Wonky (music)

Wonky (also known as street bass, aquacrunk, lazer hip hop or purple sound) is an often-debated and unique/experimental genre of electronic music that uses mid-range unstable synths as well as complex and unusual time signatures. It appeared before summer 2008, among a range of musical genres, including hip hop (particularly glitch hop), grime, chiptune, dubstep, 90's G-funk, crunk, electro and broken beat.

The "wet and unstable" sound of wonky is achieved by producing mid-range basses using pitch bending, LFOs on lowpassing and highpassing, phasing, and delaying. The resonance parameters of the synth's LFOs are often high. These effects give the synth and bass unique "wonky" sounds, hence the name of the genre.

Overview

Wonky is the name given to a fusion of dubstep and hip hop (particularly glitch hop) which first developed in the mid-to-late 2000s. Along with those main elements, it also has secondary influences such as IDM and its namesake, wonky techno. It is defined by its off-kilter and unstable, wonky (hence the name) mid-range, with unquantised and offbeat hip-hop rhythms at dubstep tempos, or vice versa. But in the more glitch hop like variety, it is most like dubstep with a hip hop tempo and beat.

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."