Dance Music 1985 to the Present Day

Dance Music 1985 to the Present Day The New GCSE Topic for September 2006

Common Musical Features in Dance Music • Metre:4 strong beats in a bar. • Use of studio and live technology to create and manipulate sounds. • DJ and producer turntable skills (scratching, pitch matching etc). • Remixing and sampling existing material across all genres of music. • Use of rap and MC-ing. • Loud and extravagant bass lines. • Rhythm, pulse and tempo more important than melody or harmony.

Edexcel Specification

Jamaican DUB • Based on1960s Jamaican Reggae • King Tubby (Bob Marley’s Producer) / Lee “Scratch” Perry • Dub as in overdub, either effects or new sounds • Creativity born of a desire to save money • Used originally for ‘B’ sides

Funk • From late 1960s onwards • James Brown, The Meters, George Clinton, Funkadelic, later developed by Earth Wind & Fire and the Tower of Power. • Evolved from a combination Soul and Jazz. • To create as intense groove as possible. • Syncopated Rhythms, thick bass line, chanted vocals, rhythm orientated horn sections, razor-sharp rhythm guitar, prominent percussion, upbeat attitude, African tones, danceability, jazz influences. • Reaction to the complexity of modern jazz and be-bop.

Disco • Disco developed during the 1970s in New York’s gay clubs. • Longer songs, the development of the 12 inch single assisted this. • The film “Saturday Night Fever” brought the disco style to a global audience. • Many venues for “live” music became discos and live musicians found work difficult to find. • Key Ingredients: 120 BPM with a strongly emphasised beat, clear-cut rhythms throughout, simple verse & chorus structure and memorable melody.

European Synth Pop • Derived from the “Krautrock” bands of the 1970s- Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream & Can. Other influences Gary Numan and Jean-Michel Jarre. • The Moog and Mini-Moog synthesisers in the 1970s • New, cheaper, polyphonic synthesisers – Roland JV, Yamaha DX7 & Korg M1 in the 1980s. • Bands such as Depeche Mode, A-HA, The Pet Shop Boys, Erasure. • The first commercial fully electronic music • Characterised by metronomic rhythms and sparse arrangements.

House • 1985- Present day • 110-130 bpm Disco Tempo 4/4 Beats • Named after the Warehouse Club in Chicago • Frankie Knuckles, Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, Jamie Principle • Uses existing recordings from the 1970s with synthetic drums and bass added by machines such as the Roland TR909 & TB303

Garage • Named after New York’s “Paradise Garage” Club • Derived from R ‘n’ B and Soul (James Brown) • 110-130 Bpm • Similar to house but with different style samples used

TECHNO • 130-150 Bpm All Electronic Instruments • Heavy use of Sequencers & Samplers, drum machines & DJ Skills. • An entire studio used as as a single instrument. • Any melody can have the techno treatment • Inspired by Euro-synth pop such as Jean-Michel Jarre and electronics pioneers Kraftwerk • Popular in Central Europe

Hip-Hop • 80-110 Bpm Slower than other dance music • Rap is an essential ingredient • Use of vocal sampling • Music of the urban black American (Eminem being the notable exception) • Melodic content often takes a back seat

Drum ‘n’ Bass • An electronic genre, also known as Jungle • Heavy emphasis on fast tempo drums with intricate bass lines. • A British invention • Tempo usually between 170-180 Bpm • Requires uncommonly loud and large sound systems to appreciate the extra low bass frequencies.

Sample Listening TestSomebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane & Somebody to Love by Boogie Pimps Listen first to the Jefferson Airplane version (1967), then to the Boogie Pimps (2003). • How is the original track used in the remix? Is it used in it’s entirety, only snippets or both? • Does the remix use the same chord pattern as the original or has it changed? • Does the remix only use music from the original or does it include new music of its own?

Dance Music 1985 to the Present Day