#unit 30

[phatsounds-blog]

HIP HOP

A (1990-2015)

CHARACTERISTICS

In the modern age of music, there’s a lot of variance within genres and trying to boil down hip hop to its basics can be problematic. Due to the invention of the internet and how fast we can share music nowadays means that the walls of most music genres have become blurry.

Hip Hop has always focused on the rapper, focusing on writing the spoken word for the piece, with an instrumental loop that would be put together by their producer. As a producer isn’t confined by what instruments they can play or what scales they know, hip hop instrumentals can be incredibly versatile – only really focusing on drums/percussion as an instrument to create the spine of the beat (which the rapper would lock in to), then using any synths, samples or sounds the producer pleases.

A hip hop instrumental normally has one or two melodic parts that would loop with the beat, the melodic part would use a synth the producer came up with or sample which could be a bassline, piano or guitar.

As technology has developed, so has the sound of hip hop, with some rappers rapping over complex electronic songs that were released by another artist, for example Gil Scott-Herron and Jamie xx’s “I’ll Take Care Of U” was repurposed by Drake and Rihanna in their single “Take Care”. Vocals, one of the more important features of hip hop are now manipulated today, from the more commercial artists like T-Pain using auto-tune creating a vocal-synth to more avant-garde like Death Grips sometimes using distortion over vocals.

1990s hip hop vocals were almost always rapped, but today rappers employ many different vocal styles to evoke different emotions within song. Some artists today rap and sing in the same song; like Drake, Childish Gambino, Andre 3000 and many more.

Hip Hops’ lyrics contained themes of police brutality, social injustice, affluence, and growing up in the ghetto – that was the old way, with groups like N.W.A, The Wu Tang Clan and Public Enemy predominantly touching on social injustice and growing up in the ghetto. However in this modern age, rappers tend to write about their personal lives and relationships.

Due to its nature of production, hip hop has never had characteristic chord progressions or rhythms. 90s Hip Hop focused more on the word, and the beats were never overly complex due to the technology of the time, and even though today’s Hip Hop are more melodic, the melting-pot nature of today’s music means there’s not many recurring progressions. Being influenced by dance music of the 80s and its contemporaries through the years, Hip Hop rhythms lean towards a more dance-music feel.

The Venues of Hip Hop, tend to be large as it is still one of the majority of genres still popular in the mainstream, making it commercially lucrative enough to be put in a big venue.

ARTISTS

Earl Sweatshirt – A rapper gaining fame and recognition 2010 with his debut mixtape, and a former member of the hip hop collective Odd Future (a modern day reincarnation of old groups like N.W.A shortened to OF) known for his odd and sometimes dark themes his work with OF and the parallels of his personality to the aged (he often describes himself as a “grumpy-ass old man”), his brand of rap dips into punky ideals and mostly original instrumentation. His works include; Chum, Oldie and Off Top

Death Grips – An experimental US Hip Hop trio consisting of rapper/vocalist MC Ride (Stefan Burnett), drummer/producer Zach Hill and co-producer Andy Morin. The group blend together hip hop, punk, industrial and noise music and are considered a landmark band in the 21st century. Their sound is highly aggressive and experimental, using live drums and abrasive electronic noise, with MC ride either rapping/screaming the vocals with at you. Lyrically they are a very dark, often cryptic band. This band relies on MC Ride’s insane stage presence and wild performances, use of live sampling, on stage improvisation and sporadic drums. Their songs include; No Love, Spread Eagle Cross the Block and You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for...  

Ice Cube – An American rapper known for being brutally honest, lyrically proficient, and used to member of the rap group N.W.A. His socio-political lyrics are often described as violent and aggressive; he is considered one of the founders of Gangsta Rap. Finding fame in the 80s with N.W.A and solo work he released true anthems of the time; It Was A Good Day, Check Yo Self, Straight Outta Compton  

TECHNOLOGY

As technology progresses, so does music and hip hop is no different. As electronic music technology progressed, more sophisticated beats were used in Hip Hop. Currently computers can manipulate every aspect of a song, from vocals to sequencing.

The music industry was greatly shaken up with the birth of the internet, now people can share their music and creations far easier than before and many rappers have made a name for themselves and gained a following purely by putting up their tracks for free on various sites.

WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT THIS GENRE?

Hip Hop was and has remained predominantly dominated by black artists, and throughout the years it has allowed for self-expression and empowerment. Groups like Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash etc. and their political mindedness along with their success, paved the way for black music of the 80’s and 90’s, which saw a trend of celebration of Afrocentric themes and echoes of that trend are still about today.

Hip Hop is far more commercial today, aside from being lucrative it hasn’t progressed changed the world much, albeit its impact can be seen all over popular culture, in films like “Straight outta Compton”, in advertisements and course in the music industry.

B (1970s-1980s)

FUNK ORIGINS

Hip Hop grew out of Funk music and has a lot to thank it for. Funk is a type of dance music that emerged in the 70s, and because of that it focuses heavily on the rhythm and groove of songs. The first beat of every bar in funk is stressed, whilst its contemporaries put emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beats. This rhythm structure put it apart from other music and really made people want to get up and dance. Funk lyrics focused on sex, dancing and love. This genre relied heavily on its instrumentation, which included guitar bass, trumpets and sometimes a horn section, last but not least drums. Funk drumming had a huge impact on early Hip Hop as most of the drum tracks were sampled directly from it.

1970s Hip Hop, known as “Old School” can be differentiated from more recent iterations of Hip Hop by the much simpler word play and rhythmical flow, and were much less hard-hitting, with similar lyrical themes to funk, but with more boasting. 1970s Hip Hop can be considered a watered down version of 80s Hip Hop, which is when the genre really came into its own.

1980s Hip Hop, the “New School” saw a genre mature. Lyrics, themes, production and just about every aspect of Hip Hop got more complex and detailed. Raps were becoming politically charged and preached of the injustices in the ghettos of America. These new, edgier lyrics were deserving of a harder beat and so it was. Production became more important and drum machines were used heavily.

 Can you compare a 1970s Hip Hop artist/group with a modern Hip Hop artist/group and say what the similarities and differences are?

Which one do you prefer and why?

Spoonie Gee is the stage persona of rapper Gabriel Jackson, credited with being one of the Hip Hop pioneers and a precursor to Gangsta Rap. His style is fairly upbeat and his lyrics touched on relationships and life in New York. The production is fairly simple, there was often an echo on his vocals and the instrumentation is fairly funky, and has a slow relaxed tempo.

Childish Gambino, real name Donald Glover and a man of many talents is a rapper, actor, comedian and songwriter. Within his music he talks about his personal life and emotions unlike Spoonie Gee and the Hip Hop of the 1970s, his vocal style is also far more complex having a wide range, singing and rapping in songs with complex wordplay.

There aren’t many parallels that can be drawn between the two, other than rapping and both being fairly progressive with their music, Hip Hop has changed wildly over time and it’s difficult to even compare the two. Personally I prefer Childish Gambino over Spoonie Gee, I prefer modern Hip Hop over its older predecessor. Spoonie’s vocal style is very limited and his lyrical content doesn’t have enough emotional depth for my tastes, Childish Gambino’s sound is much more to my liking, with the occasional singing interlude and engaging wordplay with much more complex beats.

I feel as though the comparison between the two is an inaccurate/unfair one to make as it’s like comparing a child to a grown human, hip hop was still in its infantile stages around the time of Spoonie Gee and would take around the mid to late 80s to form something more substantial and complex.

[miskinmusic15-16]

Hip Hop Assessment Task

The deadline for this work to be on your Tumblr and in your dropbox is Monday 7th December For the Genre of Hip Hop Please write about Modern Hip Hop (1990-2015) for the following Four Questions, please use several examples 1. CHARACTERISTICS-Instrumentation, structure, lyric content, rhythm, dance, types of chord sequence, numbers/types of performers, types/size of venues 2.. ARTISTS- Who were the leading artists/producers (Post examples) 3. Describe some of the technological developments that have influenced the music at the time. Mention how the music was listened to and if technology had a positive or negative influence. 4. WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT THIS GENRE? -How has it changed the world? B. Now please write about how Hip Hop music developed from its late 1970s origins as well as throughout the 1980s Include reference to the following sub-genres: Funk Hip Hop Origins 1970s Hip Hop 1980s Hip Hop Make sure you refer to the following (if they changed) Instruments/technology Song structure Lyrical content Harmony Format Production Can you say why changes happened? Can you compare a 1970s Hip Hop artist/group with a modern Hip Hop artist/group and say what the similarities and differences are? Which one do you prefer and why?

[group31970s]

Characteristics of hip hop

Instrumentation

Rappers employed their voice and usually rapped over a beat provided by a beat boxer or a lyric less song with a steady beat. The music itself can consist of records mixed together on turn tables by a DJ and the songs often feature drums and bass with a very simple melody so it just creates a background for rappers to work with. 

Structure

More modern artists are incorporating a verse/chorus structure within their songs.

 Lyric content

Materialism has been a big topic since the 90's with rappers boasting about their own wealth and possessions by name dropping specific brands like Bentley, Gucci and AK-47.

Rappers also rap about socio-political matters like police brutality, racism and teenage pregnancy. Raps in contrast can be written to pump up a crowd at a gig or party with lyrics focusing on positive things that include doing drugs, drinking and having sex.

 Rhythm

Rappers see themselves as percussionists more than anything with emphasis on the fact they create a beat. They employ the rhythmic techniques of triplets (dividing a beat into 3), 16th notes (semi quavers - a 1/16th of a beat), 32th notes (demisemiquavers a 1/32 of a beat), syncopation (staying at a standard rhythm as opposed to a swung song) and the use of rests. The use of time signatures is not standardised across the genre, with 4/4 and 3/4 being common. 

Since the 2000's, rapping has evolved into a style of rap that spills over the boundaries set by following a beat so that it resembles speaking. There have been artists like Crime Mob who write songs like "knuck if you Buck" which is dependent on the use of triplets.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9saEpqhBP5M 

This has influenced the work of the modern artists Drake, Kanye West, and Young Jeezy. This specific flow was popularised by the hip hop collective from Atlanta, called Migos, and is commonly referred to as Migos Flow.

 Dance

Street dancing has been connected to the genre of Hip hop. It describes improvised dances that occur in urban settings suck as parks, night clubs or parties. The style of dancing connected to Hip Hop is called B-boying (more commonly as break dancing) which originated alongside Hip Hops growth on the streets of New York in the late 70's and was especially big among the African American and Puerto Rican youth.

[phatsounds-blog]

Disco/Dance music

Disco

The term Disco derives from the French word discothèque, which means "library of phonograph records", this term was used to describe venues in Paris, often playing live jazz and people dancing. By the 1940s, DJ and Disk Jockey were used to describe radio presenters as they used vinyl records. Discothèque venues gained popularity and by 1959, jazz venues had discothèque as their proper name – the term popularised in the early 60s and was used in Germany and America to describe the type of music and dancing that would happen in these venues. The term was shortened to Disco by 1964, first used in the September issue of playboy.

Disco is an upbeat style of dance music, featuring lyrics about the escape of dancing, fast tempos and a guitar-fuelled energy and syncopated bass rhythms. Having its roots within funk and soul it takes certain aspects from those genres it takes; the groove from funk, keeping instrumentation high-energy; more orchestral arrangements from soul.

 Disco dancing in its most basic form can be boiled down to four essential moves;

 ·         revolving the hands and raising the arms in time to the beat

·         turns concluded by planting the foot on the floor on the beat

·         stepping forwards and backwards whilst tilting the shoulders up and down

·         stepping side to side between moves

Disco dancing is known to be athletic and showy, with high-kicks and spins during the instrumental breaks of a disco song. These dancers were known as breakdancing and eventually developed into the breakdancing we know today.

  A defining feature of the vocals in disco is the fact that they were normally treated with heavy amounts of reverb. In early disco all the instruments were recorded live, until the introduction of synthesisers which made disco take on a more experimental, electronic sound, synths eventually took over the role of having an orchestral arrangement (cellos, violins, violas) within the songs.

Bass took a major prescience over this genre as it drove the funky grooves of the song. Disco lacked the traditional solo and guitar was more of a rhythm instrument, used with a wah-wah pedal. Disco artists include; The Bee Gees, The Jackson 5, LaBelle Barry White and many more

Despite it being harshly parodied and looked back upon as comical, disco opened the doors for many people. The disco craze opened the doors for Black, Hispanic, homosexual and other fringe groups. Its legacy includes having the first openly and brazenly gay pop star Sylvester, and having an overall acceptance for homosexual lifestyles meant for more acceptances toward homosexuality in the mainstream.

Disco has continued to influence dance music since the 1970s, house music, techno, hip-hop and many other genres are all dance music, played in clubs with people dancing in a distinct style to.

Disco paved the way for electronic music, and thus spawned many other genres:

·         Krautrock


Krautrock emerged late 1960s, early 70s in west Germany, and leand toward improvisation and more minimalist, electronic arrangements. The term Krautrock came from English press, and then used by German media to describe all German rock music. But not in its native land, Krautrock was considered a term for experimental artists making music with their synths.

It did not adhere to traditional song structures and influences of the British and American music, and contributed to the birth of post-punk, alternative rock and new-age music as well as serving as development of ambient, electronic music.

Artists within this genre are; Kraftwerk, Neu!, Tangerine Dream.

·         Synth pop


Coming about in the late 1970s and becoming prominent in the 80s, synthpop had the synthesiser as the dominant instrument, British synth pop was heavily influenced by Krautrock from bands like Kraftwerk. Early pioneers included The Human League, Ultravox, and it burst into the mainstream with the help of Gary Numans’ work in 1979. Bands employed the use of monophonic and polyphonic synthesisers and MIDI technology.

Early synth pop was fairly minimalist due to the monophonic synthesisers only being able to play one note at a time, and were fairly repetitious, its ‘second wave’ in the 1980s saw it become more upbeat and complex thanks to synthesiser technology developing, becoming more affordable and complex.

·         House


House music is a type of dance music that first appeared in Chicago in early 1980s, and spread to other urban centres like Detroit, New York and Newark – which all developed a regional style to the genre. Its rythms were commonly provided by drum machines and synthesised basslines. Musically it was very similar to disco, however its instrumentation was more minimalist and electronic.

Artists included; MAARS, S’Express and Coldcut.

·         Garage


Part of the 1990s UK Soundsystem scene (Along with, Drum and Bass, Dubstep and Jungle) Garage is a type of electronic music originating in the UK in the early 1990s, and developed out of the UK’s house music scene. It commonly featured a syncopated 4/4 drum rhythm, beat skipping kick drums, shuffling hi-hats, with time/pitch-shifted vocal samples that emphasised the quick tempo of 130 BPM.

Artists that popularised the genre include; Artful Dodger, So Solid Crew, The Streets, Shanks and Bigfoot and many others.

·         Drum and bass

Drum and bass is closely related to garage music and originated about the time, its characterised by a very fast tempo of between 150 BPM to 180 BPM, its use of breakbeats, and heavy synthesised bassline. Artists include Chase and Status, High Contrast, Subfocus, Netsky and so on.

·         Dubstep

Another electronic music coming out of the (late) 1990s, it can be seen as a development and refinement of garage, drum and bass and jungle. It was generally darker and more experimental, with less of an emphasis on vocals and more on creating an atmospheric soundscapes. Its tempo was more akin to garage from about 138bpm to 142bpm, and incorporated a syncopated, or tuplet rhythm, with a clap or snare commonly thrown into the mix.

Artists within this genre are; Skream, Benga, Loefah and more.

The most commercially successful variant of this genre is the US style, hitting the mainstream in 2011 with producer Skrillex becoming a poster-boy for the scene which is wrongly considered to be dubstep, and is correctly known as a post-dubstep off shoot called brostep known for its metallic and overtly aggressive sound.

 Dubstep and synth pop are both genres that I fluctuate between listening to. In both cases of these genres, the earlier variants of them appeal to me more than their latter stages.

I enjoy the atmospheric natures of both of these genres. More similarities are their experimental electronic sounds; they don’t often conform to traditional song structures and were both a fairly underground sound in their first years. However Dubstep is far more technically advanced, being busier than the minimalist style of early synth pop and featuring more on synthesised basslines. Due to the technology restrictions and knowing what electronic music developed into, I have to prefer dubstep over synth pop – as I sometimes find it very bland and repetitive as there is much more variance and complexity within 90’s and 00’s era dubstep than all of the synth pop I have heard

[miskinmusic15-16]

Dance Music Assessment Task

The deadline for this work to be on your Tumblr and in your dropbox is Monday 30th November For the Genre of Disco Please write about 1970s music for the following Five Questions, please use several examples ORIGINS-How did this particular genre/form of this genre come about? What music preceded it (Influenced) 2. CHARACTERISTICS-Instrumentation, structure, lyric content, rhythm, dance, types of chord sequence, numbers/types of performers, types/size of venues 3. ARTISTS- Who were the leading artists/producers (Post examples) 4. Describe some of the technological developments that have influenced the music at that time. Mention how the music was listened to and if technology had a positive or negative influence. 5. WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT THIS GENRE? -How did it change the world? B. Now please write about how Disco music developed into later dance music genres
Include reference to the following sub-genres: 
Krautrock
Synth pop
House
Garage
Drum and bass Dubstep Make sure you refer to the following (if they changed)
Instruments/technology
Song structure
Lyrical content
Harmony
Format
Production 
Can you say why changes happened?
Can you compare two of the sub-genres and say what the similarities and differences are?
Which one do you prefer and why?

[phatsounds-blog]

Soul Music

Origins

Soul music originated in the US in the 1950s and early 1960s. Being imbedded in traditional gospel and rnb, it was an amalgamation of the genres’ styles, religious beliefs, lyrical contents and instrumentation. The term soul music was first used in 1961 to describe this genre of music; the word itself contains connotations of black pride and a focus on African-American culture.

Characteristics

It took inspiration and elements of African-American gospel, rhythm and blues and jazz. Popular as a dance music as well as having mainstream success, labels like Mowtown, Atlantic, and Stax were the major producers of this type of music. A quote from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it considers soul as “music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying”.

Soul contained infectious rhythms, which were accentuated by the clapping of hands. A lot of the time it employs a call and response technique between a solo’s instrument and the vocalist. The instruments which were commonplace in soul were; Electric guitar, Bass guitar, piano, drums, Hammond organ, trumpet, keyboards, clavinet and of course vocals.

The instrumentation itself was kept to a formula of rhythmic bass lines; brisk tempos, of around 120 bpm, which came into the “dance music” side of things; and the use of slower tempos. There was an emphasis on vocal and instrumental hooks, with the vocals having a highly emotional delivery, ranging from a forceful, high energy delivery to a more reserved, sad and reflective delivery.

Technology

The technology of soul music used techniques of the time, this included the use of four and eight track tape machines, voice overdubbing, the use of echo chambers and plate reverb such as the EMT 140. The developing recording technology allowed for high quality recordings for clearer vocals and the use of electrified instruments. Another technique which was used was the employment of acoustic screens to provide separation when recording a complete band live.

LABELS

MOTOWN

It was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in 1960, in Detroit. Motown was a prominent label that produced hits throughout the span of soul music’s history. It worked more as a factory than a label – its production line approach to music creation entailed in-house producers and in-house band writing and providing instrumentation for the songs whilst the well known acts which were under the label like; The Supremes, The Temptations, The Miracles, the Four Tops, The Marvelettes, Mary Wells, Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, Martha and the Vandellas,[19] and The Jackson Five would then come in and sing the songs.

STAX

This label was founded by siblings Estelle and James Stewart in 1957 as Sattilite records, then had a name change to Stax in 1961. Stax records were known for its distinctive sound, it commonly replaces backing vocals with horn sections, and let the vocals themselves sit more in the mix than its contemporaries. The artists signed to their label included: Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, The Staples Singers, among many others.

 ATLANTIC

It was founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Ertegun also multiple some songs for the acts belonging to the Ray Charles andThe Clovers. He even sang back up for his artist Big Joe Turner on the song, "Shake Rattle and Roll. label Atlantic records is considered to be similar to Staxx recods as It did not have the production line approach to song creation, and employed techniques its contemporary used, like the use horn sections for vocals, but its

SIMILAR GENRES

1950S GOSPEL

Gospel is a music which served as a vehicle for worship, however it was composed and performed for a variety of reasons which ranged from aesthetic pleasure to religious or ceremonial purposes or as an entertainment product put out by labels. The nature of gospel music meant that the lyrics were very important, thus the vocals were very dominant within the mix, and featured a call and response structure.

 1970S FUNK

Funk emerged African musicians created a new form of rhythmic dance music through a combination of soul music, jazz and rhythm and blues. Unlike its proponents, it has a lesser focus on vocals and melody, focussing heavily on the groove of electric bass and drums.

 Comparison

Comparison between gospel and funk

Gospel and funk were two fairly different genres with gospel being more associated with Christianity and worship an funk being more about infectious rhythms and the fact that it was a dance music. These two genres, of course, contained similarities such as using the same instruments such as bass, guitar, drums, horn sections and of course featuring heavily on black musicianship and typically black culture. Personally, I prefer funk, as I feel I cannot connect the words or content of the religious aspect of gospel music, due to my beliefs and worldviews. The upbeat tempo and nature of funk music, in my opinion, is too infectious to not enjoy.

[group31970s]

House and Garage - technological development

It generates an electronic signal that is converted into sound through speakers. The 80's experienced Yamaha's DX7 digital synthesizer which became popular with musicians. Analogue synthesizers were being replaced with the digital models as they could produce sample based synthesis and also had a large array of onboard digital effects. This was really integrated into the 90's house and garage scene as the genre used the analogue sounds that could be modelled on the digital synthesizers. This interest in the analogue sound actually lead back to the rekindled interest that people had with the analogue synthesizers.  It is possible to employ synthesizers to produce a Bass sound, a Lead sound that handles the rhythmic melody and Pad for sustained chords.

 A drum machine is an electronic instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and symbols, as well as other percussive instruments. The drum machine that would have been used widely in the house and garage genre would have been the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 as they were less expensive than other machines and had a very unique sound that no other drum machine really experienced.

 MIDI (or Musical Instrument Digital Interface) allowed for instruments with analogue sounds to interface with computers and other electronic musical instruments and this was done by converting the analogue signal into binary. MIDI transformed the music industry in the 80's allowing musicians with no notation skills to create very complex arrangements.  A group of no more than two people could operate multiple MIDI enabled devices and deliver a performance that would sound similar to that performed by a large group of musicians. This removes the cost of session musicians and the need to hire them and allow for people to produce music on a system as complex as a small synthesizer and with an integrated keyboard and sequencer.

[phatsounds-blog]

Rock (and Roll) throughout the years

Origins The genre of rock and roll came about in the late 1940s in the United States, gaining its name in the 1950s. It was a combination of largely African influenced genres, such as; Blues, Jazz, Gospel, and Country music. Although its birth is considered to be around the 1940s, characteristics of rock and roll can be found in earlier Blues and Country records. It started in the Southern parts of the United States, thus taking a lot of influence from country music. Born out of the meeting of black and white people, with former slaves now freed moving into urban canters like Memphis, New York, Detroit, Chicago and so on. This allowed the two peoples to learn from each other, emulating their respective fashions and music styles. Characteristics Rock and Roll has guitar as its maidenhead. An early pioneer of this music, Chuck Berry, introduced a more raw, upbeat guitar style which was to become commonplace in this genre. Lyrically, rock and roll songs were often sung about dating, cars, school and clothing. As the genre developed the lyrics focused on more impactful topics such as sex and other taboo-for-the-time topics lice race relations. Due styles of music such as jazz or swing needed a large amount of personnel to just be played and the un-economical nature of these genres, the common Rock and Roll troupe of having guitars, basses and drums could prevail as they were overall easier and required less space to organise and perform. This meant a small group of people (commonly no larger than five) could entertain countless people in various sizes of venues, and as amplification technology developed, the numbers grew. Technology Rock and Roll reached the world in a time of major development, with the war over people started developing technologies outside of war, and music technology developed greatly. The late 1940s saw the dawn of the electric guitar, amplifier, microphone and the popularity and refinement of vinyl. Artists Prominent Rock and Roll artists include; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent Impact/Influence Rock and Roll has had tremendous and long lasting impact on the world. It influenced peoples lifestyles, attitudes and even the way people talked. The lyrics of Rock and Roll often combatted the things that nobody really talked about (in that social climate), but all felt. Allowing listeners to be able to relate to one another and the songs themselves. This style of music broke the mould and expressed emotion through song that hadn’t been expressed before. As this music took a lot of influence from African culture, its performers were from various backgrounds – with both black and white performers playing to black and white audiences. The beginnings of the civil rights movement originated in the 1950s and it can be considered that the breaking down of particular barriers that rock and roll brought helped this movement.

The 60s and onwards Towards the latter end of the 50s, Rock and roll saw a decline. There were many contributions to why this genre died out, with tastes changing and music developing. A major reason for the decline of Rock and Roll can be traced back to a plane crash, which involved major artists in this genre, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson being killed in the crash. This event is known as “The Day the Music Died” this term came from Don McLeans song American Pie. The 60’s gave way to a vibrant and varied music scene, with a lot of them taking influence from the Rock and Roll of the 50s. Below I will go into a semi-chronologically ordered list of the major subcultures of rock up to the late 90’s

Skiffle A genre with folk, jazz and roots influences, it usually used homemade instruments. It would be an even more obscure style of music if not for the skiffle revival in the UK in the 1950s. A prominent jazz band, Ken Coylers Jazzmen would often play some improvised skiffle during show intervals which helped introduce the genre to another generation of people and budding musicians, such as John Lennon, who started the skiffle band The Quarrymen, which later became The Beatles. You could say that this DIY ethic of creating your own instrument out of household items could be a forefather of punk’s DIY attitude. British Invasion British rock broke through to a mainstream American audience in January 1964 with the success of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles, achieving #1 in the US charts at the time, thus sparking the British invasion. The invasion consisted of bands like the Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds and The Beatles. These groups drew influence from dance music and American music such as soul and rhythm and blues. Taking these influences and adding in more distinctive elements to their music, dominating the charts. Psychedelic Rock Psychedelic Rock emerged mid-1960s, it took major influence from the emerging psychedelic culture and songs tried to recreate the altered states of mind that hallucinogenic drugs happened to create. Focusing on the use of drugs like LSD and magic mushrooms, a lot of the bands that were still successful adopted characteristics of this style into their own, like the Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and The Beatles. Psychedelic artists included: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. Soft Rock An inversion of hard rock, soft rock featured more upon lyrics and melody for a more reserved, gentler sound. Hard rock was established in the mainstream by 1965 and as the 60s drew to a close, it became commonplace to differentiate modern rock as either hard or soft. Taking a lot of folk characteristics, such as incorporating acoustic instruments and focusing more on lyrics and harmonies. Prominent soft rock musicians were; Carole King, Cat Stevens, The Hollies, James Taylor and The Carpenters. Glam Rock A style of music that was first popular in the beginnings of the 1970s, it was characterised by male performers wearing exaggerated makeup and flamboyant clothes. It melded pop and rock together, featuring androgynous performers and starting in the UK. One of the most famous glam rock musicians was David Bowie, along with others such as g T. Rex, Sweet, Roxy Music and Gary Glitter. A very musically diverse style, it ranged from simple rock and roll sensibilities and structures to complex art rock. Punk Punk was a genre rooted in garage rock of the 60s, developing in the mid-1970s, as a counter-culture of the excessive nature of glam rock, it focused on anti-establishment lyrics, fast paced songs, driving beats and a DIY ethic. It had a stripped down instrumental style and a raw vocal style. Its lyrics often declared distain for government and oppression and had a certain urgency with its fast tempos and shouted lyrics. New Wave New Wave was used to personify bands within the US and UK in the 1980s. The term new wave was used mostly as a blanket term for the stylistic diversity in the music of the time. The term itself described music that wasn’t fully punk, the artists were normally anti-corporate and experimental, like Talking Heads, Adam and The Ants and The Cure. They were characterised as typically more poppy than the arty post-punk movement. Post-Punk A UK based rock music that developed out of the punk rock movement of the 70s and 80s, it incorporated punk’s musical energy and DIY approach, and it moved beyond the harsh noise and focused more on an introspective self-expressionism. Post punk acts were described as “harsh urban scrapings/controlled white noise/massively accented drumming" by Jon Savage, a music broadcaster and writer at the time. Post punk artists include; The Fall, Joy Division, Siouxie and the Banshees, Gang of four, Echo and the Bunnymen and so on. I feel that this genre is born out of the social depression of the 80’s, and chose to channel its emotion in a less direct and angered way than punk did. Shoegaze A subgenre of alternative rock coming from the post-punk scene in the 1980s and reaching its apex in the early 1990s, shoegaze got its name from the British music press commenting on the detached nature of the performers, who often stood stationary often with their heads down - the heavy use of guitar pedals contributed to this image as a lot of performers would be utilizing and changing between effects at their feet to create a dreamy, distortion and reverb laden sound. Shoegaze bands were pushed aside by the cultural phenomena of the grunge movement of the 90s. Shoegaze artists include; Slowdrive, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, chapterhouse and many more. As it was a fairly experimental sound, production came into a large part of it when making an album as bands would overdub various types of delay and distortion to enhance the wall of sound they created. Grunge Grunge was a music subculture of rock that was born out of Seattle in the mid-1980s, and exploded during the early 1990s. Commonly referred to as the Seattle sound and paralleling other counter culture music like punk, it was against the hair metal bands of the 80s and characterised by a harsh sound. The sludgy, grungy (if you will) guitar tone came from a high level of fuzz and distortion it integrated elements of heavy metal and hardcore punk. Grunge artists include; TAD, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Melvins, Soundgarden etc. Brit Pop Originating in the UK, it combined elements of rock and pop to form a dreamy ode to British life. Focusing heavily on regional accents, places and working class culture it emerged in the early 1990s and was thoroughly against the Grunge phenomenon of the United States. Brit Pop artists include; Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass etc.

Grunge and Shoegaze were two subgenres of rock that were about in the same era of music, with grunge ultimately winning out on mainstream popularity. The music styles were wildly different, but had a few similarities. Shoegaze was more about an atmosphere within the music and grunge was more about the energy. Both styles had a heavy focus on the melody rather than the lyrics, and although the lyrics of shoegaze were often more deliberated and meaningful than grunge, the characteristic of shoegaze and its atmosphere building idea would often mean that the lyrics would be lost within the mix, or “Wall of sound” the guitarist would be creating. As for the lyrics of Grunge, they tended to be far more aggressive than its softer contemporary, and normally thrown in at the last minute. The use of distorted guitars was a major feature on both styles, with shoegaze going for a more ethereal sound and grunge going for a heavy, sludgy guitar tone. I see the two genres side by side as reflecting a stereotype of their parent countries, with the UK based shoegaze being very much quiet and often at times restrained and subtle, whilst grunge is very much a reflection of the loud, crass stereotype of the US. I find it hard to find reason to prefer one over the other, but I feel as though I am drawn to the more experimental and melancholy flavour of rock that is shoegaze, in my opinion distorted guitars have been done to death and the melodies and rhythms can sometimes be lost in the harder sound of some grunge bands.