Although electronic music has been around for a while, many still think that it is a repetitive, hollow and dull kind of music. Because of the negative perception, people limit themselves to classify the variety and versatility of the different genres of electronic music.
Moreover, many argue that this type of music is lacking in “real instruments”. They deny the artistic, intellectual and innovative credits of the musician behind the beats and rhythm. The fact is, these people simply ignore the vast amount of history behind it, its progression through decades of experimentation and the seemingly infinite creative and artistic potential of its variations.
It is obvious that this type of music is not for everyone; but perhaps it is simply because people are afraid to know more about it due to the general negative perception of the music. In an effort to minimize its negative fame, let me give you the genres of electronic music:
House - most likely the most famous genre of them all. This is also considered the most warm and rhythmically aesthetical one. House has earned its popularity with its soulful grooves and party vibe, setting it apart from the colder, less “human sounding” genres. With its 4/4 beat, this genre is characterized strong bass drums, heavy electronic bass lines and some pop and funk samples.
Techno - originated in Detroit in the late 80’s, displaying a much more cold, futuristic and industrial gritty sound than house. This term is often misused to refer to the totality of electronic or dance music. In general, Techno tried to represent the mechanization of its origins with its dark and serious tone.
Trance - just as House has a party vibe to it and Techno shows a bleaker, more mechanical side of things, Trance is the genre with the “feelings”. Originally designed to take its listener into a spiritual and hypnotic trance like state with its deep and repetitive bass lines it soon evolved into an emotional mix of bright sounds and breaks.
Downtempo - Its main difference with the aforementioned genres it’s, well, its tempo. With that in mind, this genre main goal is not making you dance up and down, but to submerge you into a deep state of listening bliss. Combining the possibilities of all the electronic music genres without usual songs structures and parameters, this genre gives place to an unbound word of creative and innovative possibilities.
These are sometimes considered to be the pivotal genres of electronic music. Each of them gives place to more subtle variations of the same genres allowing for multiple classifications and the creation of a diverse number of sub-genres.
Hopefully, by knowing these variations, people get to appreciate the kind of music and artistry of electronic music.
Source: Electronic Music and its Genres by Fedefiesta http://hubpages.com/hub/Electronic-Music-and-its-genres
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