often cited as one of the first techno songs. In 1988, Atkins released his second album Model 500: Deep Space; this album featured the tracks “No Way Back” and “The Chase,” both of which were later ranked among The Wire magazine’s 100 greatest tracks of all time list.

Derrick May

Derrick May, born in Detroit, Michigan, is considered one of the three Belleville Three, along with Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. All three are credited with helping to pioneer techno music in the 1980s. Derrick May was a resident DJ at the Music Institute in Detroit and’s his style of DJing was unique in that he often times incorporated percussive elements into his mixes. He also released a number of influential records under the alias Rythim is Rythim.

Sound

Roland TR-808

The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to use digital sampling technology. The 808 was launched when analog synthesis synthesizers were at the height of their popularity, but experiments in digital synthesis were already underway. The 808 became influential in the development of electronic dance music and hip hop music.

Roland TB-303

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer with built-in sequencer manufactured by the Roland Corporation in 1982. It functions as a monophonic bass synthesizer, featuring low-frequency oscillation and distortion controls, which can create either funk/slap bass sounds or continuous distorted electronic tones.

Legacy

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that was created in the 1980s. It was originally a form of disco music that was influenced by electronic music and funk. House music was created by DJs and producers who were influenced by the disco sound. The first house tracks were created in Chicago and were played at clubs in that city.

House music today

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Chicago area in the 1980s. It is characterized by a 4/4 time signature, a prominent bassline, and an emotionally-charged vocal style. The original house music sound was created by DJs and producers who were influenced by disco, post-disco, soul, and funk.

In the 2010s, house music has become more popular than ever, with artists such as Avicii, Calvin Harris, and Tiesto achieving mainstream success. The popularity of house music has also led to the rise of subgenres like deep house and tech house. Today, house music is enjoyed by people all over the world and continues to evolve as a genre.

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