Characteristics
The use of individual nicknames by DJs rather than recording under a band name is common. These same artists would be widely found DJing on the English rave circuit. These individual artists would also collaborate with other individuals under joint releases with & or versus designations.
Much like its hardcore predecessor, there was a number of uncredited white labels released, created by unknown producers.
Typical characteristics for 4-beat are for compositions to be around a tempo of 150 to 170 BPM (beats per minute). At the core of these compositions would be a fast looped, sometimes complex rolling sampled breakbeat, along with a combined bass drum every four beats to the bar - hence the name of 4-beat.
These rolling chopped breakbeats were not too dissimilar to those found in jungle music. A deep sub bassline could also be found to work with the breakbeats, though not as prominent as found in jungle. Both 4-beat and jungle styles would be common under one roof at raves during the early-to-mid-1990s.
Tracks would have a somewhat basic keyed happy sounding chord before bursting into an Italo house inspired catchy piano melody. This would be the hook of the record, where rave crowds would respond by making noise by blowing whistles or air horns. This could be accompanied by weeping and uplifting strings.
If any vocals are used, they are often female and likely be just short samples from other records. In most cases these would not be performed by a paid vocalist.
High pitched samples due to the fast tempo of tracks could be found in this music but not in every release. It's deemed more of a stereotype associated to this style.
Due to other influences - largely to the bouncy techno style - its inherent breakbeats and sub basslines would later become surplus to requirements by 1996.
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