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Garage (dance music)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical genres, styles,
eras and events

   Garage is any of several different varieties of modern electronic dance
   music generally connected to house or disco. Usage is different in the
   US and UK.

   The term was first coined in the US to describe records in the late 70s
   and early 80s that formed the eclectic playlist of the " Paradise
   Garage" nightclub in New York City. Over time, the term in the US came
   to mainly describe the more soulful, gospel-inspired styles of disco
   and house music first made popular by Tony Humphries at club Zanzibar
   in Newark, NJ.

   The evolution of house music in the UK in the mid 1990s led to the term
   being applied to a new form of music also known as speed garage, House
   and Garage and Underground Garage. In the late nineties the term UK
   Garage was settled upon by the scene. This style is now frequently
   combined with other forms of music like hip hop, rap and R&B, all
   broadly filed under the description urban music. The correct
   pronunciation of UK Garage is "Gah-ridge" (rather than the American
   pronunciation "grr-ahge"), as this is the most common pronunciation of
   the word in the British Isles.

   Artists like DJ Luck and MC Neat, Oxide and Neutrino, The Artful Dodger
   and numerous others have made Garage music mainstream in the UK, whilst
   Dizzee Rascal's and Wiley's arrival raised the profile of Grime, an
   offshoot of Garage. However on the East London underground scene Garage
   is distinctly different, it has a much more raw sound, placing a
   greater emphasis on electronic beats and rhythms.

   "'Garage' is one of the most mangled terms in dance music. The term
   derives from the Paradise Garage itself, but it has meant so many
   different things to so many different people that unless you're talking
   about a specific time and place, it is virtually meaningless. Part of
   the reason for this confusion (aside from various journalistic
   misunderstandings and industry misappropriations) is that the range of
   music played at the Garage was so broad. The music we now call 'garage'
   has evolved from only a small part of the club's wildly eclectic
   soundtrack." -- Frank Broughton/Bill Brewster in Last Night A DJ Saved
   My Life

2step

   2Step (also known as 2 step, two step or 2 step garage) is a typically
   British style of modern dance music, and one of the two major sub-
   genres of UK Garage (although UK Garage is sometimes imprecisely used
   as a synonym for 2Step), together with its brother 4x4 Garage.

History

   The roots of 2Step are embedded in (US) garage, a form of house music
   named after the legendary New York club Paradise Garage, where some DJs
   (e.g. Larry Levan) started playing this style of dance music during the
   1980s.

   In the UK, where jungle and techno were strong at the time, Garage was
   played in the second room at Jungle parties (as counterpart to
   chill-out rooms at techno parties). As Jungle tracks are usually much
   faster compared to (US) Garage, DJs in the UK started to speed up
   Garage tracks to make them more suitable for the jungle audience in the
   UK. The media started to call this fast-played garage music "Speed
   Garage", 2Step's predecessor. DJs usually played dub versions
   (arrangements without vocals) of Garage tracks, which do not sound odd
   when played faster. The absence of vocals left a lot of empty space for
   MCs, who started rhyming to the records. Since then MCs became one of
   the vital aspects of Speed and UK Garage parties and records. Early
   promoters of Speed Garage included the Dreem Team and Tuff Jam and many
   pirate radio stations like Freeze FM, Deja Vu, Erotic FM or Kiss FM.
   The Speed Garage scene was also called the "Sunday Scene". The reason
   behind this was that it was difficult to hire a club at that time for a
   party playing any other sound than the predominant Jungle or Hardcore.
   So the only available night for Speed Garage was Sunday night. Popular
   party labels who focused on this kind of music were Deja Vu, Spread
   Love and Twice as Nice. Some people hail 'RIP Groove' by Double-99 as
   the very first true speed garage track. It was characterised by a
   speeded-up house-style beat complimented by the rolling snares and a
   reverse-warped bassline sound that were popular with the drum'n'bass
   producers of the time. Some time after its original release, this track
   recreated the club/MC feel by adding a rap vocal from MC Top Cat and
   was re-released in 1998 to great commercial success.

   Speed garage already incorporated many aspects of today's UK Garage
   (and 2Step) sound like sub-bass lines, ragga vocals, spin backs and
   reversed drums. What changed over time, until the so called 2Step sound
   emerged, was the addition of further funky elements like RnB vocals,
   more shuffled beats and a different drum pattern. The most radical
   change from Speed Garage to 2Step was the removal of the 2nd and 4th
   bass kick from each bar (see "Characteristics" for more details). So
   you could say that 2Step actually has taken the speed out of Speed
   Garage. This energy-deficit is compensated by syncoping bass lines and
   the percussive use of other instruments like pads, strings and
   pizzicatos.

   While there were many key players involved in making UK Garage the most
   hyped dance music genre around the turn of the century, some of them
   really stand out. Among those Todd Edwards, who is sometimes cited as
   the most influential person on the whole UK Garage scene. The producer
   from New Jersey, who never actually made any 2Step track, changed the
   whole way of working with vocals. Instead of having full verses and
   choruses, he picked out vocal phrases and played them like an
   instrument. This became possible through the use of sampling
   technology. Edwards' way of chopping vocals and using them in a very
   unusual manner was adopted by many UK Garage producers and is still a
   very characteristic element of the whole UK Garage vibe.

   The UK's "answer" to Todd Edwards was MJ Cole, a classically trained
   oboe and piano player, who became very successful with his own songs
   "Sincere" and "Crazy Love".

   Arguably one of the earliest examples of a 2-step track is 'Never Gonna
   Let You Go' by Tina Moore. Jess Jackson was responsible for many Garage
   records but one which stood out was "Hobsons Choice". The B Side of
   this record changed the UK Garage scene from funky and soulfull to dark
   and bassy. This track in many peoples eyes was the beginning of "
   Grime"

   The producer duo The Artful Dodger, aka Pete Devereu and Mark Hill, who
   (together with Craig David) were very successful with the track
   "Re-rewind", which became an anthem for the whole 2Step scene.

   Recent developments are showing an evolvement into two main directions:
   firstly, 2Step is moving away from its glamorous appeal into a darker
   direction called Grime. This sound is much harder and rougher than its
   predecessor. This is one of the reasons why 2Step is being pushed back
   underground again, as more and more people turn away from the
   "negative" sound. Secondly, you see 4x4 Garage gaining popularity,
   which is a convergence towards UK Garage's mother House music. This
   sound abandons the classical 2Step patterns used for UK Garage, as it
   employs the old "4 to the floor" drum pattern (see "Characteristics) as
   it is used in many forms of electronic music.

Characteristics

   2Step is a melting pot of ideas incorporating elements from a wide
   field of different styles (mainly house, Drum and bass, rhythm and
   blues and Hip Hop) and has produced a large spectrum of different
   sounding songs/tracks over the last few years. What holds all 2Step
   productions together is the basic logic of the drum patterns, which
   also denominated the name of this style of electronic dance music.

Bass kick and snare drum

   Different from other styles of electronic dance music (e.g. most forms
   of house and techno), 2Step does not use a so called "4 to the floor"
   bass drum, which hits strictly on every beat of a bar (usually those
   types of music have 4/4 bars and therefore you will have 4 bass kicks
   per bar, which explains the name of this bass drum pattern). 2Step
   differs from this scheme as its bass kicks basically skip the 2nd and
   the 4th beat of each bar. Additionally, besides the first bass kick
   (which usually rests on the first beat), the other kicks are also moved
   away from the main beats of the bar and create a busy and skippy
   feeling. What holds the pattern together is a powerful snare drum on
   the 2nd and the 4th beat. There may be additional snare drums to add
   further groove and drive to the pattern, but you will always have a
   snare drum which emphasizes the 2nd and 4th beat of any bar.
   A basic 2step pattern within Cubase SX. Please click on the thumbnail
   for a larger image and the audio file of the loop
   Enlarge
   A basic 2step pattern within Cubase SX. Please click on the thumbnail
   for a larger image and the audio file of the loop

Other drum sounds

   Alongside the basic kick and snare, the drum kit used for 2step
   consists of closed and open hi-hats which give the pattern the needed
   drive to create a busy groove. Furthermore you will find additional
   snare drums, and other kinds of percussion, which will vary from song
   to song. The sound of the drum elements is often slightly distorted, as
   most of them are "second-hand", which means, that they are manipulated
   by various kind of sound-modifying techniques and are difficult to
   classify.

Bass

   As 2step was heavily influenced by Jungle, the bass lines play a strong
   role for the 2step sound. Often you have very dominant sub-bass lines,
   which generate heavy pressure if heard in the club or on a sound system
   which is able to play low frequencies. Sometimes these bass lines are
   doubled with an organ. Mostly you will find bass melodies of two bars
   length, which are interacting with the drum pattern.

Heavy shuffle

   Most 2Step tracks are heavily shuffled, which gives the tracks a swing
   feeling. This means that you move away from a metronomic and strict to
   a more natural sounding drum pattern, which creates a very busy and
   nervous feeling. This swing beat is quickly applied to the whole track,
   as the "quantisation function" of modern music production programs
   (e.g. Cubase or Logic) allows the application of a shuffle feeling with
   the push of a button.
   A second example of a 2step pattern. Please click on the thumbnail for
   a larger image and the audio file of the loop
   Enlarge
   A second example of a 2step pattern. Please click on the thumbnail for
   a larger image and the audio file of the loop

Tune

   Basically you will find two different kinds of tunes among 2step
   tracks. Firstly, you will find tracks that are very upbeat and create a
   positive vibe. Mostly these tracks contain full vocal arrangements and
   are very bright and crisp sounding. Many R'n'B bootlegs and remixes go
   into this direction. Secondly, there are tracks that have a more bass
   oriented composition. There the main focus is on a heavy bass line that
   is already meant to be the hook of the track. Sometimes there exist
   many different versions of the same track to cover both aspects of
   2step music and it's the listener's (or the DJ's) choice which track he
   prefers.

DJs

   The first commercial Garage (UKG) album was "Pure Garage" produced and
   mixed by the now legendary DJ EZ. There are now half a dozen Pure
   Garage albums available, and you can still hear DJ EZ on Kiss 100, 10pm
   •12pm on Friday nights.

MCs

   As described in the history part, you will find tons of 2step records
   with MCs rhyming to the music. This is very characteristic for 2step
   tracks. Often you will find separate versions of the same tune, one
   with the MC's rhymes and one without it. The reason for this is that at
   2step parties you mostly have live MCs rhyming to the music and DJs
   will therefore play versions without the recorded MCs to leave enough
   space for the live MC's voice.

Notable Tracks

     * Groovechronicles"stonecold"
     * The Artful Dodger feat. Craig David - "Re-Rewind"
     * Dem2 - "Destiny"
     * MJ Cole - "Sincere"
     * Monsta Boy - "I'm Sorry"
     * N'n'G - "Liferide"
     * So Solid Crew - "21 Seconds"
     * Groovechronicles - "1999"
     * Sisqó - "Thong Song" ( The Artful Dodger Remix)
     * Sunship - "Try Me Out (Let Me Lick It)"
     * Underdog Project - "Summer Jam"
     * Wideboys - "Sambucca"
     * Groovechronicles - "We can get down" myron
     * N'n'G - "Right Before My Eyes"
     * Shola Ama - "Imagine (Club Asylum Remix)"
     * Sweet Female Attitude - "Flowers"
     * Amar - "Sometimes It Snows In April"

     * TJ Cases - "Do It Again"
     * TJ Cases - "Don't Stop"

     * Smoking Beats - "Dreams"

     * TJR feat. Xavier - "Just Gets Better"
     * Roy davis JR - "Gabriel"

     * B15 Project - Girls Like Us
     * Kristine Blond - "Love Shy"
     * Tina Moore - "Never Gonna Let You Go"
     * Lonyo - "Garage girls"
     * Ramsey & fen - "Love bug"
     * Kele Le Roc - "My love" - 10 Degrees Below Mix
     * Jaheim- "Just in case" - Garage remix
     * Oxide & Neutrino - "Bound 4 da Reload"

4x4 Garage

   4x4 Garage is a variety of UK garage with drums consisting of a bass
   drum on each beat in the bar, similar in style to house music.

   4x4 garage was the most common form of garage before 2 step garage
   became more popular. Since the "death" of garage in the mainstream and
   the increased popularity of grime, 4x4 has once again become the
   favoured drum pattern for producers of UK garage.

   The terms "4x4", "Speed Garage" and "Bassline House" have become
   interchangeable in today's 4/4 garage scene, although speed garage is
   often used to falsely identify 2 step or UK garage. Bassline House and
   4x4 Beats will sound the same to most people, unless they listen to it
   often, in which case it is easy to distinguish these two different
   styles.

   Since the turn of the new millennium, this brand of garage has re
   emerged as a firm favourite with UK clubbers, resulting in the return
   of the term "raving" among clubbers. A number of new producers, DJ's
   and nightclubs have also emerged of the back of its success, including
   DJ Joe Hunt, Danny Bond, Naughty Nick, and Big Ang. Many major clubs
   such as Air, Moonlounge and Radius have hosted speed garage nights and
   promotions, while the longstanding champion of the 4x4 garage sound
   Niche Nightclub from Sheffield (shut down, since reopened) plays speed
   garage exclusively.

4x4 Tracks

     * Double 99 - "Rip Groove"
     * Sneaker Pimps - "Spin Spin Sugar" ( Armand Van Helden's Dark Garage
       Remix)
     * Mark "Ruff" Ryder - "Joy"
     * Paleface feat. LSG "Again And Again"
     * Paul Johnson - "She Got Me On" ( Todd Edwards remix)
     * One Dark Martian feat. Mary Turner - "It Doesn't Have To Be"
     * Scandalous Unlimited - "Watford Weather" (Duncan Powell Remix)

Notable Artists

     * DJ EZ
     * Matt "Jam" Lamont
     * Karl "Tuff Enuff" Brown
     * Todd Edwards
     * MJ Cole
     * Artful Dodger
     * Wookie
     * Noodles aka Groovechronicles
     * Artifact
     * Delinquent
     * DJ Zinc
     * Shanks & Bigfoot
     * MC Dynamite
     * Heartless Crew
     * Oxide & Neutrino ( So Solid Crew members)
     * So Solid Crew
     * Craig David
     * Duncan Powell
     * Qualifide
     * DJ D&G
     * DJ Streaky
     * DJ Charma
     * DJ Elski
     * Richard Dolby
     * D-Tox
     * DJ Slimzee (grime)
     * Wiley (grime)
     * Ed Rush
     * DJ Booda
     * DJ Veteran
     * FX Logik (United States)
     * DJ Kor (United States)
     * DJ Parallax (United States)
     * Mark "Ruff" Ryder

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