Industrial Music, Electronic Dance Music, and Synth-Pop: The Sounds of

A look at the three most popular genres of music and their history.

Industrial Music

Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. The music is intended to evoke an emotional response in the listener, and often has a political or social message. Industrial music was created in the 1970s by artists who were looking for a way to express their frustration with the world around them. The genre has since evolved and now includes a wide range of subgenres and styles.

What is Industrial Music?

Industrial music is atype of electronic dance music that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The music is characterized by its use of repetitive beats and synthesized sounds, often create an atmosphere of industrial or electronic noise. Industrial music was strongly influenced by the industrial and electronic music of the 20th century, including Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.

The Origins of Industrial Music

It’s impossible to overstate the influence of industrial music. The genre has left an indelible mark on popular culture, paving the way for everything from electronic dance music to synth-pop. But what exactly is industrial music?

The term “industrial music” was first coined in the early 1970s by British writer and musician Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood was a member of the experimental rock group On-U Sound System, which blended elements of dub reggae and punk rock. The group’s style would come to be known as “industrial dub.”

In 1976, industrial music found its way to America courtesy of German band Kraftwerk. The group’s eighth studio album, Trans-Europe Express, featured the song “Autobahn,” which became a surprise hit in the United States.

The following year, British band Throbbing Gristle released their debut album, The Second Annual Report. Throbbing Gristle is considered to be one of the first industrial music groups. The band was known for their use of shocking images and lyrics, as well as for their radicalapproach to music composition.

Other important early industrial music groups include Cabaret Voltaire, SPK, and Einstürzende Neubauten. These groups paved the way for subsequent industrial artists like Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Skinny Puppy.

The Sound of Industrial Music

Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The genre has been described as “a calculated assault on the senses” designed to “sonically assault the listener”. It often features repetitive electronic beats and synthesized noises, as well as distorted vocals. Industrial artists may incorporate elements of other genres into their music, including rock, punk, techno, noise, and ambient.

Industrial music first began to take shape in the early 1970s with the advent of new electronic music technologies such as the synthesizer and sequencer. These new instruments were used by artists to create soundscapes that were both dark and danceable. Industrial music soon found its way into popular culture with the rise of electronic dance music (EDM) in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, industrial music continues to evolve as artists experiment with new sounds and technology.

Electronic Dance Music

Electronic dance music is a genre of music that is created for clubs, raves, and festivals. It is typically characterized by a fast tempo, a heavy bass, and synth-pop or industrial influences. In recent years, electronic dance music has become increasingly popular, with a wide variety of subgenres and subcultures emerging.

What is Electronic Dance Music?

Industrial music, electronic dance music, and synth-pop are all umbrella terms that describe a wide range of music styles. These genres are often grouped together because they share common sonic characteristics, such as the use of synthesizers and drum machines.

Industrial music is a style of music that emerged in the late 1970s. This genre is characterized by its aggressive sound, which is created by the use of distorted guitars and processed vocals. Industrial music is often political in nature, and it often features themes of social unrest and alienation.

Electronic dance music is a broad term that includes many subgenres, such as house, techno, trance, drum and bass, and dubstep. This type of music is designed to be played in nightclubs and at dance parties. EDM typically features repetitive beats and melodies.

Synth-pop is a type of popular music that emerged in the early 1980s. This genre is characterized by the use of synthesizers to create catchy melodies and beats. Synth-pop often has a lighthearted or “cheesy” sound, and it was initially associated with the new wave movement.

The Origins of Electronic Dance Music

Electro, techno, house, trance, trip-hop and drum ‘n’ bass are all electronic dance music genres with their own characteristic sound. They share many of the same elements, including synthesizers and drum machines, but each has its own distinctive style.

Electronic dance music has its roots in disco, but it developed into its own thing in the early 1980s with the help of new technologies like synthesizers and drum machines. DJs started playing longer sets made up of multiple tracks that they mixed together, and clubs became more focused on dancing than drinking or socializing.

As electronic dance music became more popular, it began to influence other genres of music. Hip-hop producers started using drum machines and samples from disco and electro records, and rock bands incorporated synthesizers into their sound. Electronic dance music also played a role in the development of rave culture in the UK and Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Today, electronic dance music is enjoyed all over the world. It’s still evolving and changing with every new generation of producers and DJs, but its core elements remain the same: a love of dancing and a commitment to creating new sounds.

The Sound of Electronic Dance Music

Electronic dance music (EDM), also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by disc jockeys (DJs) who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, by segueing from one recording to another.

EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. In Europe, EDM is more commonly called ‘dance music’, or simply ‘dance’.

History
The origins of EDM date back to the 1940s and 1950s, when composers working in experimental music styles utilized electronic instruments and synthesizers. These composers included Stockhausen and Schaeffer, who created Electronic Study No. 1 in 1948 and Pierre Schaeffer’s Symphonie pour un homme seul in 1950.

The electronic sound produced by these instruments was unusual at the time and was variously described as “beeps”, “boings” and “bleeps”. In 1951, Halim El-Dabh composed one of the earliest known works of electronic dance music, entitled Ceremonial Dance for tape recorder and electronics. By the early 1960s, composers such as Eliane Radigue and Pierre Henry were experimenting with unusual sounds created by manipulating tape recorders, which they hoped would create new sonic experiences.

In 1966, German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen completed Hymnen: An die Freude (Hymns: In Praise of Joy), an electronic work composed using four reel-to-reel tape recorders playing back sounds that he had recorded on location around the world; he created this work while living at WDR Studio in Cologne. Other important early works include Tod und Mädchen (Death and the Maiden) by Richard Maxfield (1967), A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley (1968), Silver Apples of the Moon by Morton Subotnick (1968) and Equinox by Walter/Wendy Carlos (1969). These pieces were all influential in shaping the development of subsequent electronic dance music.

Synth-Pop

Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called technopop) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. The genre was developed by musicians who were inspired by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock and electronic dance music.

What is Synth-Pop?

Synth-pop is a subgenre of new wave music that first became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines elements of electronic music and pop music, and is often cited as a precursor to or major influence on the development of electronic dance music.

The term “synth-pop” was first used in the early 1980s, although it was not widely used until the late 1990s, when it was revived by critics to describe a new wave of bands that had emerged in the preceding decade. One of the earliest uses of the term was by British journalist Simon Reynolds, who described Kraftwerk’s album Trans-Europe Express (1977) as “the yellow brick road to Synth-Pop Land”.

In his book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984 (2005), Reynolds defined synth-pop as “a body of work that starkly represents an aesthetic breakthrough for pop music—namely the move from live instruments and human voices to synthesisers [sic] and drum machines”.

The Origins of Synth-Pop

Synth-pop is a type of popular music that features the use of synthesizers. It first became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was often used in conjunction with electronic dance music. Synth-pop is sometimes also referred to as “electropop” or “technopop.”

The first synth-pop song is widely considered to be “The Model” by Kraftwerk, which was released in 1978. The song paved the way for other synth-pop hits, such as “Cars” by Gary Numan and “Don’t You Want Me” by The Human League. Synth-pop eventually became one of the most popular genres of music in the 1980s, with bands like Depeche Mode, New Order, and Duran Duran achieving massive success.

In the 1990s and 2000s, synth-pop experienced something of a resurgence in popularity, thanks in part to the rise of electronic dance music. Many modern synth-pop artists have drawn inspiration from the sounds of the 1980s, resulting in a unique blend of old and new influences.

The Sound of Synth-Pop

Synth-pop is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the “Krautrock” of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to early 1980s.

Early synth-pop has been described as being closer to punk rock than to anything else, with Vocalist Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees (one of the earliest groups to use synths) saying, “We were children of punk rockers. Experiments with electronics [during punk] took place… But it couldn’t go anywhere because it was severely lacking in rhythm.”