Drum and Bass

Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated to d&b, DnB, dnb, d'n'b, drum n bass, drum & bass) is a type of electronic dance music also known as jungle which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterised by fast tempo broken beat drums (generally between 160–180 beats per minute) with heavy sub basslines. In the 2000s, drum and bass is still considered an underground musical style, but it has nevertheless had a significant influence on popular music and culture.

Drum and bass began as an offshoot of the UK's hardcore rave scene of the very early 90s, and over the first decade of its existence there were many permutations in its style, incorporating elements from ragga, dancehall, electro, funk, hip hop, house, jazz, heavy metal, reggae, rock, techno and trance.

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Techno Dnb

It is characterized by deliberately crossing borders between Techno and Drum and Bass, using counter-dynamic (call-and-response) percussion based halfbar loop patterns and stab constructions as the main musical theme. The sound aesthetic of many Techno-DNB tracks is quite far from what is commonly recognized as the characteristical Jungle / Drum and Bass sound. It's closest related subgenres are Neurofunk and Techstep. But unlike Neurofunk, in Techno-DNB the (commonly described) "midrange" synth sound (one of the key features of Neurofunk) has almost no importance and is seldomly used, beside the halfbar loop constructions. And unlike Techstep, it is very dynamic and not static at all in it's loop constructions, and does not try to sound distorted like Techstep used to.

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Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that has its roots in London's early 2000s UK garage scene. The genre's name was coined by Ammunition Promotions. Musically, dubstep is distinguished by its dark mood, sparse rhythms, and emphasis on bass. Dubstep started to spread beyond small local scenes in late 2005 and early 2006, with many websites devoted to the genre appearing on the Internet and thus aiding the growth of the scene, such as dubstepforum, the download site Barefiles and blogs such as gutterbreakz. Simultaneously, the genre was receiving extensive coverage in music magazines such as The Wire and online publications such as Pitchfork Media. Interest in dubstep grew significantly after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs started championing the genre, beginning with a show devoted to it (entitled "Dubstep Warz") in January 2006.

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IDM

Intelligent dance music (commonly IDM) is a genre name invented in the early 1990s by the creators of an American online mailing list called the 'IDM list'. The term was used to refer to a number of post-techno artists who had extended the domain of electronic dance music (EDM) beyond the dance floor. The IDM electronic mailing list charter sought to characterize acts such as Leftfield, FSOL, Orb, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Black Dog, and B12 as intelligent dance music. Relative to styles of EDM that adhere to specific genre based production styles, IDM tends to be based more on an association with individualistic experimentation than on a particular set of musical characteristics. Contemporary IDM artists include Kettel, Ochre, Marumari, Proem, Lackluster, Arovane, Ulrich Schnauss, and Wisp.

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Breakcore

Breakcore is a loosely defined electronic music style that brings together elements of industrial, jungle, hardcore techno and IDM into a breakbeat-oriented sound that encourages speed, complexity, impact and maximum sonic density. Similar to punk, breakcore adheres to a loose set of stylistic 'rules' and is maybe defined more by an attitude than by a musical formula.

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