1990's

Alternative Song Structures ​

Alternative music in the 1990s started to break away from the traditional verse-chorus song structures and moved toward more free-form structures that better reflected the genre's experimental nature. With grunge, indie rock, and post-punk influences, alternative bands often favored non-linear song arrangements that combined elements of chaos and unpredictability. Songs would often display jarring contrasts in dynamics: quiet, meditative verses erupt into explosive, cathartic choruses, as in Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or Radiohead's "Paranoid Android." Most of these songs avoided the predictable radio single structures of pop and instead used jagged time signatures, unconventional intros, and instrumental breaks that flew in the face of commercial convention. Besides, some alternative tracks stretched the song structure to maximum extent, extended instrumental parts changed moods and were experimenting with the sound as performed by Sonic Youth and more avant-garde creation of bands like The Smashing Pumpkins. Lo-fi production was also acceptable within the alternative scene of the 1990s, further enhancing the raw, unprocessed character of the songs. Unconventional song structures, among other elements, made alternative music stand out for artistic freedom and readiness to break the mold of preconceived standards.

Sampling & Hip-Hop Influence (Samples, Loops & Beats)​

Throughout the 1990s, sampling and hip-hop culture gained a lot of momentum in determining the course that modern music would take, and producers along with artists found themselves ever more dependent on samples, loops, and beats in creating innovative tracks. Hip-hop, especially, stood right at the fore of driving far-reaching use of sampling, with producers such as Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, and The RZA taking pieces of older songs that ran the gamut from funk, soul, and jazz to rock, creating new rhythms and textures. Sampling could allow the usage of pre-existent material; classic tracks were given a new life as different genres were merged. Another key element applied in hip-hop production was that of drum loops and beats: the producer created an intricate, repetitive rhythm over which the rappers would flow. Maybe one of the most innovative of those albums using this during the 1990s was the work of The Beastie Boys on *Paul's Boutique* (1989), which pushed against the limits of traditional sampling to become one of the hallmarks of the genre's innovative approach to making music. Similarly, in mainstream pop, artists like The Fugees' version of “Killing Me Softly” and Puff Daddy's “I’ll Be Missing You” moved the use of samples within a hit song further along. The further availability of new samplers, such as the Akai MPC-a sampler which allowed producers to create full tracks based on the manipulation of prerecorded sound-further facilitated hip-hop's resourceful and DIY ethos. This fusing of hip-hop's rhythmic foundation with advanced sampling techniques in the 1990s was a revolutionary recasting of music that would lay the basis for future genres to come.

Rap Verses In Pop ​

Rap verses really started to make an impact on pop music in the 1990s, as artists from both sides warmed up to the idea of a hip-hop/mainstream pop fusion. That era saw many collaborations of pop artists and rap musicians, wherein rap verses gave an all-new rhythmic and lyrical dimension to the pop numbers. Perhaps the most identifiable characteristic of this trend was the usage of rap verses in pop hits. This came with the collaborations between MC Hammer and the pop world, such as "U Can't Touch This" from 1990, which featured the unmistakable sample of Rick James. Another defining moment in the history of pop was the 1990 success of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby", one of the very first rap-crossover pop singles to reach the top of the charts-a clear omen that hip-hop was bleeding into the mainstream music world.

Through the decade, rap verses lent a more urban, streetwise edge to pop songs, further cementing their popularity across diverse audiences. For instance, artists like **Will Smith**-the artist formerly known as The Fresh Prince-brought out catchy pop-rap singles such as "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" from 1997, whereby his lighthearted rhymes helped break hip-hop into almost an unprecedented mainstream understanding. Hip-hop's authentic rhythmic taste is well contextualized by how Salt-N-Pepa merged their rapping with pop instincts on singles such as "Shoop" in 1993. In fact, rap-pop had become so pervasive by the latter half of the '90s that it was now the mainstream formula-from hits by Destiny's Child and Madonna to the later associations with Jennifer Lopez-that would already render rap verses a staple within pop music. These associations helped close the gap between hip-hop and pop, influencing the course of each toward the 21st century.

Electronic Synthesis​

In the 1990s, electronic synthesis played an overriding role in popular music as technology made production facilities more accessible and versatile. Not only did the rise of digital synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines gain wide usage across several types of genres-from pure dance and techno to pop and alternative rock-but also the general electronic componentry did. Artists and producers, therefore, explored new sounds, textures, and other audio effects to create sonic music that was previously impossible. Acid house, rave, and hip-hop genres required the famous Roland TB-303 and TR-808 drum machine. The use of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) gave rise to more flexibility in the control of several synthesizers and other electronic instruments to obtain complex, multi-layered compositions. In the realm of pop, acts such as The Prodigy, Daft Punk, and Moby integrated electronic synthesis into some of their hit singles, often combining them with conventional rock, funk, or soul. Meanwhile, ambient and trip-hop artists such as Massive Attack and Portishead made use of electronic synthesis to conjure up atmospheric, moody soundscapes, and these, too, came to define the decade's experimental edge. Electronic music's mainstream breakthrough started in the 1990s: it was then that the genres of techno, house, and drum and bass actually started to emerge, and the usage of synthesizers and electronic production techniques in mainstream pop and rock was being increasingly embraced into the sounds of the times.

Digital Recording

By the 1990s, finally, digital recording technology had made recording, flexibility, and precision unparalleled in the music production process. Although the move into digital recording began in the 1980s, it was the 1990s that found the most significant number of studios switching to digital audio workstations or hard disk recording systems. For the first time, producers and engineers were able to record, edit, and mix music with ease and accuracy that was unrealizable with tape-based systems. Another reason for digital recording was the demand brought about by the use of the Compact Disc (CD) as the dominant format for distributing music. Digital systems also provide the recording studios with more efficient workflows since tracks stored on the hard disk were prevented from degrading over time, unlike analog tape. Pro Tools, developed in the early 1990s, would go on to become the software standard for the editing of digital audio due to its non-destructive editing features and seamless integration with other equipment found within the studio. With digital recording also came the added ability to better integrate MIDI with live instruments, thus the development of computer-based production and virtual instruments. Although most producers were resistant to digital well into the decade, citing its "cold" sound, by the decade's end, digital recording had certainly planted its feet as the future of music production, offering convenience, cost-effectiveness, and the capacity for innovative manipulation of sound.

Sample-based Production

By the 1990s, sample-based production had become a driving factor within music, an orientation that became particularly favored within genres such as hip-hop, electronic music, and pop. With superior, more accessible digital sampling technology, producers became heavy samplers of the parts of existing tracks-drum breaks, vocal snippets, melodies, and instrumental riffs-to make up a new composition. Among the most iconic production tools, the Akai MPC and E-mu SP-1200 allowed artists to manipulate and sequence samples in innovative ways and thus gave birth to totally new sonic results from the most familiar sources. Hip-hop producers like DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, and RZA rose to fame during this period by slicing, looping, and generally manipulating samples taken from the funk, soul, jazz, and rock records. Sample-based production also crept into the mainstream pop world through artists such as The Prodigy, Moby, and Fatboy Slim, who each integrated varied samples into dance and electronic cuts. More recently, these creative modes have been extended by the now common use of samples: producers can take any pre-existing music and put a new, modern spin on it. This also brought into the open some very public debates on issues like copyright and intellectual property, given the fact that artists and record labels eventually sought legal control over sampled content. Despite controversies, sample-based production was an integral and defining feature of 1990s music; its impact leaked beyond hip-hop and electronic genres into the overall sound of pop and mainstream throughout the decade.

Drum Programming

By the 1990s, drum programming became the cornerstone in modern music production, especially in genres such as hip-hop, electronic music, and pop. With advancements in digital drum machines and sampling technology, producers could now develop complicated and elaborate patterns of drums that were at best very hard or impossible for live drummers to execute. Timeless classics such as the Roland TR-808, TR-909, and the Akai MPC saw high usage in order to create punchy, synthetic sounds of drums that allowed producers to create rhythmic foundations right from scratch. This is how hip-hop got to have characteristic, hard-hitting beats that defined hip-hop, while legendary producers such as Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, and Pete Rock perfected the art of loop and break programming. This allowed them to actually manipulate drum sounds and rhythms with a degree of unprecedented precision to make specific, syncopated beats typical of the 90s. Within electronic music, techno, house, and trance artists utilized this sort of drumming to create repetitive, danceable beats that fueled an evolving rave culture. Meanwhile, in pop and alternative, producers started using drum machines and programmed beats to add synthetic textures to the tracks in order to give them that modern, gleaming feel. The drum programming of the 1990s reflected the approach of more controlled, electronically based rhythm productions and really defined much of the sound from the decade in question across many genres.

Sequencing

During the 1990s, with the improvement of sequencing, it became a central constituent of music production across genres. MIDI sequencers and digital audio workstations (DAWs) finally granted producers and musicians the power to arrange and process many tracks with completely new accuracy. It is in this decade that such software as Logic Pro, Cubase, and Pro Tools gained momentum and gave composers a chance to create complex compositions by building up and layering different musical elements in a non-linear way. Now, by being able to sequence every single sound, synth line, drum beat, and sample, producers can easily edit, re-structure, and experiment without the constraints of traditional recording methods. For genres like hip-hop, techno, and house, sequencing became indispensable-it allowed the creation of rhythmic, loop-based tracks that at once would be repetitive and evolving; in pop music, it gave place to a more refined and nuanced arrangement. Sequencing also allowed artists who could no longer work in the same space to collaborate far more easily because they could share their MIDI files or audio tracks over the internet. Sequencing became the democratizing force that allowed home studios to bloom and let musicians with limited resources produce great tracks. At the beginning of the 1990s, new sequencing technology had changed how music was being made and would continue to be made in the future.