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Acid House

Acid is a variant of house music characterized by the use of simple tone generators with tempo-controlled resonant filters. It began when musicians discovered that they could create interesting sounds with the Roland TB-303 analogue bass synthesizer by tweaking the resonance and frequency cut-off dials as they played. The term "acid" was used in Chicago at the time as a term for the squelchy "acid" sounds of such bass synthesizers such as the TB-303, and has no connection to LSD (in fact, the drug most commonly associated with the acid house scene was MDMA, or Ecstasy). Acid house music became a central part of the early rave scene in the U.K., and the yellow smiley became its emblem.

Since the early 2000s, acid house has shifted focus from its sole use of the 303, but remains true to the original concept: repeated sequences of sound being shifted and warped by modulation over a period of time.

Notable acid house artists

808 State - British outfit from Manchester, formed in 1989. Their first album, Newbuild, was acid house, and occasional acid house influences appeared in later tracks.

Adonis - We're Rockin Down The House

A Guy Called Gerald - "Voodoo Ray"

Aphex Twin (early acid house)

Armando

Chip E

Fingers Inc

Phuture - Chicago-based group of acid house pioneers, formed in 1985, and best known for their classic 1987 single "Acid Tracks", which defined the genre and was its first "track".

Psychic TV - Led by Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-Orridge, the term "acid house" first appeared on the cover of their 1985 single "Superman".

Luke Vibert