I’m in the middle of a whole obsessive thing about Saturday Night Fever, of all the peculiar preoccupations, and realize that other than “I know it when I hear it,” I’m not quite clear what “disco” is. The beat, yeah, but what, specifically, is distinctive about the beat? Are there other characteristics in terms of instrumentation, etc.?
Extensive use of the hi-hat (thump, hi-hat, snare, hi-hat, thump, hi-hat, snare…).
The signature of the disco beat, for me, is the four-to-the-floor bass drum. Most forms of pop music tend not to have a kick (bass drum) on beats two and four.
Also, the hi-hat is not necessarily more extensive, but it sounds different. Opening the hi-hat on the hits in between beats is common. An eighth-note pattern (like in rock) is still the most common form, it’s just that it alternates closed-open, closed-open. There are other disco hi-hat patterns (involving 16ths or 8th note and 16th note) combinations that are common, too, but this is the iconic “disco” beat.
Snare on two and four as in rock. Fills are much sparser.
The whole notion of the dance-mix is also key. Keeping the song going on for longer, and often by using stretches where just the bass and drum tracks would be used.
The beat is “four on the floor” - in that the bass drum is used on each beat. There was also that distinctive bass sound, using octaves to give almost an “om-pah” feel. Think of the bass line in the Rolling Stones “Miss You.”
Just for the sake of completion, Wikisays, “The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady “four-on-the-floor” beat, an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. The Fender Jazz Bass is often associated with disco bass lines, because the instrument itself has a very prominent ‘voice’ in the musical mix. In most disco tracks, strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used.”
Pretty much what’s been said. Nothing says romance like, “I love the night life, I like to boo-gay.”
Lots of violin as in Car Wash, extra funky bass as in Good Ttimes and a guitar vamp(I think it’s the right word) also as in Good Times.
Here’s an example I whipped up of two bars of a typical rock beat, followed by a bar of silence, followed by two bars of the disco beat described above.
Here’s “In the Navy”, which has the quintessential disco beat I demonstrate above.
Now, the hi-hats are all over the place in disco and there’s many different patterns they can have. The most defining rhythm characteristic, to me, is that steady bass drum.
Thanks for the info, all! I’ll listen with this stuff in mind.
The other day I was copy-editing some stuff on '60s politics – black power and the like – which gave the “Disco Inferno” earworm I’ve been battling of late (“Burn, baby, burn”) an additional level of surrealism.
pulykamell, I love you, I really do. I will never forget your explaining waltz vs. blues to me with some examples you “whipped up.”
Thank you! You are the best!
I’m pretty sure it’s all in the “waca-chicka.”
I’ve heard this referred to as “pea soup.”
No problem. Mind you, those are the most stereotypical beats of those genres. There’s obviously a lot of variation possible within the genre.
You’ll find examples of this four-to-the-floor bass beat all over the place even in dance music today. Take this annoying techno track (never heard it before, just saw something that said “Best of Techno 2010” on Youtube.) Hear that beat? That’s basically the disco beat.
Similar to funk, the role of the guitar is more of a rhythm instrument with a lot of chord strumming, while bass has more presence than in typical rock music. Disco is not as outlandish as funk can get, but still has that strong dance vibe.
Here’s another question - the dividing line between Disco and Funk.
I’m not a musician - I can hear that there’s a difference between, say, “One Nation Under A Groove” and “Funky Town”, but I can also quite definitely hear a connection between them - Disco is a “lighter” sort of Funk? Lacking the deep bass lines? Both of them are designed to make you move your ass, that’s for sure.
Also, how much does lyrical content and the ethnicity of the singer play into whether something is considered Disco or Funk? I think that with the “Young Americans” album, Bowie was going for a Funk sound, but was derided for having “gone Disco”. Was that just because he was white (and, for that matter, English)? For that matter, are there any respected white Funk musicians?
As far as I can tell, in Funk, the bass and accents are more on the 4x4 beat, with the “funky” effect coming from the shifting (or leaving out) of that accent.
Example: parliament - give up the funk (note slower, on-the-beat feel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UypeE3zTwBs
In Disco, there’s a more pronounced, steady accent against the beat as well as on the beat, making it feel more hurried and up-tempo.
Example: The Trammps - Disco Inferno (note the bass is playing a note at almost every 1/2 beat) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_sY2rjxq6M
Not because he was white, per se, but because he had a (predominantly white, FWIW) rockist following, who were inclined to be contemptuous of disco in the first place, and were offended to see the musicians who were on “their” side of the musical divide jump on the disco bandwagon.
I’ve heard “New Wave” was a blend of disco and punk. Duran Duran described their sound as Chic meets the Sex Pistols.
What makes new wave new wave?
Melancholy.
IMHO, New wave was a combination of deconstructing the “standard” beat structure of dance music and adding whatever could be used as an instrument, with the synth favored over a guitar.
The Flying Lizard’s version of “Money” is one example.
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Yeah, quarternote bass drum, straight unsyncopated grooves, plus the tempo is pretty uniform across the genre which eases the transition from song to song. Early use of electronic drums, either with drum machines or the syndrum (the descending tone that became a disco staple) and simple sequencers sequencing early synths.
Disco, baby!
I feel love(disco-electronica)