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Forums - Drums / rhythms / programming
Subject: dance music trends
Original Message 1/31 18-Nov-99 @ 12:26 PM - dance music trends
What are the current tempo ranges for the styles of dance that each of you are familiar with and how are they changing? What types of dance music are on the way out and where are we going in terms of popularity?
Message 2/31 18-Nov-99 @ 04:53 PM - RE: dance music trends
I would say jungle 80-180BPM maybe, though most seems 2 weigh in at 175; house 130-150 depending on the style likewise garage (not too sure on that, 2 b honest). In England, that great behemoth that is known as trance has finally landed 5 years after the rest of Europe and it seems 2 b taking over bigtime along with the perennial favourite, house. I dont have any problem with that, its just not really my thing. I think the decline in poularity as far as d+b goes has levelled out in the UK now, and only the true beleivers r supporting the scene but, worldwide it seems 2 b blowing up which is cool as fuck, I never thought I`d c the day even people in the North of England would start feeling it, let alone the rest of the world..............ok, I`m waffling again aren`t I?....time to stop (and have a lie down)......
Message 3/31 18-Nov-99 @ 06:35 PM - RE: dance music trends
original 'trance' has been around for along time tho - big global scene & local - big network
Message 4/31 18-Nov-99 @ 07:06 PM - RE: dance music trends
Hip-hop/Rap= 75 to 90 bpm
Funk= 90 to 120 bpm
House/Garage= 120 to 150 bpm
Jungle= 160 to 180 bpm
Gabba=180 to 220 bpm
Just a rough guide to bpms from a dance drummer perspective.
Where it's going? Who knows what's next. Since moving to the UK I've found it impossible to tell because of the "flavour of the week" music scene and the heavy bias towards UK music. When I was living back home (Toronto) I found it fairly easy to get a balanced view of the future of the popular music scene. Probably because we sat right in the middle of the UK scene and the US scene. I feel right out of touch with being able to make predictions.
Funk= 90 to 120 bpm
House/Garage= 120 to 150 bpm
Jungle= 160 to 180 bpm
Gabba=180 to 220 bpm
Just a rough guide to bpms from a dance drummer perspective.
Where it's going? Who knows what's next. Since moving to the UK I've found it impossible to tell because of the "flavour of the week" music scene and the heavy bias towards UK music. When I was living back home (Toronto) I found it fairly easy to get a balanced view of the future of the popular music scene. Probably because we sat right in the middle of the UK scene and the US scene. I feel right out of touch with being able to make predictions.
Message 5/31 19-Nov-99 @ 12:44 AM - RE: dance music trends
It's really tough to say. I mean Speedbass can be anywhere from 150 to 200+ bpm. Slow abstract noise breaks are getting more popular, but you can use them polyrythmicaly in the same manner that original jungle started. It's going wherever anyone wants to take it. We all have the power if we so choose. Take it back from the media, and those who exploit you. Make your own paths.
Ape
Ape
Message 6/31 19-Nov-99 @ 01:52 AM - RE: dance music trends
I'm not going to answer the BPM question because its kind of ridiculus...make a track, set the tempo until it feels rights...I mean...there are no rules to the genres, only subjective perceptions of what sounds make something tech-house instead of house and when house becomes "deep" ...
Anyway...as to the trend thing...
I live in Detroit and am selectively frequent at parties here (that is, I've been in the scene long enough that I won't go to a party every week...I actually only choose the good ones...)
Happily I'm still hearing a lot of hard techno (from Swedish to the Jeff Mills varieties) and some slightly slower, more housish (but definitely not tech-housish) "pumping techno" ... Adam X was here a couple of weeks ago and he put on a fucking good "pumping" set and Niel Landstrumm did a very interesting hard set...
In the harder areas, I've noticed a strange jungle/hard techno fusion that I'm glad to see. Let me explain what I mean by that....
This jungle-tech is a fusion in that it is still four to the floor (or often 2 times 2) but it abandons the House kick in favor of a rat-a-tat stream of low percussions which mix organically with the rest of the rhythms...and the rhythms are what resemble jungle... They aren't like, detailed etchy, funky beats, but still very intricate and beyond what we usually call straight techno (see Richie Hawtin's new album)...
And then there's that plague of Trance... ick... keep that shyte away from me. At every middle-of the road party (in quality) there is a token west-coast Trance DJ (because no one from Detroit would have the balls to do it) and the younger kids/newer kids seem to actually like it. Thankfully there is still
an enthusiastic REAL techno audience that will sweat inside a warehouse for someone like Adam X or Neil....
Anyway...each time I come home from a party I get pissed at everything I've made and think "once again I've lost the cutting edge" ... So many records come out each week its like...damn...I gotta really get my brain going....where do *I* think that this shit should be going? What aren't they doing? How can I avoid the old stand-by beats?
Can anyone sympathize? I KNOW I'm not the only amateur on here and I'm willing to admit that *I* was a groove-box kid turned on a couple of years ago...Fortunately I've moved on!
John Acquaviva, Stacy Pullen and Charles Feelgood tomorrow, baby...System 3 year...
anyway...that's my rant...ttyl
Anyway...as to the trend thing...
I live in Detroit and am selectively frequent at parties here (that is, I've been in the scene long enough that I won't go to a party every week...I actually only choose the good ones...)
Happily I'm still hearing a lot of hard techno (from Swedish to the Jeff Mills varieties) and some slightly slower, more housish (but definitely not tech-housish) "pumping techno" ... Adam X was here a couple of weeks ago and he put on a fucking good "pumping" set and Niel Landstrumm did a very interesting hard set...
In the harder areas, I've noticed a strange jungle/hard techno fusion that I'm glad to see. Let me explain what I mean by that....
This jungle-tech is a fusion in that it is still four to the floor (or often 2 times 2) but it abandons the House kick in favor of a rat-a-tat stream of low percussions which mix organically with the rest of the rhythms...and the rhythms are what resemble jungle... They aren't like, detailed etchy, funky beats, but still very intricate and beyond what we usually call straight techno (see Richie Hawtin's new album)...
And then there's that plague of Trance... ick... keep that shyte away from me. At every middle-of the road party (in quality) there is a token west-coast Trance DJ (because no one from Detroit would have the balls to do it) and the younger kids/newer kids seem to actually like it. Thankfully there is still
an enthusiastic REAL techno audience that will sweat inside a warehouse for someone like Adam X or Neil....
Anyway...each time I come home from a party I get pissed at everything I've made and think "once again I've lost the cutting edge" ... So many records come out each week its like...damn...I gotta really get my brain going....where do *I* think that this shit should be going? What aren't they doing? How can I avoid the old stand-by beats?
Can anyone sympathize? I KNOW I'm not the only amateur on here and I'm willing to admit that *I* was a groove-box kid turned on a couple of years ago...Fortunately I've moved on!
John Acquaviva, Stacy Pullen and Charles Feelgood tomorrow, baby...System 3 year...
anyway...that's my rant...ttyl
Message 7/31 19-Nov-99 @ 10:46 PM - RE: dance music trends
This site explained some of my other questions concerning tempos and past trends. Interesting stuff. I'm still feelin sketchy about the current trends tho. I guess that it's hard to get the big picture on this because we are so spread out. What style is most prevalent in your clubs now?
Message 8/31 21-Nov-99 @ 12:22 AM - RE: dance music trends
Here's something interesting...I've been jotting down tempo's for all my d'n'b albums and it definitely looks like things are going up in tempo. You could almost draw a straight line between 95 and 98. (At least with the 80 or so songs I calculated). My averages: 1996: 163bpm, 1997: 165bpm, 1998: 166 bpm, 1999: 172 bpm. Looks like we may have taken a bigger jump this year. Another interesting thing is that earlier drum 'n' bass was all over the place in tempo and now it's much tighter. Tempo's seem to vary no more than 2 or 4 bpm on compilations. Now how can we just say that everyone is dialing the tempo in until it 'feels right'. Do labels ask the musicians to keep the tempo within such a small range? Given the past trend, I'd say were headed for about 175bpm next year. Some of you may think that this is a waste of time to think about but if the trend is this visable then it must mean something to the media. Now go ahead and beat me with sticks.
Message 9/31 21-Nov-99 @ 01:22 AM - RE: dance music trends
Funny you should say "current trends". A few years ago when Drum 'n' Bass was non existent, was called Jungle or Jungle Techno in them days, i used to mess around with an Amiga with 4 tracks of samples. In them days, the music was about 140-150 bpm, but me i was speeding my breaks well into the 170's. And i remember my friend who is a producer now was saying Nah man, that's too fast!! I said to him Bollox, that's how it should sound and look at the current speed of Drum n bass now.
History lesson for ya
History lesson for ya
Message 10/31 21-Nov-99 @ 08:14 AM - RE: dance music trends
Labels dont ask musicians 2 keep things in a certain range; most labels have their own style and so they sign the tracks and artists that complement that. As far as BPMs being similar - all goes back 2 the dj really dunnit?
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