About Steven Jewell Expertise I can answer questions on all genres of dance and club music, including identifying songs and artists, and specific enquiries on DJs, clubs and tune recommendations
Experience I have been a DJ for the past 7 years, playing a variety of music live and on radio
Question Whats the differnce between Club, Rave, Techno and Trance music?
Answer Hi there,
This question is one that is difficult to find a precise answer to, because many different people in the dance music world would define these styles in their own unique way. I'm going to try and give you a definition and examples for each area, but remember that this is only my personal understanding on them.
I would define club music as any sort of user-friendly, commercial dance music. Basically, I mean music that is dance-orientated, but is commercial and chart-based at the same time. Examples would be artists such as DJ Sammy.
Rave is the harder end of the dance spectrum, encompassing things like happy hardcore, and the harder styles of trance and hard house. Basically if you like your dance music to be totally banging, fast and loud, this is the style for you. However, rave also has its roots in old skool music from the 90s, so check out artists like Hixxy (Happy Hardcore), Anne Savage and Rachel Auburn (Hard House) and The Prodigy (Old Skool Rave).
Techno is an area of dance music that is growing, and has many subareas that must be considered. Techno for me is the more repetitive area of dance music, concentrating more on the beat, with a repetitive hook to keep you listening. Check out artists like Mauro Picotto and DJ Rush, and if you want the harder side of techno, look at the DJ Fergie.
Trance is such a wide area too, with subareas such as commercial trance, hard trance, acid trance (the more techno-style trance), melodic trance and many more. Trance is essentially the style of dance music that concentrates on a nice melody, and this melody will form the basis of the track, with everything else such as the bassline and vocals, working around it. Trance has breakdowns, where the melody is alone, building up to the powerful return of the beat, and it works by this "up and down" motion from breakdown to banging tune. Check out what I consider to be the best example of this, Square - Nova (4 Strings Remix).
