House may refer to a certain genre of
electronic dance music, of which it was one of the earliest forms. It has split into a bewildering number of styles, some of which are described here.
A
Chicago derivative built around the
Roland TB-303 bassline machine. Hard, uncompromising, tweaking samples produce a hypnotic effect.
Mixing the moody atmospheric sounds of
New Age and
Ambient music with pulsating house beats.
Simple basslines, driving four-on-the-floor percussion and textured keyboard lines are the elements of the original house sound.
A slower variant of house (around 120
BPM) with warm sometimes hypnotic melodies that originated in
San Francisco.
A variant of
progressive house featuring lush synth-fills and dramatic beat breakdowns.
A late 1990s house sound developed in France. Inspired by the '70s and '80s
funk and
disco sounds. Mostly features a typical sound "filter" effect.
New York's version of deep house, named after legendary club the Paradise Garage. May also be called the Jersey Sound due to the close connection many of its artists and producers have with New Jersey.
The simple fusion of rap rhymes with house beats.
Slick production techniques, catchy melodies, rousing piano lines and American vocal styling typifies the Italian House sound.
Club New York's uptempo dance music, referred to simply as club music by some.
The use of house production styles to make traditional pop artists more acceptable on the dancefloor results in the pop house phenomenon.
Tech substitutes typical booming house kickdrums with shorter, often distorted kicks, smaller hihats, and noisier snares. House's funky jazz loops are replaced with techno-sounding synth lines.
See also: History of House Music --
Techno