ABSTRACT
Fans and musicians often divide electronic dance music into two broad categories on the basis of its metrical characteristics. This this division is clearly evident in the quotation, where genres are divided into "breaks and/or jungle" versus "house and techno." Drawing on two of the most commonly used terms employed in this discourse, the chapter describes these categories as "breakbeat-driven" and "four-on-the-floor." Breakbeat-driven genres of electronic dance music include hardcore, jungle/drum 'n' bass, and big beat, as well as a category known simply as "breakbeat" or "breaks." Breakbeats are drum patterns sampled from the percussion-only sections, or "breaks," of old funk records. The chapter also describes a third class of rhythms in electronic dance music as "syncopated." The rhythmic arid metrical characteristics of electronic dance music are closely connected to the instrumental sounds through which they are realized and the overall texture in which they are imbricated.
