Dance Valley

Dance Valley a.k.a "The Woodstock of Dance" is an annual dance music festival held in the summer in Spaarnwoude, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1995 when 8,000 people attended where in 2009 it had 90,000 visitors. Dance Valley grew rapidly, both in duration and number of visitors. 2005 marked the first time the event lasted 3 days in the weekend with camping available for the attendees at the campsite. A record-breaking 53,000 people attended that year. Many famous DJs attend this festival such as Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk, and Tiesto.

Ultra Music Festival

Ultra Music Festival is an outdoor electronic music event held annually in Miami, Florida during the Winter Music Conference which occurs annually during the month of March. It is a 2 day event that takes place across 12 different stages bringing over 200 artists, DJs, producers and promoters. In 2005 the concert was so popular that it sold out. With the festival growing so big, in 2006 the Miami event had been moved to an even bigger place, Bicentennial Park. In 2007, with Winter Music Conference in full motion, Ultra Music Festival had its first 2 day event held at Bicentennial Park with a record breaking 50,000+ electronic music fans. Ultra Music Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29th, 2008, where an announcement was made that the festival had set a new City of Miami record for the number of tickets sold at a single event. It was estimated that over 70,000 people attended. This type of music just brings everyone from across the world to attend and just dance their asses off for hours. I think that this is the only type of music that really brings every culture together in a extraordinary scene each time.

Sensation

Sensation is an indoor dance event which originated in the Netherlands. The original event, which ran exclusively in the Amsterdam ArenA for a period of five years until 2005. Now it is now located throughout Poland, Spain, Chile, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia, Denmark, Lithuania, Portugal and Brazil. In 2000 and 2001, it was made up of one edition, just called Sensation, but it has now been split up into two editions: Sensation Black and Sensation White. This was done to differentiate the music and feeling more than would have been possible if it were one event. Sensation Black focuses more on 'darker' music, like Hardstyle and Hardcore, where Sensation White focuses more on House and Trance.

DJ

A disc jockey(DJ) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. There are several types of disc jockeys. Radio DJs introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, Shortwave, Digital, or internet radio stations. Club DJs select and play music in bars, nightclubs, discotheques, or at raves. Hip Hop disc jockeys select and play music using multiple turntables often to backup one or more MC, and they may also do turntable scratching to create percussive sounds. Mobile disc jockeys travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music at a variety of events.

House Music Artists

There are many house music artists out there, but there a few more noticeable ones that have come out in to the dance music. Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Carl Cox and DJ Tiesto are all examples of these new coming artists that make up of our house music today. All these artists are not native to USA and play in crazy music festivals that tour all around the world. Here is an interview that catches Carl Cox & Jon Rundell just before their event at Sanky's in Manchester UK. Coxy talks about his love for the US based techno record label Teggno Records, as well as Lance Blaise who recently toured Mexico with Cox, and finally Cox talks of his upcoming summer 2009 season at Space in Ibiza. Also in this interview they fill us in on what he has done with Teggno and what he has coming up in the near future with Cox.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl3CeeGUFwU - Interview

Creator of House Music

Frankie Knuckles laid the groundwork for house at the Warehouse, it was to be another DJ from the homosexual scene that created the environment for the house explosion, Ron Hardy. Where Knuckles' sound was still very much based on disco, Hardy was the DJ that went for the rawest and craziest rhythm tracks he could find and he made The Music Box the inspirational spot for pretty much every DJ and producer that was to blossom out of the Chicago scene. He was also the DJ to whom the producers took their very latest tracks so they could test the reaction on the dance floor.

House Music Termonolgy

Downbeat - The is the first beat of a loop and is signified with an accent or extra burst of sound from and instrument such as a crash symbol or hi hat. If a musical track contains 16 beat loops, we should hear a downbeat once every 16 beats.

Kick Drum - is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch

Snare Drum - is a drum with strandsmade of curled metal wire, metal cable, or plastic cable stretched across the bottom.

Four-to-the-floor - is a musical rhythm pattern used in disco and electronic dance music, characterized by a steady, uniformly accented beat played on the bass drum in 4/4 time.

Dance Clubs

Gatherings in clubs at night that involve music mixed by a DJ involve dancing and in most cases alcohol. Illegal use of drugs such as ecstasy are common in many modern clubs featuring electronic dance music. Clubs are often advertised by the handing out of flyers on the street, in record shops, and at other clubs and events, these are often very decorative and eye-catching. Clubs often feature lighting and other effects: flashing lights of many colors, moving light beams, laser light shows and smoke machines. One common item is a disco ball: a rotating sphere at the ceiling, covered with many small mirrors, with a light beam directed on it. The reflections form a show of moving light spots on the floor and on the people. Some night clubs will throw foam parties where the dance floor is filled with soap suds.

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Now playing: Tiësto - Adagio for Strings
via FoxyTunes

Tools to make House music

A Sampler is an electronic musical instrument which is similar to a synthesizer. Instead of creating sounds from scratch, a sampler beings with multiple recordings of different sounds added by the DJ, and then plays each back based on how the instrument is programmed. A Drum Machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to mimic the sound of drums and other percussion instruments. A Synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds by generating and combining signals of different frequencies. A Music Sequencer is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music. This was not used back in the day, they just controlled the voltage and notes.

Origin of House Music

House music is a style of electronic dance music that was created in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was popularized in mid-1980s night clubs catering to the African-American, Latino, and gay communities. Arriving first in Chicago, then in New York City and Detroit. It reached Europe before becoming infused in mainstream pop & dance music worldwide. House music is strongly influenced by elements of soul and funk infused varieties of disco. House music generally imitates disco's percussion, especially the use of the bass drum on every beat, but may feature synthesizer bassline, electronic drums, electronic effects, and reverb or delay enhanced vocals.