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Uptempo

Uptempo is just an umbrella term to bring all songs of a higher bpm together. It might just be the winning formula for a new take on the dance format on radio. And look at it this way,if all DJ's or PD'S actually have to listen to the song now because it's listed under a catch all phrase then that's a good thing! Many got lazy and discriminated against a song due to whatever subcategory it got labeled under without even listening to it....Now,some might just have to do their homework like many DJ's did back in the days in the record shops where we would listen to a record before we decided if we wanted it or not.
 
Uptempo has been a term that has been used to describe faster music in radio for ages. C'mon, go back to the Casey Kasem bloopers for proof. LOL. It won't be anything other than an insider term for radio people.

jp
 
Actually, to be perfectly honest, I'm really not as against the "uptempo" word anymore as I used to be about a year ago. No point in really getting deeper into what I was originally wanting to say in regard to that since Morpheux already somewhat beat me to that aspect of it, and I'll also add/admit that at least with "uptempo", you have a pretty good idea of what style of sound you're going to get. It is better than no name or label at all for the new generation electro-pop dance sound. It's also better than coming up with new names annually like they do in the U.K.

HOWEVER:

I still believe that if something already has a name, then it should just stay that. The name shouldn't change just because the sound itself modernized - UNLESS the evolutional change was so big that it undoubtedly is not the same anymore (example: disco turning into house). In my opinion, bass music is still bass music. Freestyle should still be freestyle. 2 Step / Garage should continue to be called just that (no "future" or "Old skool" attached to it!). House should still be house. I also don't think it should be changed just because of WHO "took over" the sound or who is singing on the instrumental, or just because it became more mainstream. After all, when televisions, microwaves, computers, planes...etc. evolve or become more mainstream, people don't start calling it something else - just because it changed, and you don't hear people walking around talking about "future microwaves" or lumping it all together and calling it all "fasttechnology". Yes, of course there should be differences in names when it comes to things like computers advancing to laptops and iphones (just like disco, house, and trance are different), BUT, they are STILL considered to be what they originally were - computers! When flat screen tv's were invented, no one decided "ok, well lets forget the word 'television'". The same should go with the terms "booty bass, freestyle....etc. - ESPECIALLY if those sounds are STILL blatantly being created! How is Flo Rida "Sugar" or Ying Yang Twins "Big Butts" not booty bass if 69 Boyz and 2 Live Crew & Quad City Dj's were? The new modern sound should still be assigned to an already given category). Also, lets say I write a book or do a play and it's funny, but it's funny in an interestingly unique new way. Is it not sill "comedy"? Or shall I start to call it "funnyentertainment"?

"Uptempo" might be a nice, beautiful word, but I still think that the different modern uptempo mainstream sounds like Jay Sean "down" or flo Rida "low" or Pitbull "Hey Baby" should be assigned to one of the following categories; "bass/booty bass, freestyle, or house", EVEN IF it is all still called "uptempo". "Uptempo" is ok for the overall sound, but this doesn't mean forget what the real genres originally were, or start saying those sounds "died". >> If "The whole world" by Outkast is considered the same thing as "walk this way" by Aerosmith and "moment for life" by Nicki Minaj, then.....!!!

Lastly, don't think that since radio proved that they could discriminate certain categories, then lumping everything together should forever prevent that from happening ever again. Just imagine if someday, "uptempo" becomes rejected.... I'll leave the rest up to the imagination.  ;)
 
JohnParker said:
Uptempo has been a term that has been used to describe faster music in radio for ages. C'mon, go back to the Casey Kasem bloopers for proof. LOL. It won't be anything other than an insider term for radio people.

jp
Click to expand...

And that's how I took it during that panel.

If that is what will "sell" our music, then if radio wants to call it uptempo, the same way R&B/rhythmic music falls under "urban contemporary", then yeah, I am all for it :)
 
No need to write a book on the subject! For me...its simply a way to sum up all the faster records, without scaring ignorant people away with the word "Dance." And I don't even care anymore what's real dance and what isn't. As long as its not that Downtempo Drake, Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj Crap.

BTW, If you think just plain Dance scares people, try REALLY throwing them off with "Booty Bass" or "Latin Freesytle!" I don't see how these descriptions stick around...just call it Uptempo Club!
 
Just saw this update LIVE on my twitter feed!:

8thnoteproducer 8th Note
'Come across so many good tunes this last week or so a new mix is needed!! #GARAGE #FUTUREGARAGE #POSTDUBSTEP
whatever you want to call it.'
19 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply


So, there you have it folks! Even the London folks are saying "just call it whatever you want".

The choice is YOURS! :)
 
LoL @ writing a book. I do want to address a point and that is that, Casey Kaseem was never on this board throwing the the word uptempo around to describe dance music..... and other than that let the music play!!
 
Of course he wasn't but that wasn't the point. ;) The point was that radio has been using the term "Uptempo" to describe what we call dance music for decades. It's not a new concept.
 
Morpheux said:
....And I know most dance stations won't give this is a chance but I'll throw it out there anyhow.

Noel Valei (NV) You Don't Know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KD-KXcs86g
Click to expand...

I think that version has a more radio-friendly instrumental production style, but I still like the vocal production on this one better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODu1USHS70M
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MY FINAL THOUGHTS:

As far as Uptempo being used IN radio, I couldn't care less if it's used - amongst radio folks behind the scenes - in radio.
But when I first saw

Jeremih - Birthday Sex (Uptempo Radio Edit)
Pleasure P - Under (Malinchak Uptempo Remix)
Casely ft Flo Rida - Emotional (Uptempo Remix)
Waka Flocka Flame ft Wale & Roscoe Dash - No Hands (Str8 Bangaz Uptempo Remix)

...etc. I wasn't too pleased with the "New production labeling system". Now, although I miss how it was done back in the day (those would've all been called BASS Remixes in the late 90's btw), I really don't mind this new term that is suddenly being used on production remix titles, called "uptempo". I guess after all, it still helps to label, locate & find a certain sound, and it's more of a case of "rejecting change and wanting to stick to the old fashioned ways" that makes some of us have a problem with the word "uptempo" than it is the fact that we don't like the word. I'm used to the days of knowing specifically what to look for in a record store with NO audio samples because once you bought it, it was yours.. and I'm used to "Cibola Mix" "Freestyle Mix" "Bass Remix" "Sunship Mix".... 'Usher - Nice & Slow "Atlanta Booty Mix"'....etc. I guess nothing has really changed but the production label word. And besides, the days of having to "chance & risk it" just to discover new music you might like in stores are over now.

BUT, if this sound is also going to start getting into the "uptempo" mix http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPKBQDdOmU0 then... oh man.
(Oh, and look at the FIRST comment on the video...)

BUT THEN AGAIN, look at what is being considered a BASS remix, NOW!!!  :mad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=texdq6Emlg0
(Keep in mind that this is the BASS remix...)

So I guess we've officially lost it and this may be a change we need after all - if people are going to start thinking that just because it has bass in it, then it's a BASS REMIX. (Now check out the ORIGINAL, NON BASS REMIX version..) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRYeZtIoejQ
 
And one more thing: (Ghettofying dance to "feel more accepted" by the hip hop community)

I guess I'm still a bit stuck on my old ways of thinking, from back when hip hop was the big thing and everything had to be "ghetto" or sound "hip" to be cool, especially down in the southeast. Hip hop was big, and I remember that rappers / hip hoppers also had a respect for bass / booty bass music, so if you labeled a remix "bass / booty mix", it was still "cool" and acceptable because although it was fast, it still represented the urban / hip hop lifestyle.

Now, I hear this word "uptempo" and my first thought is "that has got to be the wackest word ever and it will never genuinely gain full approval within the hip hop community!". Imagine someone from the streets walking around saying "uptempo remix"....

The point here is that I keep forgetting that times have changed and I should probably let the past go. It's no longer about having to "try to push a dance sound and get it accepted amongst hip hop". It's no longer about having to "ghettofy" or "hip everything up" to make it look / sound cool and feel "accepted" by the hip hop community. "Uptempo" is now actually the new IN thing, and it's the hip hoppers that now have to "seek our approval"!

Maybe it's time for me to stop trying to be slick and using all these terms and doing stuff as an attempt to appeal to the urban crowd with my "urban dance style sound" and just keep it real. ... However, it's sometimes still difficult to believe that you don't have to "measure up" to the urban lifestyle - when it STILL seems like almost every pop / dance artist are STILL USING RAPPERS to gain attention & more acceptance, themselves!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Time for me to learn that my teenaged days of "ni*** I was told to throw this cassette in yo mu*** fu**** face with all that g*y techno - get outta here wit that lame a** sh**. What the hell is wrong...." are over. Stop trying to "be urban dance"!
 
Morpheux said:
On a side note,we do have to incorporate other beat structures than the 4 on the floor beat.It is being overused and will be the death of the uptempo songs on mainstream radio if it continues.
Click to expand...

I just noticed this, amongst other things, as I went back and actually took time to fully read the first page and absorb some of the information presented. This is VERY true. Since it does somewhat have to do with the topic at hand, I'll briefly discuss it further.

SIMPLIFIED, BORING INSTRUMENTAL BEAT STRUCTURES & HOW FAR BACKWARDS WE'VE MUSICALLY ADVANCED SINCE 2000
Something I've been saying a few times (but mostly thinking) for quite a while now is that we need to get off of this typical, overused house style sound and "get more creative" with the beats. You already see how boring slower music has become ever since Aaliyah passed, Timbaland took his break, and other producers started "taking over", resorting back to the use of boring beat patterns that even 3 year olds could duplicate by pounding their hands on a flat surface somewhere. Now, imagine having the slow boring beats - IN ADDITION TO all the uptempo beats ALMOST ALL having the exact same 4x4 house style pattern! Unless you give most of these songs an extremely well done groovy melody and sound to go along with those boring beats, it can get boring pretty fast. Right now, we have too many people contributing to the "sea of sameness" and eventually it's going to backfire. At some point, everything uptempo having the same beat structure while everything slow is simple, boring and predictable will cause this entire present style of sound to die out across the board. I wouldn't be surprised if this causes a rock / alternative come back, whether temporary or long term.

And lastly, if people REALLY think that Katy Perry "futuristic lover" is a "new futuristic sound", then we have SEVERELY ADVANCED BACKWARDS in music since the turn of the new millennium.  I don't even think you have to turn 1 years old to be able to duplicate a beat that goes "boom boom clap, boom boom clap...." etc. You could be taught it at 0. As a matter of fact, I bet dogs could do better beats than that with their paws!

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy with the uptempo sound resurfacing, but I believe that with exception to some of the melodic arrangements embedded within certain songs today, everything has become way too simplified, production style. ..And NO, ADDING UNUSUAL / STRANGE SOUNDS into a song with a basic, boring beat DOES NOT make it futuristic! (Chris Brown "look at me now" comes to mind when I say this). Music has become so boring and simplified that dubstep seems more exciting (to me) than it probably really is!
 
Dancerev889 said:
Do we really need to write the novel in these posts?
Click to expand...

The only thing more silly than writing a lot in an open forum is complaining about the amount written in an open forum, on the net, in a country world where you have freedom of choice to choose whether or not you wish to read it. This is like complaining that a movie at a movie theater is too long, or that line #8 and #3 out of the 11 open registers at Wal-Mart are too long....
 
Let's just get to the gist (briefly) of why I started this topic.....

1) Uptempo would be a term "solely" for radio marketing purposes to brand the format.
2) Uptempo would serve as the "umbrella" term for anything dance/rhythmic.
3) People can still call things as they are (dance music, house, trance, electro, R&B, etc.)
4) Most dance stations are/were like this already.
5) The term was around for awhile but in this sense, it becomes more "common" instead of just "radiospeak" per se.
6) THE MAIN REASON: If this can get the radio industry to open up to a format in a way that avoids past stereotypes, then it is a WIN for everyone.

If I'm missing anything, add on :)
 
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