Electronic dance music (EDM) first originated in 1960s Jamaica. Artists would overlay multiple tracks (normally instrumentals of existing tracks) on reel-to-reel tape players, which were commonplace at the time, to create their own unique tracks. They’d hook the reel-to-reel tape player up to an amp, along with an MC, and then throw large parties. This genre of music is now referred to as Dub Music.
The next chapter in EDM starts in Detroit USA, in the 1970s, with a man called ‘Frankie Knuckles’, often referred to as the ‘Godfather of House’. He would play at clubs with a mixer and two Technics turntables. He didn’t just play records, he reconstructed their sounds by mixing two records together at the same time, adjusting their tempos, and layering percussive beats over the top. As there was little in the way of dance music around at the time, he would use R&B records as the source for his sounds. This was the birth of mainstream House Music.
Dub and House music merged to create what we now know as Hip-Hop music. You could say that New York City is where Hip-Hop first started, with the likes of the Sugarhill Gang. They’d mix R&B records, add effects, and sing rhyming street poems over the top.
Gabba was borne from Dub Music. This genre of EDM music was created quite crudely by speeding up normal dance tracks. Gabba become popular first in the Netherlands where it was also called ‘Hardcore’. During the 90 its popularity spread over in to the UK, and was responsible for creating a huge dance music scene. Drum and Bass and Jungle are both spinoffs from Gabba/Hardcore music.
The origins of Trance music are a little more difficult to assert. If you go back in to history you’ll recognize elements of Trance in religious music. However, contemporary Trance music really didn’t take off until the 1990s and was pioneered by German dance labels, such as Dragonfly records.
The next chapter in EDM starts in Detroit USA, in the 1970s, with a man called ‘Frankie Knuckles’, often referred to as the ‘Godfather of House’. He would play at clubs with a mixer and two Technics turntables. He didn’t just play records, he reconstructed their sounds by mixing two records together at the same time, adjusting their tempos, and layering percussive beats over the top. As there was little in the way of dance music around at the time, he would use R&B records as the source for his sounds. This was the birth of mainstream House Music.
Dub and House music merged to create what we now know as Hip-Hop music. You could say that New York City is where Hip-Hop first started, with the likes of the Sugarhill Gang. They’d mix R&B records, add effects, and sing rhyming street poems over the top.
Gabba was borne from Dub Music. This genre of EDM music was created quite crudely by speeding up normal dance tracks. Gabba become popular first in the Netherlands where it was also called ‘Hardcore’. During the 90 its popularity spread over in to the UK, and was responsible for creating a huge dance music scene. Drum and Bass and Jungle are both spinoffs from Gabba/Hardcore music.
The origins of Trance music are a little more difficult to assert. If you go back in to history you’ll recognize elements of Trance in religious music. However, contemporary Trance music really didn’t take off until the 1990s and was pioneered by German dance labels, such as Dragonfly records.