Electro house is a

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

and a subgenre of

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

characterized by heavy

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ and music producer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career as DJ alon ...

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki ( , ; born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ and record producer. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as ...

, and

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...

Characteristics

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

described electro house, as a style attributed to artists like

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

Erol Alkan Erol Alkan (born 30 May 1974) is an English DJ and Record producer, producer of Turkish Cypriot descent. He grew up in Archway in North London. Career DJ and club promoter In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various Indie (music), indie n ...

and Bloody Beetroots. Electro-house is typified by its heavy

. This is often in the form of buzzing

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...

s, such as those created with

sawtooth wave The sawtooth wave (or saw wave) is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is so named based on its resemblance to the teeth of a plain-toothed saw with a zero rake angle. A single sawtooth, or an intermittently triggered sawtooth, is called a ...

s and

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

. It is also often in the form of large

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

sounds in a four-on-the-floor pattern. The

of electro house is usually between 125 and 135 beats per minute. Electro house sometimes resembles

tech house Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term ''tech house'' developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno, ...

, but it can contain melodic elements and electro-influenced samples and

synths A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...

. In contrast, Reynolds stated the genre had "little relationship with either

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

or electro".

History

Reynolds described the sound as being influenced by ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

and further developed by

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and Digitalism. The sound was popularized in the United States by

deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...

and noted the style's distinct style had a "dirty bass" with "grinding and whirring sawtooth b-lines". By 2011, the word "electro" had come to be seen as an

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

denoting "hard electronic dance music". Early songs that have been labelled retroactively as electro house include "Dark Invader" (1996) by Arrivers and "Raw S*it" (1997) by

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton (born 30 April 1970) and Simon Ratcliffe (born 28 November 1969). The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first ros ...

. Mr. Oizo's " Flat Beat" (1999) has also been considered an early example of the genre. Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described " Satisfaction" (2002) by Italian DJ

as being a precursor to electro-house. By the mid-2000s, electro house saw an increase in popularity. In November 2006, electro house tracks "

Put Your Hands Up For Detroit "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" (formatted as "Put Your Hands Up for Detroit" outside Benelux) is a song written and produced by Dutch electronic producer and DJ Fedde le Grand. It samples Matthew Dear and Disco D's "Hands Up for Detroit". Histo ...

" by

Fedde Le Grand Fedde Le Grand (, ; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch House music, house DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2006, his single "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one on the UK Singles Chart and staye ...

and the

D. Ramirez D. Ramirez (born Dean Marriott; 13 August 1970) is an English house producer and DJ. He has used a variety of pseudonyms including The Lisa Marie Experience (with Neil Hynde), Cordial, Finger Fest and Rambo. He has achieved five top 20 hits, ...

remix of " Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana held the number one and number two spots, respectively, in the UK Top 40 singles charts. Since then, electro house producers such as Feed Me,

Knife Party Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum. The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign ...

, The M Machine,

Porter Robinson Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Robinson began producing electronic music during his adolescence. He sign ...

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese music producer and DJ. He formed the group capsule (band), capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer. The group debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

and Dada Life have emerged.

Subgenres

Big room

In the early 2010s, a type of electro house known as big room began to develop, particularly gaining popularity through EDM-oriented events and festivals. Big room songs resemble

Dutch house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including B ...

, often incorporating drops, minimalist percussion, regular beats,

sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hea ...

layered

kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

s, simple

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

-driven breakdowns. The layout of a big room track is very similar to the layout of a typical electro house song.

Complextro

Complextro is typified by glitchy, intricate

s and textures created by sharply cutting between instruments in quick succession. The term, a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the words "complex" and "electro", was coined by

to describe the music he was making in 2010. He has cited video game sounds, or

chiptune Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...

s, as an influence on his music along with 1980s analog synth music. Other producers of the genre include

Adventure Club Adventure Club is a Canadian electronic dance music duo composed of Christian Srigley and Leighton James, based out of Montreal, Quebec. The duo began as a hardcore punk, hardcore pop punk, pop-punk band before venturing into electronic dance m ...

Kill the Noise Jacob Stanczak, known professionally as Kill the Noise, is an American DJ and record producer from Rochester, New York. His collaboration with Skrillex, Fatman Scoop and Michael Angelakos, "Recess (song), Recess", entered the UK Singles Chart at ...

, Feed Me,

, The M Machine, Madeon,

Mord Fustang Rauno Roosnurm (born 21 February 1991), known professionally as Mord Fustang, is an Estonian DJ and music producer. He is regarded as a pioneer in the complextro genre. Career Rauno Roosnurm was born in Kose and is based in Tallinn. In 2011, ...

Savant Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodevel ...

Virtual Riot Christian Valentin Brunn (Born 20 July 1994), better known by his stage name Virtual Riot, is a German electronic music producer and DJ. He has released seventeen extended plays and two studio albums, most notably his 2016 extended play ''Chemis ...

and

Wolfgang Gartner Joseph Thomas Youngman (born March 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Wolfgang Gartner, is an Americans, American DJ and music producer. Much of his music prior to 2010 was released through his own record label, Kindergarten, but he signe ...

Dutch house

Dutch house, sometimes referred to as 'Dirty Dutch', is a style of electro house that originated in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and found prominence by 2009, mainly pioneered by

Vato Gonzalez Vato Gonzalez (born 6 June 1983 as Björn Franken) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter, artist, DJ, who is signed to Spinnin' Records and DOORN Records. Best known for his single Badman Riddim (Jump) (featuring Foreign Beggars), which reached ...

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), known professionally as Afrojack (stylized in all caps), is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album ''Forget the World ( ...

and DJ Chuckie. It is primarily defined by complex rhythms made from Latin-influenced drum kits, a lower emphasis on basslines and squeaky, high-pitched lead synths. Influences on the subgenre include

Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mi ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and other urban styles of music.

Fidget house

Fidget house, or fidget, is "defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent dirty basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats." It contains influences from

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music of DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture History and origins D ...

Baltimore club Baltimore club, also called B'more club, B'more house or simply B'more, is a music genre that fuses breakbeat and house. It was created in Baltimore in the early 1990s by Frank Ski, Scottie B, Shawn Caesar, DJ Technics, DJ Class, DJ Patrick, K ...

, Kuduro and

. Purveyors of the genre include

The Bloody Beetroots The Bloody Beetroots is an Italian electronic music project of musician and producer Bob Rifo (also Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo and SBCR, born Simone Cogo). Established in late 2005, the Bloody Beetroots were initially a DJ duo consisting of Bob Rifo ...

, AC Slater,

Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Island ...

, Hervé,

Jack Beats Jack Beats are an English electronic music project from London, originally formed in 2007 by DJ Plus One (from the Scratch Perverts) and Beni G (from the Mixologists), both of whom are multiple DJ champions and award-winning DJs. The Jack Beat ...

and

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

. The term fidget house was coined by DJs/producers Jesse Rose and Switch, "as a joke, which has now gone a little too far."

Melbourne bounce

Melbourne bounce is a subgenre of electro house originating in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, characterized by the progression from the

uptempo A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

, horn-infused Dutch house style,

tech trance Tech trance, is a subgenre within electronic dance music that draws upon the techno and trance genres as the name suggests. History Tech trance was pioneered by Oliver Lieb Oliver Lieb (born 1969 in Frankfurt, Germany) is an electronic music ...

synths, electro house

stabs stabs (sometimes written STABS) is a debugging data format for storing information about computer programs for use by symbolic and source-level debuggers. The information is stored in symbol table strings ("stabs"). History Cygnus Support attr ...

, and

scouse house UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy te ...

-influenced bass lines, sometimes also including elements of

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

or psytrance. The genre is generally characterized by a standard 128 bpm, although in some cases up to 150 bpm. The term has been used to describe the 2012 to 2016 music of some DJ/producers, including Deorro,

Joel Fletcher Joel Fletcher Allan is an Australian record producer and DJ from Melbourne, who is best known for his 2013 remix of New Zealand rapper Savage's 2005 single " Swing", which charted in Australia and in New Zealand. In 2014, Fletcher was a support ...

Will Sparks William James "Will" Sparks (born 15 March 1993) is an Australian DJ and music producer from Melbourne, Australia, who is best known for his 2013 single " Bring It Back" with Joel Fletcher and his 2014 single " Ah Yeah So What!" featuring Wiley ...

, Vinai, and TJR. It is composed of bouncy offbeat bass, whiny vocal cut/saw lead, raucous horns, 8-bar snare fills before the drop. It often features a repetitive beat structure with some amount of build-ups and mild drops throughout. It started as a cross between elements, and underground Melbourne house/ minimal style. Melbourne bounce gained popularity around mid to late 2012 and had a steady rise from 2013. In 2014, productions of

, and Uberjak'd were playing both domestically and internationally, and influencing the EDM style of

, TJR, and more.

Further development

Jungle terror

Jungle terror is a music genre that developed in the 2010s. It is often described as a "chaotic" mix of house with

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust Music * Grime music, a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben'' * "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire ...

and

drum 'n' bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...

rhythms. There are also animal noises as well as vocal cuts and percussions. The Dutch DJ and music producer Wiwek is named as the founder of the genre, who made the style popular in the EDM scene between 2013 and 2016.

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

and KURA are also associated with the genre.

Moombahton

Moombahton came as a mixture of slowed-down Dutch house and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

. Its identifying characteristics include "a thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills", but it has "no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range." A

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "moombah" and "reggaeton", moombahton was created by DJ Dave Nada when he slowed down the tempo of the

remix of the Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie song "Moombah" to please party-goers with tastes in reggaeton. Other producers of the genre include

Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...

and Munchi. ''Moombahcore'' is a style of moombahton with elements of

breakcore Breakcore is a style of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high ...

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

, techstep and newstyle hardcore. Characteristics of the genre include chopped vocals,

-influenced bass sounds and extensive build-ups. Artists who have produced moombahcore include Delta Heavy,

, Feed Me,

, and

Noisia Noisia was a Dutch electronic music trio from Groningen, Netherlands. The trio was composed of Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen, and Thijs de Vlieger. Their music spanned several genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, breakbeat, and house. They ...

Notes and references

{{Electronica 1990s in music 2000s in music 2010s in music House music genres

Characteristics

History

Subgenres

Big room

Complextro

Dutch house

Fidget house

Melbourne bounce

Further development

Jungle terror

Moombahton

See also

Notes and references