Clubbing (subculture)

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Clubbing (also known as club culture, related to raving) is the activity of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs (discotheques, discos or just clubs) and festivals. That includes socializing, listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs. It is often done to hear new music on larger, high-end audio systems than one would usually have in one's home, or for socializing and meeting new people. Clubbing and raves have historically referred to grass-roots organized, anti-establishment and unlicensed all night dance parties, typically featuring electronically produced dance music, such as techno, house, trance and drum and bass. [1]

Contents

Music

Club music varies from a wide range of electronic dance music (EDM), which is a form of electronic music, such as house (and especially Deep house), techno, drum and bass, hip hop, electro, trance, funk, breakbeat, dubstep, disco. Music is usually performed by DJs who are playing tunes on turntables, CD players or laptops, using different additional techniques to express themselves such as beat juggling, scratching, beatmatching, needle drop, back spinning, phrasing and other tricks and gigs, depending on the type of music they are playing. They can mix two or more prerecorded tunes at the same time, or sometimes music is performed as a live act by musicians who play the sounds over a basic matrix, sometimes combined with a VJing performance.[ citation needed ]

History

Clubbing was rooted in the disco wave of the 1970s, and developed in the American club scene in Chicago, New York and Detroit. [2] It was initially predominantly popular with gay, black Americans, due to the social exclusion they had faced elsewhere. [2] Mixing pre-existing musical styles to create their own, and combining this with newly available recreational drugs like MDMA, created a sense of hedonism and escape, and the formation of a community. [2] Other more mainstream clubs and DJs began to adopt the music, styles and drugs of the scene, which expanded the audience beyond the original black gay community. [2] The subculture took shape in the late 1980s and early 1990s at underground rave parties in the U.S. and London (Reynolds 1998). A particular contributor to this in the UK was the Ibiza club scene, through which British tourists were exposed to the twelve hour clubbing cycle. [2] Numerous social changes have, however, occurred since then to transform this subculture into a mainstream movement, youth-oriented lifestyle and global activity (see Bennett 2001, Reynolds 1998; Hill 2002) [3]

From the beginning, clubbing, while it was more rave subculture, has involved mostly younger people between 16 and 25 years of age. A subculture emerged around raves, featuring an ethos of peace, love, unity, and respect (the PLUR doctrine), rooted in community and empathy for others (Hill 2002; Hutson 2000; Reynolds 1998). Today, however, Tammy L. Anderson says, the rave scene has given way to a more nightclub-based electronic dance music (EDM) scene featuring an older (18– 35 years of age) crowd which very much involves the consumption of alcohol. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120-130 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970s disco. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rave</span> Dance party

A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, trance, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

Psychedelic trance, psytrance, or psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, darkpsy, forest, minimal (Zenonesque), hitech psy, progressive, suomi, psy-chill, psycore, psybient, psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres. Goa trance preceded psytrance; when digital media became more commonly used psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.

Goa trance is an electronic dance music style that originated in the early 1990s in the Indian state of Goa. Goa trance often has drone-like basslines, similar to the techno minimalism of 21st century psychedelic trance (psytrance). Psychedelic trance developed from Goa trance. The typically long songs built on progressive beat changes are said to put the listener in a “trance”.

Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings.Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture.

Hi-NRG is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of North American and European house music of the late 1980s.

Electronic dance music (EDM) is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dance music</span> Music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance music. While there exist attestations of the combination of dance and music in ancient history, the earliest Western dance music that we can still reproduce with a degree of certainty are old-fashioned dances. In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances. In the classical music era, the minuet was frequently used as a third movement, although in this context it would not accompany any dancing. The waltz also arose later in the classical era. Both remained part of the romantic music period, which also saw the rise of various other nationalistic dance forms like the barcarolle, mazurka, ecossaise, ballade and polonaise.

German electronic music is a broad musical genre encompassing specific styles such as Electroclash, trance, krautrock and schranz. It is widely considered to have emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades. Originally minimalistic style of electronic music developed into psychedelic and prog rock aspects, techno and electronic dance music. Notable artists include Kraftwerk, Can, Tangerine Dream and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. German electronic music contributed to a global transition of electronic music from underground art to an international phenomenon, with festivals such as Love Parade, Winterworld and MayDay gaining prominence alongside raves and clubs.

Acid house is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesizer-sequencer, an innovation attributed to Chicago artists Phuture and Sleezy D circa 1986.

Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DI.FM</span>

DI.FM is an Internet radio broadcaster consisting of over 90 channels dedicated to electronic music, such as house, trance, techno, drum and bass, and dubstep. DI.FM broadcasts handpicked selections consisting of classic, new and up-and-coming hits, as well as weekly and monthly mixed shows from professional DJs. It was founded in December 1999 as a hobby project by Ari Shohat in his Binghamton University dorm room and was one of the first Internet radio stations. It has often been listed as one of the top internet radio stations.

Christian electronic dance music, also known as CEDM, Christian EDM, Christian dance music, CDM, or Christian electronic music is a genre of electronic dance music and Christian music. Its musical styles closely mirror non-Christian EDM; however, the CEDM culture's lack of drug use and emphasis on positive lyrics distinguish it from non-religious counterparts. EDM.com wrote "the [CEDM] culture can feel quite welcoming." Many live concerts and events have been held in Christian churches in addition to traditional venues such as Lumination, Creation Festival and LifeLight Music Festival. CEDM has also been incorporated into some Christian worship routines.

<i>Energy Flash</i>

Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture is a book by English music journalist Simon Reynolds which chronicles the development of dance and rave music from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s. The book was published in the United States under the title Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.

Hot Mass is an electronic music dance party held weekly since December 2012 below Club Pittsburgh, a private gay club and bathhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The event indirectly grew out of Pittsburgh's LGBT, disco, and electronic music subcultures of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Critics have noted the experience and quality of music at Hot Mass is difficult to find elsewhere in the United States, comparing it favorably to European nightclubs and parties, including Berghain.

References

  1. ↑ A “Rave” Review: Conceptual Interests and Analytical Shifts in Research on Rave Culture, Tammy L. Anderson and Philip R. Kavanaugh, University of Delaware, 2007, http://www.udel.edu/soc/tammya/EDM-Project/content/raveCulture/Publications/Sociological%20Compass%202007.doc
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Goulding, Christina; Shankar, Avi; Elliott, Richard (December 2002). "Working Weeks, Rave Weekends: Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence of New Communities". Consumption Markets & Culture. 5 (4): 261–284. doi:10.1080/1025386022000001406. ISSN   1025-3866. S2CID   143960722.
  3. ↑ Electronic Dance Music and Youth Culture: Exploring Change and Consequence in London, England, Tammy L. Anderson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, http://www.udel.edu/soc/tammya/EDM-Project/
  4. ↑ Electronic Dance Music and Youth Culture: Exploring Change and Consequence in London, England, Tammy L. Anderson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, http://www.udel.edu/soc/tammya/EDM-Project/
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