The History of Rave Music

The history of Rave Music is quite interesting. It has been around for decades. Some enjoy it, some don’t. There is some conflict as to where Rave Music actually started. Some people, non-ravers most likely, ask what is Rave Music?

Rave Music is made up of technologically advanced beats that are mixed with other beats to form music. Rave Music has a culture of its own, as so does any other music type. The history of Rave Music is hard to sum up, but here it goes...

The controversy in “Who started Rave Music, U.K. or U.S.?” is going to forever live on. But in all actuality, the U.S. sparked the flame that started it all. It all started back in 1970, in Detroit and Chicago, when Djs, like Frankie Knuckles, would program drum rhythms and play disco records over the top of his beats. He would play this “music” in the “club environment”. In 1977, in Chicago, the first club, playing this “music”, opened and was called The Warehouse. This is where house music received its name (shortened version of the clubs name). The U.K. heard of this and adopted the music. The music blew up over seas. Meanwhile it was still on the low in the U.S.. That is why people say the U.K. started it. House music was being played in gay clubs, in England, for 2 years before any sign of acceptance in the straight scene. While that was going on, the Djs in the U.S. were playing around with their music and somehow came up with the idea of mixing house music and hip-hop together. In 1985, Hip-house was born. This is when house music blew up in the United States. In 1986, Underground was born. Djs started getting creative with their music and in 1987 Deep House and Techno were born. In 1988, came Acid House. This was invented by 2 Djs who were hooking up their equipment and someone accidentally hit the on switch and on came the speakers making an “acidy” noise. The Djs liked the noise and decided to mix house music in. Thus, making Acid House. The U.K. began feeling left out and started experimenting themselves. In 1989, they came up with New Beat, a mix between Acid, Techno and House. While this was going on the U.S. came up with Hardcore, some really really fast house music. In 1990, LA finally decided to step away from the rap scene and give House/Techno a try. Since then Jungle, Drum-n-Bass, Trance, Progressive Trance, Hard Trance, Happy House, Hard House, and Happy Hardcore have been born. All of these make up Rave Music, which all came from on type of music, Disco.

Rave Music, primarily, is electronically based music that has a high level of bass. The music tends to be fast paced, 115-300 beats per minutes. A Dj “spins” to create the music ravers here. Spinning is the art of mixing songs together using different pitches, different speeds, and an equalizer to create an ever-flowing, ever-changing wall of sound. Rave Music doesn’t have a base to it. It is made up of Jungle, DnB, House, Hard House, Deep House, Happy House, Hardcore, Happy Hardcore, Techno, Trance, Progressive Trance, Hard Trance, Euro, Freestyle, Ghetto, Hip-house, Underground, and Hi-NRG. The different types of Rave Music will keep growing with all the new technology coming around. The music keeps re-inventing itself. Therefor, the development of a new type of music is always on the way, so watch out.

Rave Music is culture. Culture is nature, which is indefinable for if it was definable it could be controlled. Rave Music, obviously, cannot be controlled. Along with culture comes clothing. Ravers are a unique crowd. A typical raver is between 17 and 25 years of age. He is equally likely to be a she. You are likely to see someone on jeans, someone in black vinyl pants or someone in costume. However, many people fit into the “typical” raver mold. For males, baggy pants are the norm. This is because they are easier to dance in. A very tight shirt, no shirt or a sweatshirt is also common. For females it gets way more interesting. The typical raver chick has short hair, either in barrettes or pigtails with a visor. She wears a baby doll dress or pants and a midriff shirt, often sucking on a pacifier. Basically, in general, pacifiers, stuffed animals and lollipops are common. Shirts emblazoned with cartoon characters are also common. In a sense, this is Rave culture. It is the regaining of innocence and forgetting about problems for a while. Outside of a rave, many ravers appear normal. Others choose to dress this way all the time and that’s ok because it probably makes them feel better as a person. But raving is not an “all the time thing” culture, as the hippies were and are. Raving is a temporary activity separate from the daily lives of ravers. Raving is a culture of escape. Escape from the real world. Reality does not exist at a rave. Just look around. The music isn’t “real” and how realistic does an 18 year old look sucking on a pacifier? Therefor, raving is the means of escape, from the real world, for some.

I wrote this paper as a raver not as a poser. I believe raving is fun and relaxing thing to do. The history behind the music was very interesting to me. I learned stuff I didn’t know before. I learned a lot about the music and myself. I can actually understand myself better when I go to a rave. This was a great way for me to get in touch with my culture. Rave Culture!

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