What is Disco?

The disco music genre dates back to the very start of the 1970s in the US, where it became popular in the gay clubs of New York and Philadelphia, and then more mainstream clubs across the country, reaching a peak in popularity around 1979. The genre also crossed the ocean to the UK, Europe and around the world, where it continued to enjoy success through the 1980s.

Popular disco artists during the 1970s include Chic, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Bee Gees, and 'The Queen of Disco': Donna Summer.

The majority of disco songs have a steady four-on-the-floor beat, related to the Dominican merengue rhythm, although other rhythms such as rumba, samba and cha-cha-cha can also be found in disco recordings. It has a quaver (an eighth note) or semi-quaver (sixteenth note) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line, often supported by other instruments such as the rhythm guitar. Solo lines and harmony parts may be played by a variety of orchestral instruments, such as cello, trumpet, harp, French horn, violin, trombone, oboe, flute, clarinet, viola, saxophone, flugelhorn, tuba or piccolo. Other backing instruments include the piano, string synth, and electroacoustic keyboards.

Soaring vocals (often-reverberated and doubled by horns) are often layered over a background 'pad' of electric pianos and wah-pedalled palm muted (chicken-scratch) guitars. Mixing engineers have an important role in the production process, as these songs may use as many as 64 tracks of vocals and instruments, which need to be built into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with orchestral builds and breaks.