Big room house

Big room house sample

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Big room house or simply big room is a subgenre of electro house that gained popularity in the early 2010s after artists like KSHMR, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Nicky Romero, Blasterjaxx, Martin Garrix and R3HAB began infusing it into their musical style.^[1]

The genre is generally set at a tempo that falls between 126 and 132 bpm. Songs typically include long buildups followed by an electro-style drop accompanied by the four on the floor kick drums typical of house music. Melodies are often simple and minimal, though a trance-inspired supersaw is frequently used.^[1][2]

History

In the early 2010s, big room house began developing and gained popularity at electronic dance music events and festivals. Despite being considered a subgenre of electro house, big room house has been developing into a genre of its own.^{[3][failed verification]}

Martin Garrix's "Animals" is a big room house song, as is Hardwell's "Spaceman" (2012).^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, Beatport added the Big Room genre, putting producers such as Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner under the category.^[4]

Structure

The structure of big room house songs is similar to that of American progressive house of the late 2000s.^{[according to whom?]} There are two build-ups complete with breaks, two drop sections, and one or two breakdowns, one of which may or may not include the intro/outro phase. Unlike progressive house, big room is adapted to radio edited format and features either the first or the second build-up usually much longer than the other one. In case of remixes, one usually features the whole vocal/riff sample of the initial song, while the other build-up is a simple break that is significantly shorter and prepares the listener for the drop.^{[citation needed]}

Big room features relative minimalism, with the sound enhanced by 'large-hall' reverb effects.^[5] One bassline, often aided by one or two highs and lows, creates the mood for the whole composition. This bassline is reverberated so that the echo is cut and spontaneously released only on 1/4 of the tab, usually the last. Unlike in electro house proper, where the bass itself is subject to additional wave effects (such as attack, threshold and sustain) to beautify the melody, in big room house, only the way the sound is released plays a major role. Henceforth, the drum beats are made minimal, sometimes with only a kick or tom and a couple of hi-hat.^{[citation needed]}

Origins and popularity

Big room first appeared in early 2010 and was influenced by famous early electro house tracks, such as Benny Bennassi's "Satisfaction".^{[citation needed]} Techno music, a similarly build-up centric, reverb-heavy genre, was also central in the genre's formation, with some EDM commentators even dubbing big room "Trance 2.0."^[6] The increasing role of North American progressive (such as Deadmau5 and Kaskade) and the introduction of electronic sounds in mainstream pop music at the same time also influenced the scene significantly. Swedish groups such as Swedish House Mafia and Dada Life were among the first to experiment with big room by mid-2010.^{[citation needed]}

By 2012, popular music artists started to include "big room" elements into their songs. Examples include "This Is Love" by will.i.am featuring Eva Simons and "Work Bitch" by Britney Spears.^{[citation needed]}

By 2013, big room house gained international prominence, with its base across Sweden, Norway, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece, United States and the UK. Certain tracks such as "Animals" by Martin Garrix and "Toulouse" by Nicky Romero have topped the radio charts for over a couple of months, extending well beyond the EDM scene.^{[citation needed]}

Criticisms

The genre has been criticized by several musicians, who have described it as 'stereotypical EDM sound lacking originality and creativity' and said that it is homogeneous and lacks originality, diversity, and artistic merit.^[7][8] Mixmag described the genre as composing of "titanic breakdowns and spotless, monotone production aesthetics".^[9] Wolfgang Gartner described the genre as a "joke", and disregarded it, alongside conglomerates such as SFX Entertainment, as "digestible cheap dance music".^[10] He also called the genre "the EDM Apocalypse", saying "real music should have some soul and authenticity to it, and not just be a big kick drum and a techno like breakdown with a cheesy one-liner and a 'big drop'".^[11]

Russell Smith of The Globe and Mail observes a "fiery friction" between fans of traditional underground electronic music and the newer, typically younger fans who have arisen as a result of big room's movement of EDM into the mainstream.^[12]

References

This page was last edited on 1 August 2022, at 18:55