Moby's handy dance music glossary

We don’t need to remind you that dance music is booming in the US at the moment. But between the many different genres and sub-genres comprising our favourite musical style, it seems the average listener may need a little guidance to understand what it all means.

In no better position to help define and explain sticky terms and styles like BPM, breakbeat, house and techno is DJ legend Moby, who talked USA Today through the terminology. Some of the American producer’s definitions include:

EDM: “The first thing to know is that no one calls it electronic dance music. The term is EDM, and it’s a catch-all term for the different forms of electronic music.”

Dubstep: “It’s a descendant of jungle, an early ‘90s, very fast form of EDM with reggae and breakbeat influences. Jungle morphed into drum and bass, and then there was an offshoot of that, two-step, which slowed the bass lines way down. Heavy metal and hip-hop, interestingly, share the same tempo, around 75 bpm. Dubstep is an amalgamation of the two.”

Acid: “It’s not the drug. Acid specifically refers to the sound of a bass line, and it’s very synthetic. It was a sound created in the late ‘80s with the Roland TB 303 bass synthesizer, which has a very harsh sound.”

Head over to USA Today to word up on the full glossary. Not included in the definitions: trouse.