Balearic Beat
Encyclopedia
Balearic Beat or either Balearic House and Balearic Trance is an eclectic blend of DJed dance music
that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music
that was popular into the mid-1990s. Balearic Beat was named for its popularity among European nightclub
and beach rave patrons on the Balearic island
of Ibiza
, a popular tourist destination. Some dance music compilations referred to it as "the sound of Ibiza," even though many other, more aggressive and upbeat forms of dance music could be heard on the island.
s Trevor Fung, Paul Oakenfold
, and Danny Rampling
are commonly credited with having "discovered" Balearic Beat in 1987 while on holiday in Ibiza
. Reportedly, they were introduced to the music at Amnesia
, an Ibizan nightclub, by DJ Alfredo from Argentina
, who had a residency there. DJ Alfredo, whose birth name is Alfredo Fiorito, played an eclectic mix of dance music whose style encompassed the indie hypno grooves of the Woodentops
, the mystic rock of the Waterboys, early house
, Europop
, and oddities from the likes of Peter Gabriel
and Chris Rea
. After visiting other clubs on the island where similar music was being played, including Pacha
and Ku
, Oakenfold
and his friend Trevor Fung returned to London
, where they unsuccessfully tried to establish a nightclub
called the Funhouse in the Balearic style. Returning to Ibiza
during the summer of 1987, Oakenfold
rented a villa where he hosted a number of his DJ
friends, including Danny Rampling
, Johnny Walker, and Nicky Holloway. Returning to London after the summer, Oakenfold
reintroduced the Balearic style at a South London
nightspot
called the Project Club. The club initially attracted those who had visited Ibiza
and who were familiar with the Balearic concept. Fueled by their use of Ecstasy
and an emerging fashion style based on baggy clothes and bright colors, these Ibiza
veterans were responsible for propagating the Balearic subculture within the evolving UK rave scene. In 1988, Oakenfold
established a second outlet for Balearic Beat, a Monday night event called Spectrum, which is credited with exposing the Balearic concept to a wider audience. It was 1988 when Balearic Beat was first noticed in the U.S., according to Dance Music Report magazine.
and deep house
influenced sounds and a slower R&B
-influenced (under 119bpm) beat consisting of bass drum, snare, and hi-hats (often produced with a Roland TR-909
drum machine) programmed in certain laid-back, swing-beat patterns; plus soul
, Latin, African, funk
, and dub
affectations; and production techniques borrowed from other styles of dance music that were popular at the time. Vocals were sometimes present, but much of the music was instrumental. The sounds of acoustic instruments such as guitar and piano were sometimes incorporated into Balearic Beat. A trance offshoot, Ibiza Trance, also developed during this time. Having been primarily associated with a particular percussion pattern that eventually fell out of vogue, the style eventually faded from prominence, and its repertoire was subsumed by the more general "chill out" and "downtempo
" genres. However, in the late 2000s, Balearic Trance was redeveloped by Magic Island, Roger Shah, and others, and is now established as a recognized sub-genre of trance.
The style of Balearic Beat is described by its inventors, as opposed to its UK followers, as the ability for the DJ to play across a broad range of styles, from early minimal new beat
to the first extended remixes of pop-songs, making Balearic DJ sets those that tend to have the sharpest turns of musical direction. While the public outside Ibiza
generally describes Balearic Beat
as a music style, the island based community regard Balearic Beat
as a non-style or a healthy disrespect to style conformity and a challenge to the norm. It's a freestyle expression that seamlessly binds sporadic vinyl inspiration through technical flair on the turntables. Today, due to stylistic segregation in electronic dance music
, few promoters and DJs dare to stretch the spectrum of styles that far in fear of losing identity and clients. DJ Alfredo still heralds the most diversity among Ibiza DJs, but generally the approach to mixing as well as the terminology, have been swallowed up by the Chillout scene.
Ibiza is still considered by some to have its own 'sound,' however, including among others the music of Jens Gad
, co-creator of Enigma
, and his new chillout-world-influenced hybrid project, Achillea, recorded in his studio in the hills overlooking Ibiza. Compilations such as Global Lounge Sessions: The Balearic Sound of Ibiza, released in 2002, and Sequoia Groove's Buddha-Lounge series, continue to be released. These generally feature house music
and certain downtempo selections, not the old style of Balearic Beat, per se. Some prefer to use the term more generally, however, to apply to all of these styles.
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
that was popular into the mid-1990s. Balearic Beat was named for its popularity among European nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
and beach rave patrons on the Balearic island
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
of Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
, a popular tourist destination. Some dance music compilations referred to it as "the sound of Ibiza," even though many other, more aggressive and upbeat forms of dance music could be heard on the island.
History
UK disc jockeyDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s Trevor Fung, Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
, and Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London.-Ibiza:...
are commonly credited with having "discovered" Balearic Beat in 1987 while on holiday in Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
. Reportedly, they were introduced to the music at Amnesia
Amnesia (nightclub)
Amnesia is one of several internationally renowned clubs in Ibiza due to Joseph Murphy who created Cream in 1996 and was awarded Best Global Club in the 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 International Dance Music Awards for the respective previous year at the Winter Music Conference in Miami...
, an Ibizan nightclub, by DJ Alfredo from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, who had a residency there. DJ Alfredo, whose birth name is Alfredo Fiorito, played an eclectic mix of dance music whose style encompassed the indie hypno grooves of the Woodentops
The Woodentops
The Woodentops are a British rock band that have enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s.-History:The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty , Simon Mawby , Alice Thompson , Frank DeFreitas , and Paul Hookham .After a...
, the mystic rock of the Waterboys, early house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, Europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
, and oddities from the likes of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
and Chris Rea
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
. After visiting other clubs on the island where similar music was being played, including Pacha
Pacha
Pacha is a nightclub franchise with headquarters in Ibiza, Spain. The first Pacha club was opened in Sitges outside Barcelona in 1967. The Ibiza club, located in Ibiza Town, is the best known venue today. During 2009 Pacha acquired El Divino, near the marina of Ibiza la Nueva, which will be...
and Ku
Privilege Ibiza
Privilege Ibiza is the "world's largest nightclub" according to the Guinness Book of Records, with a capacity of 10,000 people. It is located not far from San Rafael, Ibiza, less than 1 km from the nightclub Amnesia. For fourteen years, Privilege hosted Manumission, one of the island's most famous...
, Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
and his friend Trevor Fung returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they unsuccessfully tried to establish a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
called the Funhouse in the Balearic style. Returning to Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
during the summer of 1987, Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
rented a villa where he hosted a number of his DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
friends, including Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London.-Ibiza:...
, Johnny Walker, and Nicky Holloway. Returning to London after the summer, Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
reintroduced the Balearic style at a South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
nightspot
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
called the Project Club. The club initially attracted those who had visited Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
and who were familiar with the Balearic concept. Fueled by their use of Ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
and an emerging fashion style based on baggy clothes and bright colors, these Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
veterans were responsible for propagating the Balearic subculture within the evolving UK rave scene. In 1988, Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold
Paul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
established a second outlet for Balearic Beat, a Monday night event called Spectrum, which is credited with exposing the Balearic concept to a wider audience. It was 1988 when Balearic Beat was first noticed in the U.S., according to Dance Music Report magazine.
Style
Balearic beat records variate between house or Italo houseItalo house
Italo house is a form of house music popular in Italy, Britain and United States since the late 1980s. It fuses house music and Italo disco. The genre's main musical characteristic is its use of predominantly electronic piano chords in a more lyrical form than classic Chicago House records...
and deep house
Deep house
Deep house is a subgenre of house music that fuses elements of Chicago house into the 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. In the early compositions , influences of jazz music were most frequently brought out by using more complex chords than simple triads which are held for many bars and...
influenced sounds and a slower R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
-influenced (under 119bpm) beat consisting of bass drum, snare, and hi-hats (often produced with a Roland TR-909
Roland TR-909
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and...
drum machine) programmed in certain laid-back, swing-beat patterns; plus soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, Latin, African, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, and dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
affectations; and production techniques borrowed from other styles of dance music that were popular at the time. Vocals were sometimes present, but much of the music was instrumental. The sounds of acoustic instruments such as guitar and piano were sometimes incorporated into Balearic Beat. A trance offshoot, Ibiza Trance, also developed during this time. Having been primarily associated with a particular percussion pattern that eventually fell out of vogue, the style eventually faded from prominence, and its repertoire was subsumed by the more general "chill out" and "downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...
" genres. However, in the late 2000s, Balearic Trance was redeveloped by Magic Island, Roger Shah, and others, and is now established as a recognized sub-genre of trance.
The style of Balearic Beat is described by its inventors, as opposed to its UK followers, as the ability for the DJ to play across a broad range of styles, from early minimal new beat
New Beat
New Beat is a term that was used in the 1980s to refer to two different genres of electronic dance music. It also refers to an underground 1980s Belgian music style.- Terminology :...
to the first extended remixes of pop-songs, making Balearic DJ sets those that tend to have the sharpest turns of musical direction. While the public outside Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
generally describes Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat or either Balearic House and Balearic Trance is an eclectic blend of DJed dance music that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music that was popular into the mid-1990s...
as a music style, the island based community regard Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat
Balearic Beat or either Balearic House and Balearic Trance is an eclectic blend of DJed dance music that originally emerged in the mid-1980s. It later became the name of a more specific style of electronic dance music that was popular into the mid-1990s...
as a non-style or a healthy disrespect to style conformity and a challenge to the norm. It's a freestyle expression that seamlessly binds sporadic vinyl inspiration through technical flair on the turntables. Today, due to stylistic segregation in electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
, few promoters and DJs dare to stretch the spectrum of styles that far in fear of losing identity and clients. DJ Alfredo still heralds the most diversity among Ibiza DJs, but generally the approach to mixing as well as the terminology, have been swallowed up by the Chillout scene.
Ibiza is still considered by some to have its own 'sound,' however, including among others the music of Jens Gad
Jens Gad
Jens Gad is a songwriter, producer and guitarist. He was previously the co-producer for the musical project, Enigma. Currently, he is releasing albums under the name of Jens Gad Presents for his new instrumental work, and also under the name of Achillea, for his new world-influenced music which...
, co-creator of Enigma
Enigma (musical project)
Enigma is an electronic musical project founded in Germany by Michael Cretu, David Fairstein and Frank Peterson in 1990. The Romanian-born Cretu conceived the Enigma project while working in Germany, but has based his recording studio A.R.T. Studios in Ibiza, Spain, since the early 1990s until May...
, and his new chillout-world-influenced hybrid project, Achillea, recorded in his studio in the hills overlooking Ibiza. Compilations such as Global Lounge Sessions: The Balearic Sound of Ibiza, released in 2002, and Sequoia Groove's Buddha-Lounge series, continue to be released. These generally feature house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
and certain downtempo selections, not the old style of Balearic Beat, per se. Some prefer to use the term more generally, however, to apply to all of these styles.
External links
- In Search of Balearic - 2008 article by Bill BrewsterBill Brewster (DJ)Bill Brewster is a writer and disc jockey. Brewster co-wrote the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life with Frank Broughton. The two also launched and run Djhistory.com. In 2002, his mix album Praxis was released on Hooj Choons....
for DJhistory.comDjhistory.comDJhistory.com is a website dedicated to the history of dance music and DJing, and also an online record label and book publishing company. It aims to encourage interest in obscure, overlooked and collectible dance music , by creating an archive of reference material on the subject and by licensing... - Ibiza Travel Guide - Ibiza Music (archived site) discusses the music of Ibiza, including Balearic Beat
- Balearic Beats - The Album Vol. 1 - information about an early (1988) Balearic Beat compilation
- The Balearic Beat Story - reprint of July 1988 MixmagMixmagMixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It styles itself as "the world's biggest selling dance music magazine", with an Audit Bureau of Circulations audited circulation of approximately 21,250...
article promoting Balearic Beats - The Album Vol. 1 - "Spirit Of Bedrock" DJ mixes - a series of DJ sets demonstrating the late-1980s/early-1990s Balearic and related styles