A Brief History of Electronic Music


A Brief History of Electronic Music: a blog talking about the history of electronic music. Electronic music is a style of popular music that has been generated using electronic devices.

The history of electronic music dates back to the 19th century, with the invention of musical instruments such as the theremin and telharmonium. In the 1930s and 1940s, electronic instruments were introduced to popular music. The first electronic pop record was produced in 1950 by Louis and Bebe Barron for the film Forbidden Planet. The mid-1960s saw an increase in popularity of electronic pop music, with groups such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys experimenting with it. In the 1970s, a subgenre known as electro emerged.

A Brief History of Electronic Music

Electronic music is the product of various technologies and techniques that manipulate sound electronically. It was first developed as far back as the 1800s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1900s that electronic music began to be recognised as a genre in itself. This was partly due to the availability of instruments such as the synthesiser, and also to technological advances that allowed for more complex sounds to be produced.

In this blog post I will be talking about the history of electronic music, some of its main types, and how this type of music has evolved over time.

What Is Electronic Music?

Electronic music is a musical genre made up entirely or largely using electronic musical instruments. These include electric guitars, keyboards and synthesizers; drum machines and sequencers; samplers; and other technology such as computers, sound cards and audio processors. Some types of electronic music are created entirely with these instruments, while others use them alongside acoustic or traditional instruments. Electronic music can also include computer-generated sounds that are not recorded in real time (such as MIDI sequences).

From the invention of the Theremin to the synthesizers of today, electronic music has been around for a long time; however it is still a relatively young genre. There are many people that contributed to the development of electronic instruments and techniques.

In 1874, Elisha Gray invented the musical telegraph which was capable of generating two tones. In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill invented an electromechanical keyboard instrument called the Telharmonium. In 1919, there was a Russian physicist named Lev Sergeyevich Termen who invented an electronic musical instrument called the Theremin.

In 1929, Oskar Sala built an electroacoustic instrument called a Trautonium (also known as Mixtur-Trautonium). This instrument is similar to an organ and is comprised of a radio receiver and several electronic oscillators. In 1954, Robert Moog developed voltage controlled oscillators which paved the way for his Moog synthesizer in 1964.

Electronic music has come a long way since then but there are a lot more people that have contributed to its growth and development. The following is a list of some important pioneers in the field:

Paul Hindemith – First academic composer to work with electronic music

Alfred Mann – Taught at Columbia

Electronic music is a form of music that utilizes electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means (electroacoustic music), and that produced using electronics only.

Electronic music was once associated almost exclusively with Western art music, but from the late 1960s on the availability of affordable music technology meant that music produced using electronic means became increasingly common in the popular domain. Today electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music.

Although electronic instruments were invented as early as the 19th century, they did not become prevalent in popular culture until much later. The first generation of electric guitars and synthesizers were developed in the early 20th century; their use became widespread in popular music in the 1960s and 1970s.[1] Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, while the mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians.

In the 1980s, electronic instruments were incorporated into more conventional rock arrangements, leading to an enormous increase in popularity of electronic dance genres such as house, techno and trance. Since then electronic elements have been increasingly used

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, and the electric guitar. Purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as the theremin, sound synthesizer, and computer.

Electronic music was once associated almost entirely with Western art music but from the late 1960s on the availability of affordable music technology meant that music produced using electronic means became increasingly common in the popular domain. Today electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music.

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production, an electronic musician being a musician who composes and/or performs such music.

In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means (electroacoustic music), and that produced using electronics only.

Electromechanical instruments include mechanical elements, such as strings, hammers, and so on, and electric elements, such as magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, and the electric guitar, which are typically made loud enough for performers and audiences to hear with an instrument amplifier and speaker cabinet. Pure electronic instruments depend on electrical or electronic circuits to generate their sounds. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker. An electrical signal may be amplified with a power amplifier before it drives a loudspeaker.

Electronic rock is a genre of rock music which makes significant use of electronic instruments such as synthesizers or sequencers and emphasizes synthesizer textures over traditional rock instrumentation often featuring auto-tune vocals. The genre has been described as “a marriage” between “machines and guitars”.

Electronic music is the result of using electronic technology in the production of music. It has been around for over half a century and many different styles have emerged from it over this time.

The first electronic musical instruments were developed at the end of the 19th century. These were primitive, cumbersome and unreliable but they did demonstrate that sound could be generated electronically. The most famous of these instruments was the theremin.

The next significant development was made in the 1930s by the composer Edgard Varese. He experimented with recordings of industrial sounds and used them in some of his compositions. He was also one of the first composers to use magnetic tape in composition when he composed


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