| Progressive | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | House Trance Techno Balearic Beat Freestyle Breakbeat Drum & bass Hi-NRG Eurodance |
| Cultural origins | 1990-1992 UK |
| Typical instruments | Synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, sampler, electronic keyboard, personal computer, keyboard |
| Mainstream popularity | 1993-1995 (1st Wave), 1999-2001 (2nd Wave), Club/Rave Popularity Worldwide |
| Subgenres | |
| Dream House / trance, Melodic trance, Nu skool breaks, Neurofunk, Progressive Trance | |
| Other topics | |
| Tech house/trance, Psytrance, GRP fusion | |
In electronic dance music (EDM) [1] the term progressive is often used to denote a novel stylistic development within a specific genre of dance music. According to the DJ and producer Carl Craig, the term "progressive" was used in Detroit in the early 80s in reference to Italo Disco. The music was dubbed "progressive" because it drew upon the influence of Giorgio Moroder's Eurodisco rather than the Disco inspired by the symphonic sound of Philadelphia soul. In the late 1980s UK music journalist Simon Reynolds introduced the term "progressive dance" to describe album oriented acts such as 808 State, The Orb, Bomb the Bass, and The Shamen.[2]
Between 1990 to 1992, Progressive referred to the short-form buzz word for the House music sub-genre Progressive House.[3] Roots of Progressive House can be traced back to the 1990 to 1992 rave and club scene in England, Scotland, Canada, America, Ibiza, and mainland Europe. A combination of US House, UK House, Italian House, European Techno, and Trance largely influenced one another during this era.[4] The term was used mainly as a marketing label to differentiate new rave House from traditional American House.[5] The buzz word emerged out of the rave scene around 1990 to 1992, describing a new sound of House that broke away from its American roots.[6] The label Progressive House was often used interchangeably with Trance in the early years.[7]
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Progressive is thought to have served as an influence for at least four different dance electronic music genres that strongly influenced each other in the first half of the 1990 decade in Europe. Two of the most precursory of these genres, house and trance music, have been colliding in style on numerous occasions during this time. Their collision can be seen as influence of trance, techno, and house.
Earliest tracks were purely instrumental and featured dub-influenced basslines of house mixed with high-energy Roland TB-303 riffs, at various points, and superimposed over the regular 4-to-4 beat rhythm.
Popularized in Great Britain, progressive met considerable success in nightclubs in France and Germany starting 1995. Upon becoming widespread in Western Europe, sound contrasted analogue instrumental melody (mostly violin or piano) with regularized basslines, with effort from such producers as Robert Miles and Nylon Moon. Miles has even defined the result as "dream dance" (often dubbed "dream house" or "dream trance" today), which is considered to be the first of the subgenres of progressive to reach mainstream popularity. By 1994, it gained attention from worldwide DJs, and also fused with other than prominent dance genres, notably breakbeat, drum'n'bass and techno.
1993-1995 is considered to be the first peak of progressive as practically any electronica composition produced around that time featured elements of progressive. As house-trance fusion remained the primary example of progressive, notable later tracks included mixed digital and analogue sound. Examples of this can be found in Luna Park's Space Melody (1998) and AnnaGrace's Castles In The Sky (2001). A second peak occurred in 1999-2001 evident when DJs Sasha and John Digweed rose to the top of the DJ polls. By 2002 the movement was strongly superseded by Dutch Trance evident when Tiesto rose to the top poll position, showcasing the new popular dance music sound. Tech House ultimately started influencing the Progressive scene in 2004 evident when Bedrock Records, an influential label (emerging during 2nd Wave) of the genre, started a shift towards Tech House releases.[8]
Although no firm classification rules exist, the structure consists of House with notable variations. For example, phrases are usually a power of two number of bars and begin with the introduction of a new or different melody or rhythm. The tempo generally ranges from 120 to 135 bpm (which is faster than typical earlier house). Such structure is intuitively described as consisting of three major structural elements: (1) build-up; (2) breakdown ; (3) climax. These three structural elements are expressed either temporally or in their intensity, if not both. A 'build-up' sequence can sometimes last up to 3 or even 4 minutes. Subtle incremental/decremental acoustic variations (i.e., gradual addition/subtraction of instruments) anticipate the transition to each subsequent structural element of the track. The initial build-up and the final break-down are generally very similar, adding a feel of symmetry to the general structure of the melody. A Progressive House track is usually longer than a regular composition House track, ranging in length from 8 to 12 minutes (as opposed to 5—6 of radio format).
Mediterranean Progressive was another buzz-word found mainly in the Italian dance music scene around the years 1995 to 1996. Its sound is characterized by an upbeat bassline and typical synth parts that give an epic feeling to the tracks. It can be considered very close to the style called Dream Trance.
Another stylistic buzz-word, being Progressive Trance, emerged at some undocumented date (although speculated to be the early to mid 2000's period) within the dance music scene. Progressive Trance is a term used to describe dance music productions that fall somewhere in between Progressive House and Trance.
Notable genre DJs include: Sasha, Hernan Cattaneo, James Holden, John Digweed, Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, James Zabiela, Eddie Halliwell, Jason Jollins, Max Graham, Danny Howells, Anthony Pappa, Fourthstate, Dinka, and Guy J. DJs who originated from the same branch, but have later on followed trance movement include Laurent Veronnez, the dirty socks, Mike Dierickx, Matt Darey, Vibrasphere, Miika Kuisma, Brian Transeau (aka BT), Christopher Lawrence, Armin van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Above and Beyond, and Markus Schulz. Progressive house/trance usual labels include Acute Recordings, Anjunadeep, Armada Music, Audiotherapy, Baroque Records, Bedrock Records, Global Underground, Renaissance Recordings, Vapour Records, Sudbeat, and Silk Digital Records.
Progressive breaks essentially grew out of nu skool breaks and progressive house. Due to its origins in those genres, progressive breakbeat typically features atmospheric pads and melodies. Most artists working in this genre also work in other closely related genres such as breakbeats and progressive house. Hybrid is one of the most popular artists in this genre. Other popular breaks artists include Digital Witchcraft, Luke Chable, Momu, and Way Out West.
There are a few forms of drum & bass considered progressive. Neurofunk, a variant of the techstep subgenre, incorporates elements of jazz, funk, and multiple electronic influences, including techno and house. The style also follows the progressive form found in other genres. Drumfunk, a relatively new subgenre, could also be considered progressive. Contemporary atmospheric drum'n'bass and Liquid funk have also been described as progressive.
Progressive techno (short "progtech") is a very limited term for a subgenre of progressive appearing in 1999—00, which consisted of mixing progression into elements of techno, usually resulting in half-dance compositions. Progtech songs tend to feature steadier than regular techno beats (ranging from around 100 to 120 BPM), but usually derive on higher tones where their electronic sound becomes heard. This has a purpose of indicating that the instruments themselves are electronic in nature. There are no notable definite progtech artists, however both Moby and The Prodigy used elements of progtech in their later albums.
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