Electronic Dance Music Guide and Glossary of Commonly Used EDM Terms

Electronic Dance Music Terms

What Is Electronic Dance Music ?

Electronic dance music or simply just dance music, is a genre of electronic music, which is made to be performed in places like nightclub's, concert venues, festival venues, as well as indoor and outdoor settings. EDM music is made for DJ's and it is meant to be heard in a seem-less DJ mix. DJ's typically use either Technic 1200's (turntables) or Pioneer CDJ CD Turntables for use with Compact Discs, and there is even virtual DJ technologies used for mixing electronic dance music such as USB turntables, and DJ Software, such as Serato, or Traktor DJ Studio for example.

What Is EDM?

EDM is an abbreviation of a phrase that stands for, Electronic Dance Music, and it is a category that encompasses all of the electronic music genres. Each style of edm music can be classified or broken down by genre, such as, House, Techno, Trance, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Mash-ups, Electro, Glitch, Trap, Hardcore, Jungle, TwoStep, Breaks, IDM, and there are so many sub-genres that we could go on and on for eternity trying to name them all.... EDM primarily focuses on dance music, opposed to other styles of music, and edm music is often heard at various outdoor festivals, indoor clubs, and at mainstream concert venues and convention centers.

What Is Electronic Dance Music ?

Electronic Dance Music or EDM was commonplace in America since the early 1990's, though the term dance music did not catch on until the American music industry with their Dance charts and EDM artist reviews. Meanwhile, the term dance music has been used ordinarily in Europe since the early to mid Nineties in each TV, Radio and Music Releases. Attributable to the recognition and development of dance music in Europe there was never an addition or want for the addition of Electronic to the term dance music as it was just the norm. Throughout the mid-late 2000's, dance music steadily began to achieve ground within the American Electronic Music Scene and in the mainstream via the music business sphere, it absolutely was around now that the term EDM surfaced on-line. Some users speculate that EDM was a way of "rebranding" the term, "dance music", so listeners could then associate the many different genres and sub-genres which make up all of the category of EDM, instead of just referring to electronic music as just "Techno". Dance music in Europe has been standard in the use of the term EDM, and people who have discovered the genre within the last decade tend to use the term broadly. While EDM has become the standard term use for electronic dance music in the states, in several components of Europe and on-line other people have opted to stay with the common usage of the term, dance music, or just simply, Dance.

Annual Electronic Dance Music Festivals in Europe:

• Love Parade (1989 - 2010), Germany - Creamfields, Based in the UK
• Global Gathering, Based in the UK - Bang Face, Based in the UK
• Tomorrowland, Based in Belgiun
• Sensation White/Black, Based in the Netherlands
• Qlimax, Based in the Netherlands
• Boom Festival, Based in Portugal.

Annual Electronic Dance Music Festivals in USA:

• Electric Daisy Carnival - EDC
• Electric Zoo festival in New York City
• Ultra Music Festival in Florida
• LovEvolution Technoparade
• Electric Forest Festival in Michigan
• Spring Awakening in Chicago
• Burning Man - Black Rock City, NV
• Lollapalooza
• Coachella - Coachella Valley, CA.

Electronic Music and the Instruments:

EDM is typically created with the use of electronic instruments developed into up to date designs chiefly because of the MIDI protocol, that enabled computers to speak to one another and to accomplish the complete synchronization of sounds. Electronic music is often composed with computers, synthesizers, drum machines, keyboards and barely has any physical instruments. Instead, this is often replaced by digital or virtual electronic instruments, and prominent 4/4 beat.