Romanthony of the band Daft Punk on electronic classical music: A blog that features interviews/articles with electronic classical music composers.
In the early days of computer-based composition, the term “electronic classical music” was used to describe what was being done. It had all the flair and excitement of a new world, and it implied that this was a new movement in composition – not just a fad but something destined to become part of the canon.
Over time, much of this music has been forgotten and is rarely heard. It’s a shame because some of it is truly excellent and deserves to be heard more often.
I hope that this site contributes by giving a platform to some of these composers so that they can tell their stories of how their music came about and provide samples so that people can hear their work.
Romanthony of the band Daft Punk on electronic classical music: A blog that features interviews/articles with electronic classical music composers.
What is Electronic Classical Music?
Electronic classical music is a style of music in which the composer uses an electronic instrument or computer to produce the sound. It has been around since the 1950s, but it’s only recently started gaining popularity again. There are many types of electronic instruments: synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and so on. The most common type used for electronic classical music are keyboards (also known as pianos). They come in different shapes and sizes, from small portable models up to large studio models.
There are two main types of keyboard used for electronic classical music: digital and analog. Digital instruments use a computer program called a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) file format which allows them to be played back at any time without having to re-record anything manually. Analog instruments require manual recording and cannot be played back later unless they’re re-recorded manually by someone else using another device such as a tape recorder or CD player.
Digital instruments have many advantages over their analog counterparts including being easier to learn and play, they’re more reliable (they’re not affected by temperature changes like analog
Romanthony of the band Daft Punk on electronic classical music: “I dream of making real classical music that is actually made with machines, not just strings and other acoustic instruments. I don’t like classical music and never will, but I love some of the string and horn melodies that are used in it. If we could make a record using these traditional melodies and modernize them with new beats and technology, that would be my ideal project.”
A blog that features interviews/articles with electronic classical music composers.
Name:To the University of Chicago
“The French duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter might very well be the most famous purveyors of electronic dance music on the planet. You probably know them as Daft Punk. If you have seen their film Electroma, you also know them as actors. If you have read any interview with them in the past 10 years, you also know that they don’t like to be interviewed.
All of which makes it a bit surprising when Romanthony—the deep-voiced, New Jersey–born house producer who sang on Daft Punk’s “One More Time”—tells me he’s been hanging with the pair lately. “I’m pretty much with them all the time,” he says over the phone from his home in Austin, Texas. “They’re just really humble people.”
Over the past year, Romanthony has been working on music with de Homem-Christo and Bangalter for their forthcoming album, which they’re planning to release this spring. In addition to Romanthonic’s contributions, the album will feature songs from Chicago house legend Giorgio Moroder and Animal Collective’s Panda Bear.
The goal is to find out what the next step in electronic classical music is. I will be interviewing composers who contribute to this genre and asking them about their own process, the future of the genre, and the best way for people with little background in music to start listening to the genre.
I’ve been a fan of the French band Daft Punk since their first album, Homework was released in 1997. I’ve seen them many times in concert and have followed their creative trajectory for the past decade.
A few years ago, I saw them play at Madison Square Garden and as soon as they came on stage, I was stunned. As the lights dimmed and the beats thundered, a classical composition started to play over the music system. This wasn’t anything like an interlude or a sample; it was full orchestrated with strings, flutes, horns and more. It ended rather abruptly and a hip hop track started playing. It seemed odd to me that they would use classical music as an intro but by that point they had clearly won me over again.
I found out later that the piece of classical music they were using is called “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. This song is one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever written and is considered to be a piece that helped define baroque music. The version used by Daft Punk was actually an electronic version made by Wendy Carlos in 1971 for her Switched-On Bach album.
The interesting thing about this story is not just
The art of electronic classical music is derived from the usage of electronic musical instruments and technology in a classical context. It includes live electronic music, acousmatic and mixed music, computer music, and electroacoustic improvisation.