A framework for discussing tonality in electronic dance music

Abstract

We present a framework for discussing tonality in Elec-tronic Dance Music (EDM) which highlights how tonal techniques are employed creatively throughout EDM. While most musicological analysis of EDM focuses on rhythm, we contend that composer/producers of EDM play with a sense of tonality that often defies traditional analytic techniques. The rich tonality of EDM tracks may be illuminated by using our framework, which is broader and more contextually relevant to EDM than standard western classical music approaches to analysis. The framework consists of four attributes that are used to describe the nature of tonality over the course of the mu-sic: rate of tonal change, tonal stability, pitch/noise ratio and number of independent pitch streams. We will define and illustrate these attributes using numerous audio examples. In a practical sense, our framework may be useful for generating more detailed discussions and analysis of tonality in EDM and may lay the basis for formal systems of tonal analysis of EDM in the future.

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