Minimal electronic music is a subgenre of minimal music that features electronic instruments and electronic music technology as the primary musical instruments. It is characterized by an experimental and innovative use of electronics, and often has a duration at least one hour long. The genre was pioneered in the 1960s by minimalist composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass, who created works using tape loops, electric organs and simple synthesizers. Notable artists in the genre include Tony Conrad, Eliane Radigue, Iannis Xenakis, Charlemagne Palestine, Pauline Oliveros, Alva Noto and Ryoji Ikeda.
The term “minimal electronic music” became popular in the 1980s as a critical response to new wave electronic dance music by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Kraftwerk. The American record label Cramps Records was founded to release this kind of music. The style is characterized by repetitive structures in contrast to the complex arrangements found in other forms of minimalism.
Minimal electronic music is a style of electronic music which has basic synthesizer sounds as its foundation. The rhythm of minimal electronic music usually goes at 120 beats per minute. This is the same rhythm as house music, which is another popular style of electronic music.
The earliest form of minimal electronic music was called ambient, and it was created in the 1970s and 1980s by composers like Brian Eno. Ambient music is usually not very rhythmic and can be played in places like art galleries, elevators, or clothing stores to create a relaxing atmosphere.
Minimal electronic music is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in the early 1990s and has subsequently enjoyed widespread popularity.
Minimal electronic music generally follows the principles of minimalism, emphasizing simplicity and repetition. The term “minimal” generally refers to the simple musical structures employed by a variety of artists such as Fennesz, Aphex Twin, the Black Dog, Autechre, Oval, Plaid, Pole, Richie Hawtin and the Basic Channel/Rhythm & Sound collective.
Minimal electronic music is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s among techno and acid house fans. It is characterized by its repetitive hypnotic rhythms. Minimal electronic music is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Richie Hawtin and Daniel Bell, both from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is difficult to determine when exactly minimal electronic music came into being because there are many different definitions of minimalism. In fact, it was used as early as 1972 by composer La Monte Young to describe his own compositions. Electronic dance music, however, did not become popularized until decades later.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Detroit Techno producers perfected a driving sound that incorporated elements of house and electro and fused them with an emotionally detached mood. This sound was generally repetitive with subtle changes occurring over long periods of time. The basic beat structure of this music was very simple; in fact most songs were only comprised of a kick drum on each quarter note, a snare or clap on the second and fourth quarter notes, and an open high-hat sounding twice as fast as the kick drum on every eighth note. The addition of more instruments was rare and instead producers used various effects such as reverb or delay to
Minimalist music is a form of art music that employs limited or minimal musical materials. It may be regarded as largely the same as contemporary classical music, though a number of modernists and postmodernists have rejected this view.
Minimalism is often associated with American composers of contemporary classical music, including Morton Feldman (1926–1987), Philip Glass (b. 1937), Steve Reich (b. 1936), La Monte Young (b. 1935) and Terry Riley (b. 1935). Others who have been associated with the movement include Michael Nyman (b. 1944), John Adams (b. 1947), and John Zorn (b. 1953).
The Minimalist composers of the fifties and sixties like La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Steve Reich developed a new kind of music. It was a reaction against the complexity of twelve-tone serialism, but instead of returning to tonality, as many had expected, it went in another direction. In this music there are only a few elements: simple, often repeating. It was radical in its insistence on simplicity. But it was also radical in its rejection of familiar ideas about what music should be.
Minimalism is not easy to define, because in many ways it does not conform to standard ideas about what music should be. The most common criticism is that it is too repetitive and doesn’t go anywhere. This is not really true. A lot of it sounds repetitive, because our ears are trained to expect certain kinds of development that never happen in the piece. But if you listen closely there is always something changing, even if it’s just the overtones of a sustained chord or the phases of an oscillator. And the composer’s job is to control these changes so they happen at exactly the right moments — just as interesting as more complex kinds of change.
Minimalism also raises questions about what harmony and melody are. A lot of
The first time I heard electronic music was in the late 1950s. At that time, it was called “space music.” It was being broadcast from a radio station in Paris, France. The name of the station was Radio Luxembourg.
The music sounded like it was coming from a spaceship. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard before. It had no melody, no harmony, and no rhythm. All you could hear were wailing sounds, like voices from another planet.
I liked it right away. I began to listen to space music all the time. My friends thought I was crazy. They didn’t understand why I would listen to a radio station playing weird sounds when there were so many other stations to listen to – all playing popular songs of the day, with beautiful melodies and harmonies and rhythms.
But I couldn’t get enough of that space music! As far as I was concerned, it sounded better than any other kind of music around at the time.