When you listen to music on the radio in your car or on your iPod, it’s very likely that you’re listening to some form of electronic music. For example, genres such as pop or rap often use electronic sounds. Electronic music plays a part in the majority of what we listen to today. However, you may be asking yourself: where did it come from? What led it to crawl out of humble studios with primitive machinery, to escape from the harsh criticism of those who preferred more classical methods of composition?
If you look for the very beginnings of electronic music instruments, you’ll find yourself in France during 1759. It was here that Jean-Baptiste Delaborde created the Clavecin Electrique. This instrument operated similarly to a carillon, except it used electricity to vibrate the bells which, in turn, played the desired sound (Crab). Nearly a century and a half later, Thaddaeus Cahill strung together a multi-ton set of Edison dynamos to create the Dynamaphone. Cahill was able to control the sound of this instrument by altering the speed at which the dynamos operated; the sound of his instrument, however, was transmitted over telephone wires (Hass).
These inventions were merely the first few stepping stones in electronic music’s path to worldwide prominence. In 1930, the tape recorder was invented, allowing musicians to record and alter the sounds they heard in real life (Hass). Furthermore, musicians able to string together multiple different sounds in order to create rhythms and tunes by means of tape splicing: cutting out pieces from one recording and then attaching them to another length or recorded tape. Of course, the instruments that created what we may consider to be ‘true’ electronic music were oscillators. These devices ca...
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...decades ahead of us will be amazed by the history made in our time? Indeed, just as time told for the aforementioned composers and studios, so too will time tell for us.
Works Cited
History of Electronic Music: Bibliography
Hass, Jeffry. “Electronic Music Historical Overview” Electronic Music Historical Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Crab, Simon. “Clavecin Electrique” 120 Years of Electronic Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Crab, Simon. “MUSIC N” 120 Years of Electronic Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Sword, Harry. “Brief History of Early Electronic Music” Little White Earbuds. N.p., 6 June 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Elsea, Peter. “Analog Tape Recorders” Analog Tape. Electronic Music Studio of the University of California, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014
“A Brief History of the Synthesizer” Logic 9 Express Instruments. Apple Inc., 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
A number of other genres, throughout the decade, maintained a significant following. One genre that was slow to start was Hip-Hop, while it emerged in the 1970’s it didn’t become significant until the late 1980’s. Although Classical music began to lose impetus, it gave way to a new generation of composers through invention and theoretical development. The decade was also distinguished for its assistance to electronic music, which rose in reco...
Source D: "The Pop History Dig » “Fingertips – Pt.2″1963." The Pop History Dig » “Fingertips – Pt.2″1963. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
The turntables are originally derived from the invention of the phonograph in 1877 and has been improvised since its announcement. Thomas Edison, a famous scientist, created the phonograph, an innovation which could essentially play sounds. Edison’s motive was to simplify relaying messages and daily activities. Although another invention had been concepted in France, Edison’s invention was entirely original. In 1881 Emile Berliner, a German scientist, created the gramophone which had better quality than the phonograph and played rubber discs. This replaced the use of cylinders and was optimized for multiple plays unlike the phonograph. The discs were mass produced and easier to create, and its popularity (which hadn’t sprouted until the 1950’s) spread like wildfire. Their inventions made record playback possible and Emile made it easier by simplifying the usage of records. The simplification of distribution made innovation and creation easier to culturally progress; this gave more people in the future access to such technology.
...f. Th.Reinach, La musique grecque, Payot, Paris, 1926; C.Sachs, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, W.W.Norton & Comp. Inc. New York, 1969.
Many people and many styles of music influenced Rock and Roll. The styles included Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie, and Rockabilly. Each was a major factor into the introduction of a new style of music called Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Popular Music / Volume 24 / Issue 02 / May 2005, pp 179-191Copyright © 2005 Cambridge University Press
Owsinski, Bobby. The Mastering Engineer's Handbook: The Audio Mastering Handbook. Boston, MAT: Thomson Course Technology PTR, 2008. Print.
Reich, Steve. Writings about Music. Halifax: Nova Scotia Coll.of Art & Design P., 1974. Print.
Majerol, Ueronica. “How the Web Changed Music Forever.” New York Times Upfront 145.11 (2013):21. MasterFILE Complete, Web 24 Feb. 2014
The idea of electronic music was thought up hundreds of years ago. Ferruccio Busoni, an Italian composer and musician of the eighteen hundreds, predicted the rise of electronic music when music was still strictly classical. “I almost think that in the new great music, machines will also be necessary and will be assigned a share in it” (Dubal 438). Musical electronic sounds were first heard in 1877, when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. Although the music being played was performed on traditional instruments, the final sound through the phonograph had an electronical quality. These new sounds had never been heard before, and they clung to the brains of the creative.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
Wendkos, Zach. “The Evolution of the Electric Guitar”. 21 May 2010. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Haire, M. (2009, July 1). A brief history of the walkman. Time, 1-2. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1907884,00.html
Music and the relationships of music have changed drastically in our society. The course of studies and the evaluations of the applications of the technology of music, the making and the listening of music have changed in the way we listen to music, the styles of music in our society and in the media. The importance of the technology in music today, has, over the past century been charted through the study of musical examples and through viewing how human values are reflected in this century's timely music. There are very many different types of music that are listened to. There are readings, writings, lectures and discussions on all the different types of music.
"The Purpose of Music." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. .