4 on the floor & Genre confusion....???

[Chew_Bear]

I think I just had a 'aha' moment and the light bulb finally came on.

I always thought that the term '4 on the floor'....was to label songs as either....

A. Dance/EDM/House genre oriented (120 - 130 bpm range).

...OR...

B. That the song has a KICK DRUM on EVERY BEAT in a 4/4 time signature...regardless of what genre the song is.

So...to clear up the confusion.....

1. Can you label 'any song' as 4 on the floor....regardless of the genre and bpm/tempo the song is...even though it clearly has a kick drum on every beat...???

For example...If a song is 90bpm and clearly has a hiphop/rap instruments/feel and vibe to it.....

And yet....if there is a kick drum on every beat....Can you still label/call it as "4 on the floor"....???

Even though its clearly not dance/edm/house (120-130bpm) music....?!?!?!

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Therefore...Lets examine the other argument....

2. Can I have a EDM/dance song that clearly uses EDM/Dance instruments and has a house vibe/feel to it.....

And yet.....if the kick drum 'does not' hit on all 4 beats and therefore has some kind of syncopation and/or is clearly 'deviating' from a typical 4 on the floor pattern...Therefore...

Could you still label this song as a '4 on the floor'...??? Just because its "dance/edm/house" oriented.

So...In the end...

1. Why the confusion with genres/bpm...???

2. How/Why did 4 on the floor term really come about...???

Because....If it simply comes down to whether a kick drum is either hitting on a beat count VS not....is totally confusing and therefore shouldn't really dictate what genre a song belongs to...correct...???

Apologies for the newbie-ness/long winded thread. Hopefully someone can clear up the confusion and/or give me more insight/introspection. Thanks.

 

[krushing]

There's no confusion - 4 on the floor just means the kick hitting on every beat. That it's sometimes used as a synonym for EDM is either ignorance or just winking at the prevalence of it in dance music. But it certainly isn't tied to a genre or bpm.

 

[FløKelly]

Pretty sure the term/style "four on the floor" originated with jazz music in the mid 20th century. Adopted by EDM in a more noticeable way - aka the kicks are way heavier.

 

[Chew_Bear]

There's no confusion - 4 on the floor just means the kick hitting on every beat. That it's sometimes used as a synonym for EDM is either ignorance or just winking at the prevalence of it in dance music. But it certainly isn't tied to a genre or bpm.

So...sufficed to say...Even your mainstream/standard hiphop and rap songs (80-100bpm) can also be labeled as '4 on the floor' too if they meet the criteria...right...???

Because...Damn...all this time....I thought 4 on the floor was mainly a EDM/Dance term/thing. Obviously...I am wrong.

Part of the reason/confusion:

1. When making beats.....I originally thought that if you were trying to make a hiphop/rap song....That it would than entail you to 'NOT' use a 4 on the floor pattern and therefore would mean staying away from using a kick on every beat.

Like.....It never really occured to me that a 4 on the floor pattern can definitely be used in any other genre too besides EDM/Dance....as long as it sounds good and fits the song.

Because...when I think of 4 on the floor...I 'literally' get the picture/image of a festival/rave and DEADMAU5 playing 128 bpm house music for 2 hours straight. Like...that's what I have always thought to be the 'norm' and case every time.

On the other hand...When I think of your typical mainstream hiphop/rap....I get the image of a producer 'banging' away on his MPC pads trying to get a good groove and swing going.

Therefore...its not as 'robotic' as a kick on every beat...like in Dance. Therefore...it has a more human feel...of which, has always been the signature sound/character of hiphop/rap.

 

[scrapheaper]

4 to the floor means a kick on every beat in 4/4 time. Not sure why this is confusing.

You could do it in rap, rock, jazz whatever, but it's used most often in dance music.

 

[Dancenstein]

Does it really matter how you call things?
Answer: no.

But 4 on the floor means a kick on every beat so even if it's a 50bpm song and it has a bassdrum hitting every beat then you can call that a 4 on the floor, even if it's weird because a kick every beat is usually for dancing and keeping the rhythm