House music – origin and history
House Music, in the late 80s the sound split into many sub-genres because the term “house music” became many things to many people. Much of the world associated house as either Euro-led trance, or Hard House – a purer electronic, and less melodic sound favoured by some mainstream radio stations and known DJs.
Deep House commonly appeared as a genre in the early 90s, describing a more melodic, stylish sound with influences from soul, jazz and African beats, with many of the earlier tracks being sampled chords and beats. The jazzy sound became more apparent due to the favoured use of electronic pianos such as the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hammond B3 organ.
Examples of well known Deep House artists and producers include Kerri Chandler, Joe Claussell, Mateo & Matos, Roland Clark and Ron Trent. Some of the early record labels included Henry Street, Nervous Records, King Street, etc.
In more recent years Deep House tends to refer to tracks on the “spacier” side of Soulful House and tends to imply less vocals, deeper tones, heavy organ chords and hypnotic synth sounds. It originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Deep house tracks generally have a tempo of between 120 and 125 beats per minute (BPM).
This style of house music can often have an acoustic feeling. Deep house and deep techno also have a nice chill out feel and makes for nice easy listening. The online music store Beatport is credited with driving the popularity of deep house, but also mislabeling a number of artists in the process and giving rise to the future house genre.
Deep house is known for tempos typically from 120bpm-125bpm, spacious use of percussion elements, muted basslines, soft keyboard sounds (pads), use of advanced chord structures, ambient mixes, and soulful vocals (if any). Lyrics usually focus on positive/uplifting or forlorn modern blues lyrics.
In the early compositions (1986–89), influences of jazz music were most frequently brought out by using more complex chords than simple triads (7ths, 9ths, 13ths, suspensions, alterations) which are held for many bars and give compositions a slightly dissonant feel. The use of vocals became more common in deep house than in many other forms of house music. Sonic qualities include soulful vocals (if vocals are included), slow and concentrated pleasantly dissonant melodies, and a smooth, stylish, and chic demeanor. The use of women’s vocals is more common than males in deep house tracks. Deep house music rarely reaches a climax, but lingers on as a comfortable, hypnotic and relaxing sound. Click Here for more info
Stylistic origins: Disco, electronic music, synth-pop, post-disco, Hi-NRG, boogie, funk, soul, jazz-funk, post-punk
Cultural origins: Early 1980s, Chicago, United States
