Genres of Electronic Music Explained

If you’re a fan of electronic music, you’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of different genres out there. But what exactly are they all? In this blog post, we’ll explain the most popular genres of electronic music and what makes them unique.

Introduction to Electronic Music

Electronic music is a genre of music that is created with the help of electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology. This genre of music has its roots in the Western art music of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, composers started using electronic instruments in their music.

What is electronic music?

At its most basic definition, electronic music is music made with electronic instruments and/or digital instrumentation. It has been around for over a century, and its roots can be traced back to the early days of the 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, electronic music began to gain popularity as a new style of music, and since then, it has evolved and grown into a genre with many subgenres.

Some of the most popular subgenres of electronic music include house, techno, dubstep, trance, and Drum & Bass. Electronic music is often played in clubs and festivals, and is also popular as background music for video games, movies, and TV shows.

The history of electronic music

The earliest electronic musical instruments were developed in the early 1900s, and the first electronic music was produced in the 1920s. These early instruments were very large and expensive, and they were used mostly by composers and musicians working in studios.

In the 1950s, experiments with electronic music began to take place in live venues, and by the 1960s, a number of different genres of electronic music had emerged. These genres included: musique concrète, Japanese music, avant-garde classical music, and psychedelic rock.

In the 1970s and 1980s, electronic music became more popular, and a number of different subgenres emerged, including: disco, new wave, synth-pop, house, techno, drum and bass, dubstep, and IDM. Today, electronic music is one of the most popular genres of music in the world.

The Different Genres of Electronic Music

Electronic music is a genre of music that is made using electronic devices such as synthesizers and drum machines. It is a very broad genre that can be divided into many different subgenres. In this article, we will be discussing the different genres of electronic music.

House

House is a genre of electronic music that originated in the 1980s in the Chicago area. It was originally based on a mix of African-American and Latin American music styles, including disco and Funk. House music is characterized by a 4/4 time signature, thin and often driving beats, and vocal samples. House music is often played in nightclubs, especially in the UK and US.

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in the 1980s. It is characterized by a repetitive 4/4 beat and often has a fast tempo. Techno is usually produced using synthetic sounds and drum machines, and it often has an industrial or sci-fi feel to it. Detroit, Michigan is considered to be the birthplace of techno, and the genre is sometimes referred to as “Detroit techno.”

Drum and Bass

Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated to D&B, DnB or D’n’B) is a genre of electronic music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically between 160–180 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, sampled sources, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK’s jungle and hardcore rave scenes in the early 1990s, and draws influence from hip hop, house, reggae and techno.

Rolling Stone magazine wrote in 1995 that “in London, the breakbeat hardcore rave scene is driving an explosive revival of interest in Jamaican music … DJs are spinning London’s underground sound of Jamaican music at a rapid rate … The sound they’re playing is a speeded-up version of reggae called ragga-jungle, or sometimes just drum’n’bass or jungle.” This new underground sound was variously called “darkcore”, “hardcore techno”, or “dark jungle”, until it was established as drum and bass by 1994.

Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the late 1990s. It is generally characterized by sparse, syncopated rhythmic patterns with prominent sub-bass frequencies. The style emerged as an offshoot of UK garage, drawing on a lineage of related styles such as 2-step and dub reggae.

In the early 2000s, dubstep began to develop more complex patterns and deeper basslines, as well as more intricate rhythms. These tracks were often referred to as “dubstep” or “half-step”. In the mid-2000s, a distinctive elements of dubstep were created; the Healy configurable low-pass filter (a key part in shaping the dub sound), which was popularized by Skream and Benga’s “Midnight Request Line”, and gain staging (the use of very high levels of bass boost). These tracks were initially played exclusively on specialized dubstep nights, such as DMZ in London, headlined by artists such as Mala and Busta Rhymes.

The popularity of dubstep grew steadily in the late 2000s, with a number of major releases from scene leaders such as Burial, Kode9, and Caspa. In 2009, Dubstep Allstars Vol. 5 was released; one of dubstep’s first widely available compilation albums. In 2010, Banksy organized an Internal Affairs themed night at fabric nightclub which had direct tie-ins to his film release that year. The night saw performances from some of the biggest names on the dubstep scene at the time including Joker, Skream and Benga; it is credited with helping to break down barriers between different genres within electronic music.

Trance

Trance is a genre of electronic music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and acid house scenes. A central tenet of trance music is that it is designed to induce a specific emotional or mental state in the listener, most commonly deep relaxation or euphoria. While similar to Uplifting Trance, it features driving, often oriental-influenced percussion and over-the-top melodies.

Trap

Trap is a genre of electronic music that originated in the Southern United States in the early 1990s. It is typified by sub-divided hi-hats, heavy, sub-bass layered kick drums in the style of trap producers such as Drumma Boy, and often includes samples from gangsta rap songs. Melodic elements in trap music often come from murky, reverbed synths.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many different genres of electronic music, each with its own unique sound and style. While some genres may be more popular than others, there is no one correct genre of electronic music. It is up to the listener to decide what they enjoy most.