Definitions of terms used in Dance Music 1985 to the present Day

Jamaican Dub

A style of music from the 1960s, usually instrumental Reggae tracks with sound effects and other musical clips overdubbed (hence “Dub”) to produce a cheap album filler or single “B” side.

King Tubby – One of the pioneers of Jamaican Dub

Funk

A style of music from the 1960s that contained all the elements of rock music, but with more intricate and precise accompaniments and soulful vocal lines, typified by the music of James Brown.

Disco

A style of music that started in the gay clubs of America and went on to become a global phenomenon during the mid-1970s. The film “Saturday Night Fever” was instrumental in its popularity. Major Disco artists include the Bee Gees and Donna Summer.

Saturday Night Fever Donna Summer European Synth Pop

A style of all electronic pop music that was pioneered by the German group Kraftwerk, it then produced a number of artists including Gary Numan, The Pet Shop Boys & Depeche Mode in the UK, A-HA from Norway and Jean-Michel Jarre in France.

German Synth Pop Pioneers Kraftwerk Jean-Michel Jarre at the Theremin

Hip Hop

A genre of dance music that is dominated by rap artists, it is usually slower than most dance forms and the emphasis is on the skills of the individual rappers rather than the musical content.

House

House is one of the first forms of dance music in this area of study, named after the “Warehouse” club in Chicago where it was first played by DJs such as Frankie Knuckles and Farley “Jackmaster” Funk. It is made up of Disco music which has been re-mixed with elements of Euro Synth pop and funk and then had a strong rhythmic “4 to the floor” beat added with a drum machine.

Techno

Originally a term used by the German band Kraftwerk to describe how they mixed electronic instruments together to create pop music. In dance music it is a style, not dissimilar to House, which evolved in the early 1990s and has a minimalist, mechanical quality. With the evolution of technology it has become more complex, with more and more rhythms laid on top of one another, so that the entire recording studio becomes like a single instrument with which to experiment.

Trance

Trance is a hard genre to define as it is more of a feel than a specific musical style. It appears in so many different forms and few can actually agree what makes the music “Trance”. The purpose of Trance music is to put the clubbers into a hypnotic state, which is nothing new as tribal shamans had been doing the same thing for centuries using a combination of natural hallucinogenic herbs and rhythms pounded out on log drums. The only difference with modern Trance is that the pharmaceuticals are man made and the instruments electronic. Trance music can by extremely euphoric too and many of the tracks have an anthemic feel.

A shaman induced trance Trance clubbers in 2002

Jungle / Drum ‘n’ Bass

Jungle is quite chaotic and has a tempo of 160BPM with the bass drum on each minim to give a half time feel. If you’re not used to it, it’s hard to predict where there is a beat and/or bass. Jungle’s origins are from England and it is named after the big concrete, metallic “Jungle” City club. It is also known as Drum ‘n’ Bass, which is a further developed and accepted variant of Jungle. It has an open and naked sound which focuses on drums and bass. The rhythms are like Jungle, but with samples taken from Jazz and Soul rather than the Caribbean flavours of Jungle.

Garage

A more melodic form of House music that originated in New York in a club called the “Paradise Garage” and took it’s influences from Soul and R & B rather than the Disco of House.

DJ

DJs are the centre of dance music. They devise and define the styles, and decide what will be the “anthem” of the summer. A DJ is employed on the basis of how many clubbers he can attract to a club, and clubs gain their reputation based on the prowess of the DJ. Each DJ may specialize in garage, jungle, drum ‘n’ bass, or hardcore in addition to the standard anthems of the summer.

Mixing

Mixing is the art of playing two or more records simultaneously and matching their BPM exactly, using the pitch control on the record decks. The DJ will then Mix In and Mix Out of the two records to produce something new and entertaining for the clubbers.

Scratching

Scratching is an effect created by applying the fingers to a record and moving it backwards and forwards.

Samplers

A device for the playback and (in the case of hardware samplers) recording of sections of digital audio. For example, you can record the sounds of individual piano keys being played on a Steinway Model D, load them into a sampler, map them to the corresponding keys on a MIDI keyboard and play away, with the keyboard now sounding like the Steinway! With modern computer storage and memory possibilities, today’s sampled instruments are nearly impossible to tell from the real thing when used skilfully.

The Akai MPC 4000 Hardware Sampler Cakewalk Dimension Pro Software Sampler

Vocoder

A Vocoder is a machine or piece of software that uses an audio signal (typically speech or singing to modulate a synthesised sound. The resulting effects range from talking guitar and robotic vocals to cool synthesized sounds and even percussive sounds. Earliest uses of a Vocoder include the train in the Disney film “Dumbo” and “Sparky’s Magic Piano”, it was also used extensively in the soundtrack to the film “A Clockwork Orange” in which a Vocoder sang the lead part in the version of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Extensively used by bands such as Kraftwerk and the Alan Parsons Project. More recently the voices of the Transformers were created with a Vocoder. A Vocoder was used in places to provide emphasis on Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight”.

4 To The Floor

The result of sequencing or performing four crotchet beats on a kick or bass drum in each bar. A device that generally continues throughout a dance track, ensuring that the bpm is at the front of the arrangement throughout.

EQ

EQ is short for Equalisation and is a device that either boosts or cuts specific frequencies, be they bass, treble or mid-range in much the same way as the tone controls on an old stereo system. If you have a mixing desk, each channel will have a selection of High, Mid and Low knobs or with a software “plug-in” (that software packages such as SONAR, Cubase and Logic have within them) you can divide a sound into multiple frequencies in order to achieve the desired sound.

A 10 Channel EQ Software Plug-in A Mixing desk showing the EQ section

Reverb

Short for reverberation, which itself refers to the reflection of sound off every surface it touches. If you stand in a church and sing a note, the sound of your voice that you hear after you have stopped singing the note is reverb or reverberation. This can be artificially created with an effects unit or a software plug-in.

Chorus

A thickening effect created by layering two identical sounds, either with a very small delay between them or by de-tuning one of them very slightly. It is used to give the impression of two or more instruments playing together. For Example you could record four singers singing the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass parts of a choral piece and then by adding three instances of chorus you would have the sound of a choir with eight singers on each part.

Distortion

Distortion is the effect you get if you overload a speaker or microphone of any kind. If you have an old cassette recorder with a built in microphone, record yourself shouting into the microphone at close range. The result on hearing it back will be distortion. Distortion sounds great on a rock lead guitar but lousy on a recording of a string quartet!

Quantisation

This computer calculation is the time correction of MIDI notes or audio according to a selectable grid, whereby each note or sound is moved to the nearest time division (crotchet, quaver or semi-quaver).

Four sloppily played crotchets before quantisation….. and after.

Breakbeats

Breakbeat(s) is a term used to describe a collection of sub-genres of electronic music, usually characterized by the use of a non-quantized 4/4 drum pattern (as opposed to the steady beat of house or trance). These rhythms may be characterized by their use of syncopation and polyrhythms, which are prominent in music of African origin.

Delay

Also known as echo. It has the effect of replaying a sound or phrase in a similar way to chorus but with multiple instances of the original sound each one with a delayed start (hence delay) and a gradual weakening of the original sound.

A Delay Plug-In showing the six instances of delay over six seconds, each pair quieter than the last, so delay 1&2 would be 3 decibels quieter than the original sound, delays 3&4 would be 6 decibels quieter and delays 5&6 9db quieter.

Flanger

A flanger doubles a sound in the same way as Chorus, but then it plays both instances back with a changing pitch and strength. This gives a “whooshing” effect and a phasing quality. Early Drum ‘n’ bass producers used it to death!

Pan

An abbreviation of panoramic refers to a control on all mixers which enables you to move the position of a sound to the left or right of the stereo image. This enables you to accurately plot the various instruments of an orchestra or band as you would expect to hear them if you were sat in an audience. So roughly speaking if you were recording a string quartet that was sat, left to right, Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello you might adjust the pan settings so that violin 1 was 30% to the left, violin 2 10% to the left, viola 10% to the right and cello 30% to the right of centre. Dance music producers use it in this way too, but will also sometimes use it for dramatic effect by having a particular part rushing too and fro across the stereo image from 100% left to 100% right and back again in only a second or two. Velocities

Sound Modules

These are the devices used to create and store the various sounds used in dance music. Originally they were like a top of the range synthesiser, but without the keyboard and would come complete with about a thousand preset sounds in banks of 128 each. There would also be space for sounds created by the user to be stored. These days most producers use software based instruments and a fairly modest laptop computer can store tens of thousands of different patches or sounds.

Roland JV-2080 Sound module Spectrasonics Atmosphere Virtual Sound Module

ENVELOPES (Not mentioned in the Edexcel glossary bur important to understanding Attack and Release)

On every programmable synthesiser is an envelope generator, which allows the user to alter the properties of a preset sound. There are four varieties of adjustment within the envelope; attack, decay sustain and release or ADSR for short. To understand attack and decay, envelopes, sustain and release also need to be studied.

Attack

The part of a sound that occurs immediately after it is sounded. The degree of attack is a measure in the synthesis of sounds. A snare drum, piano or harpsichord sound would have a very fast attack, whereas a string sound would have a slow attack. New sounds are often created by adjusting the attack and decay (see below) of a preset sound to make a completely new one.

Decay

The decay of a sound is the length of time it takes to drop to the sustain level, if the player holds the key down on a synthesiser. For example, a snare drum or harpsichord sound would have a short decay, whereas a dreamy string sound would have a long decay.

Sustain (Not mentioned in the Edexcel glossary)

The sustain property is the level at which the sound stays after the attack and decay. This will continue until the key is released.

Release (Not mentioned in the Edexcel glossary)

Release is the third part of the envelope generator and this dictates the amount of time that a note takes to become inaudible after the key is released by the player.

Pitch shift / Pitch Bend

This refers to the wheel or joystick on the far left of many keyboards which enables the player to alter the pitch of the note that they are holding + or – a tone by default, or up to an octave if the wheel has been programmed to do so. This can be used when playing a guitar or saxophone sound to imitate the pitch bending that a guitarist or saxophonist might perform. In dance music it is often used to achieve a portamento effect of an octave (or two if you start with the wheel in its lowest position). The pitch wheel can also be programmed to control other MIDI parameters.

Pitch control is also used by DJs to match the BPM of records. Most DJ record decks have a pitch control function and a pitch bend up/down buttons to avoid excessive contact with the vinyl. Prior to these developments pitch bending was done by running the finger on the record to slow it down or giving the central spindle a tweak to speed it up.

Gating

This aptly named device selectively allows audio signals to pass or not. It is a bit like the night club bouncer of the music technology world! It can be set to allow only signals above a certain volume or frequency to pass, and other parameters determine how quickly the gate opens and closes. It has many uses including the removal of unwanted hiss or hum on a recording. In dance music it is used to produce really choppy and aggressive sounds.

Filtering

Filtering is gating with a little more finesse. It usually consists of a Low-pass filter, which allows only frequencies below a definable cut-off point to pass, and a high-pass filter, which allows only frequencies above a different cut-off point. Each of the two filters can be used independently or together to create what is called a band-pass (frequencies in a certain band may only pass through it).The resulting sound is whatever fits between the two filters. This can also be used in reverse to create what is called a notch which removes in the created band. It can be used for taming unruly bass and drum sounds to great effect, but is mostly used for warping and mangling sounds to make other sounds, a very versatile but complex piece of equipment.

The Antares Filter, showing four different filters applied to a sound (yellow, blue, red, green)

Hook

The hook is the thing that every producer of dance music is searching for (in fact any composer of any music). The hook is the motif or sound that gets into the head of the listener and refuses to leave! The hook makes any piece of music memorable, for ever; think of the opening four notes of Beethoven’s 5th. That is a hook the size of an oil tanker’s anchor!

Lick

A term given to a small repeated motif, possibly on a guitar or other melodic instrument, also known as a riff in rock music. It can also be used to describe an instrumental fill, particularly in jazz.

Groove

A groove is a term used to describe the whole feel over a track. A groove might be described as the result of the combined elements of drums, bass and guitar or keyboard playing together. A groove would be the backing for a vocal, instrumental or rap motif to sit upon.

Horn Section

A group of brass and woodwind players usually made up of trumpet, trombone and saxophone in any combination or number. In dance music these can often be used from a pre-recorded CD of samples such as the “first call horns” @ £165.00 which allows you to use the content in any way you see fit in your dance track, without any fear of accusations of plagiarism. Intro

The opening of a song or track, used by DJs for Mix In & Mix Out (See below).

Stab A loud short sound (similar to a marcato articulation) can be the typical orchestra hit sound or a Horn Section chord.

Break

A section in a dance track where the “4 to the floor” is interrupted either by a different figure, break beat or a period of silence.

Middle Eight

The middle section of a song or arrangement, normally used as a transition from chorus back to a verse or second chorus. Middle because it is in the middle of a song and eight because it typically contains eight bars.

Mix In

The DJ term for bringing in a new record across an already playing record. The records can either be identical or different creating a new arrangement of a track or a whole new track by alternating sections from the two records.

Main

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Breakdown

The DJ term for a simplifying of the arrangement, either in the middle of a track so that tension can be created and the themes re-developed, or towards the end as a convenient point to Mix In the next track.

Reprise

Mix Out

The opposite of Mix In.