Intelligent dance music

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Intelligent dance music (commonly IDM) is a genre of electronic music derived from dance music of the 1980s and early 1990s which puts an emphasis on novel processing and sequencing.[1] IDM's roots in electronic dance are responsible for the term "Dance" in the genre name, which was originally applied to musicians like Aphex Twin and those on the Warp Records label.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1992, Warp Records released Artificial Intelligence, the first album in the Artificial Intelligence series. The record was a collection of tracks from artists such as Autechre, B12 (band), The Black Dog, Aphex Twin, and The Orb, under various aliases, as well as Richard H. Kirk and Speedy J.[2] These artists, among others, would eventually become the main topics of conversation in the IDM List, an electronic mailing list founded in August 1993.

While the initials IDM probably first appeared in music magazines some time between 1992 and 1993[citation needed], the term caught on with the formation of the mailing list. Artists that appeared in discussions on the list included Autechre, Atom Heart, LFO, Aphex Twin and others on Rephlex Records, dub artists such as The Orb, Richard H. Kirk, and Future Sound of London, and even artists like System 7, William Orbit, Sabres of Paradise, Orbital, Plastikman and Björk.

Warp's second Artificial Intelligence compilation was released in 1994, featuring posts from the mailing list in the sleeve notes. During this period the experimental electronic music produced by Warp Records artists such as Polygon Window (an alias of Richard D. James), Autechre, LFO, B12, Seefeel, and The Black Dog, gained popularity among electronic music fans, who were beginning to call the music IDM. Lesser-known artists on the Likemind label and Kirk Degiorgio's A.R.T. and Op-Art labels, including Degiorgio himself under various names (As One, Future/Past, Esoterik), Steve Pickton (Stasis), and Nurmad Jusat (Nuron) were also branded IDM, along with artists like Björk and Future Sound of London. The majority of the IDM during this era was produced in Britain, with a few exceptions, such as Sun Electric from Berlin, coming from other parts of Europe.

In the late 1990s record labels from around the globe began to notice IDM artists pushing electronic "listening music" in new directions. Notable artists from this period include Boards of Canada and others on the Skam Records label, many of which were beginning to use software synthesis, a technology that had recently become possible to use on ordinary personal computers.

During this period, In addition to the growing influence of Warp Records, IDM production greatly increased in the United States. In Miami, Florida, labels like Schematic, Merck Records, Nophi Recordings, and The Beta Bodega Coalition released material by artists such as Phoenecia, Dino Felipe, Machinedrum, and Proem. Another burgeoning scene was the Chicago/Milwaukee area, with labels such as Addict, Chocolate Industries, Hefty, and Zod supporting artists like Doormouse, Trs-80 and Emotional Joystick.

In the new century, the growing popularity of cheap music production software and software piracy allowed many Internet-based artists to publish their own work. The recent surge of software piracy has enabled amateur IDM musicians to use the same high-end programs that professionals use. Developed out of the IDM community during this time was a filesharing program called Soulseek, which underground artists used to share their music and make contacts. The artists Khonnor and Venetian Snares went on from Soulseek to earn public acclaim[citation needed]. Soulseek is still associated strongly with the IDM scene through Soulseek Records, which specializes in IDM.

IDM has also influenced the rock and post-rock scenes. In particular, Radiohead has cited Aphex Twin and Warp Records as influences.

[edit] Characteristics

Samples of IDM:

As a genre, IDM is derived from many other styles including drum and bass, ambient, house, techno, hip hop, UK garage, and even jazz. Other influences include musique concrète and avant-garde composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis.

Tempo in IDM varies from quite slow in downtempo IDM to very fast in breakcore-derived styles, with most pieces lying between 100 and 140 beats per minute. Drum sequences tend to be complex, with some artists incorporating disorienting rhythmic figures such as obscured downbeats.

Allmusic Guide describes the following moods on Warp's first Artificial Intelligence compilation: eerie, cold, circular, restrained, cerebral, nocturnal, detached, etheral, hypnotic, wintry, and clinical[2].

A 2001 monthly editorial in Audiogalaxy stated that IDM producers use "squelched beats, jagged synth lines, static washes, electrical shorts" and other odd sounds, and that IDM "defies rhythmic convention," introducing sudden changes in rhythm. Besides these musical features, the editorial points out that IDM is typically difficult to dance to.[3]:

[edit] Sound production in IDM

IDM is made using advanced sequencing and synthesis software such as Ableton Live, Cubase, Reason, Reaktor, FL Studio, Renoise, Logic Pro and Max/MSP. Venetian Snares, for example, uses Med Sound Studio, a free tracking software package, while[4] Proem uses Fruityloops in his studio setup.[5] The wide availability of VST instruments and effects in software packages and online has led to certain sounds becoming common in IDM production. Some of the more common types of effects include bit reduction, or decreasing the sample rate and bit depth of the signal, resampling, where the signal is sampled and replayed, and granular synthesis, where the signal is chopped up and reconstructed at a new tempo or pitch.

[edit] Live Performance

Live IDM performances are commonly played entirely on laptop computers with MIDI controllers, using software like Ableton Live or programming languages like Max. "Groove boxes" such as the Roland MC-909 are used as well. The amount of pre-sequenced and pre-recorded material versus real-time production generally varies from one performance to the next. In many cases, live performance is a combination of the two. Software and hardware is constantly being developed to make reaching this balance more seamless.

Some IDM artists attempt to liven their performances by maximising the amount of live effect manipulation, incorporating on-stage or off-stage props and visual effects, and using live instruments. Michael Manning and Squarepusher both perform live instruments on stage, Aphex Twin has used giant bunny props in his performances, and Plaid has used visual effects on stage.

[edit] Origins and criticisms of the name 'IDM'

The first mention of IDM is believed to have occurred in British music magazines such as NME and Melody Maker around 1991.[citation needed]

In November 1991, the phrase "intelligent dance music" appeared on Usenet in reference to Coil's "The Snow" EP.[6] The phrase "intelligent techno" first appeared on Usenet in April 1993 in reference to The Black Dog's album Bytes.[7]

Wider public use of such terms on the Internet did not come until August 1993, when "intelligent dance music" and its initials were adopted in the name and charter of the IDM electronic mailing list:

"IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) is a forum for the discussion of what has been termed 'intelligent' music – that is, music that moves the mind, not just the body. There is no specific definition of intelligence in music, however, artists that I see as appropriate are FSOL, Orb, Orbital, Richard James (aka Aphex Twin), Black Dog, B12, and various others from Warp's Artificial Intelligence series. Of course, the list is open to all interpretations of intelligent dance music."[8]

Among listmembers, debates over whether or not a particular artist, label, or piece of music being discussed was IDM, or whether the term was a legitimate and useful descriptor of a genre, were increasingly prevalent as the forum matured.

Allmusic Guide describes the IDM name as "A loaded term meant to distinguish electronic music of the '90s and later that's equally comfortable on the dancefloor as in the living room, IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) eventually acquired a good deal of negative publicity, not least among the legion of dance producers and fans whose exclusion from the community prompted the question of whether they produced stupid dance music." [1]

In a September 1997 interview, Aphex Twin commented on the 'Intelligent Dance Music' label: "I just think it's really funny to have terms like that. It's basically saying 'this is intelligent and everything else is stupid.' It's really nasty to everyone else's music. (laughs) It makes me laugh, things like that. I don't use names. I just say that I like something or I don't."[9]

Other alternatives that have been used to describe the music include "electronic listening music," "armchair techno," "intelligent techno," "intelli-tech," "listening techno," "art techno," and "experimental techno." Rephlex records prefers the term "Braindance", of which Dave Segal of Stylus Magazine asked whether it was a "snide dig at IDM’s mockworthy Intelligent Dance Music tag?" [10]

[edit] Criticisms of IDM

Journalist and Electrical Audio recording engineer Steve Albini says of IDM "As the idiom developed, the music became more and more about the novelty of certain sounds and treatments, ridiculously trivial aspects like tempo and choice of samples, and the public personae of the makers. It became a race to novelty. I find that kind of evolution beneath triviality. It is a decorative, not substantive, evolution."

Kid 606 has said "I hate IDM and its elitist champions. It makes the music sound so much more than it actually is. It's a label invented by PR companies who need catchphrases. I like sounds, but hate what people attach to sounds." [11]

[edit] Notable IDM artists

For a thorough list of IDM artists with articles on Wikipedia, see Category:IDM musicians.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Allmusic Guide. Overview of IDM [1]
  2. ^ a b Allmusic Guide, Overview of Artificial Intelligence [2]
  3. ^ http://www.audiogalaxy.com/pages/dept.php?id=1&editorial_id=80
  4. ^ Sound on Sound, interview with Mike Paradinas and Aaron Funk, May 2002 [3]
  5. ^ n5md records, interview with Proem.[4]
  6. ^ Google Groups archive of rec.music.industrial, "Coil, The Snow EP" [5]
  7. ^ Google Groups archive of alt.rave, "miniREVIEWS galore (No hardcore please, we're Finnish)" [6]
  8. ^ Google Groups archive of alt.rave, "list announcement: IDM" [7]
  9. ^ Aphex Twin interview, September, 1997 [8]
  10. ^ Rephlexions!: A Braindance Compilation, 20/11/2003, Dave Segal, Stylus Magazine, [9]
  11. ^ Kid606 Ultrahang festival

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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