Know Your Different Genres of Bass Music

Because the same elements occur across all genres of this style it's quite easy to get confused as to what is what. With the boom of technology, pretty much anybody with a midi controller and DAW (digital audio workstation) can start producing bass music. They then label it wrong and promote it all over the internet as dubstep when it may actually be drumstep, or neurofunk or neurohop.

Unlike other genres of music, this division of dance music is actually very easily identified. The quality that defines this type of music, is strangely enough, the tempo or the speed of the song. Here is a list of the most popular types of bass music and their tempos:

1. Dubstep is pretty much always at 140 BPM but drums are in half time which makes it feel a lot slower. The drums are usually swung as well. The kick and snare drum hits on every other beat. Artists include, Culprate, Nero, Flux Pavilion and Datsik.

2. Complextro is also at 140 BPM but the drums are not halved so it seems a lot faster. It's basically house music on steroids. The kick and snare drum hits on every beat instead of every other beat. Porter Robinson is a great example of a complextro artist.

3. Drumstep is typically at 160-170 BPM but the drums are also halved and highly syncopated giving this genre a groovy hip hop feel. Some artists include Noisia and Pendulum.

4. Drum and Bass is Drumstep's brother and shares the exact same qualities except the drums are kicking at full speed. Many drum and bass artists make drumstep so checkout Noisia and Pendulum once again. Camo and Krooked is another great artist to check out.

5. Moombahton and Moombahcore are set to a tempo of 110 BPM and incorporate elements of reggaeton. This genre is basically house music at a slower tempo.

6. The newest subgenre is neurofunk which is also sometimes called neurohop and can be mistakenly called glitch hop. This style is typically at about 90-100 BPM and incorporates swinging, syncopated drums with heavy modulated bass along with funky basslines and synths using notes of the blues or pentatonic scale. Neurohop has more of a hip hop feel than a funk feel but often times the two genres are combined.

So there you have it. Now you can pick these differences out like a pro and help others discern betwixt the two (don't you just love that word?) Dance on.

Make Your Karaoke Shows More Interesting

There are times when it might help to introduce some things to break up the monotony that can occur at a typical karaoke show. Offering props for the singers to use is commonly implemented by karaoke hosts. Below are some other suggestions.

Karaoke Contests These have gained an unsavory reputation. The absence of competent, impartial, judging is the main reason for this. Accusations of cheating and hurt feelings are very often the result of these contests. It's my recommendation that you should avoid contests altogether.

If the previous statement failed to dissuade you then at least try to follow this advice. Do plenty of advertising ahead of time. Nobody likes to show up for what they think is a standard karaoke night and have a contest sprung on them. Obtain judges who are not regulars of the establishment where the contest is to take place.

Make sure that the judges are prominently placed together in front of where the singers will be performing. Make it clear to the contestants precisely what the judging criteria is and the type of rating system that will be used. Display a list of the rules in several conspicuous places.

Karaoke Roulette This is undoubtedly the most popular game played at karaoke shows. The purpose of the game is to have the participants sing songs that they would never ordinarily sing. The songs are usually chosen by "luck of the draw".

Commonly the karaoke host will have tokens, with song titles on them, in a sack and each person must pull one out. They must sing the entire song to move on to the next round. Another option is to have all the players write the title of a song on a piece of paper and put it in a sack. Sometimes audience participation is used to obtain the song titles. This game is played entirely for its amusement value.

The Gong Show This is a good way to hold a contest while avoiding the hazards of a typical karaoke contest. Since the goal is to sound terrible the participants are unlikely to take it to heart. Costumes, props, and song parodies are all part of a gong show. After a minimum of one minute into a performance a judge may gong a contestant at which point they are escorted off the stage with a huge hook. The trick to winning is to make your act so interesting that the judges will not gong you. The eventual winner will be the most interestingly terrible performance.