The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music

The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music is an essential guide to understanding this important musical genre. Featuring contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, the book covers a wide range of topics, including the history of electronic music, the technology involved, and the different genres and styles that have emerged.

Introduction: Defining Electronic Music

The first electronic music

The first electronic music was made using electronic musical instruments and telecommunications devices. Instruments such as the theremin, Ondes Martenot, and Trautonium were developed in the 1920s and 1930s. These instruments were used to create sound effects and new types of music.

In the 1930s, composers such as Edgard Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen began to experiment with electronic music. They used a range of electronic musical instruments to create their music. In the 1940s, composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and John Cage developed methods of working with recorded sounds, which they called musique concrète.

In the 1950s, commercial synthesizers were developed, which allowed composers to create electronically-generated sounds that were not possible with acoustic instruments. In the 1960s, composers such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley began to experiment with tape loops and other repetition techniques, which they called minimalism. In the 1970s, composers such as Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder created a new style of music called disco, which incorporated synthesizers and other electronic sounds into popular music styles.

Today, electronic music is created using a wide range of technologies, including digital audio workstations, computer-based synthesis software, samplers, and MIDI controllers.

The birth of electronic music

The technological basis for the production of electronic music was laid in the late 19th century with the development of telephony, photography, recording, and film. These technologies were embraced by a new generation of composers and artists who found in them musical and aesthetic possibilities that had hitherto been unattainable. The first half of the 20th century saw the gradual introduction of electronic instruments and devices into the concert hall and studio. The major breakthrough came in the mid-2040s with the development of magnetic tape recording, which made it possible to manipulate sound waves with unprecedented accuracy. This led to a radical expansion of compositional possibilities, as well as to new ways of thinking about music.

The Pioneers of Electronic Music

Electronic music is a genre of music that is produced using electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology. It is a relatively new genre of music, with its origins in the early 20th century. Early electronic music was made using a variety of instruments and devices, including the Theremin, the Ondes Martenot, and the Trautonium.

The early years

The early years of electronic music were dominated by a small number of European composers who were quick to embrace the new technology. These pioneers included Pierre Schaeffer and Olivier Messiaen in France, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig in Germany, Luigi Nono in Italy, and Central European émigrés such as György Ligeti, Witold Lutosławski, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

The development of electronic music

The story of electronic music is one of continual innovation and experimentation. In the early days of the 20th century, composers began to experiment with using electricity to make sound. This led to the development of electronic instruments like the theremin and the synthesizer. These instruments opened up new possibilities for making music, and composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and György Ligeti began to explore them in their work.

In the 1950s, another wave of innovation occurred with the development of musique concrète, a form of music that uses recordings of real-world sounds as its basis. This was pioneered by composers like Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, who made some of the first electronic music pieces.

In the 1960s and 1970s, electronic music became more widely known thanks to the work of composers like Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Phillip Glass. Their use of repetition and minimalism influenced many subsequent generations of musicians. In the 1980s and 1990s, electronic music evolved further with the advent of digital technology. This allowed composers to create more complex soundscapes and rhythms than ever before.

Today, electronic music is more popular than ever before. It can be heard in all kinds of genres, from pop to experimental to classical. And it shows no signs of slowing down – artists are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible, creating new and exciting sounds that never existed before.

The Technology of Electronic Music

The technology of electronic music has been evolving rapidly since the early twentieth century. electronic music has been used in a wide variety of genres and styles, from classical to pop, from experimental to dance. This book provides an overview of the technology of electronic music, from the early days of synthesizers and samplers to the latest developments in digital audio.

The instruments

Instruments used in electronic music can be divided into two broad categories: those that generate sound waveforms directly (synthesizers), and those that process or record waveforms that already exist (samplers). There is also a third category, which might be called miscellaneous: instruments such as the optical theremin, which produces control voltages that can be used to modulate other electronic sounds, and devices like the Mellotron and Chamberlin, which generate sounds by playing back tapes of pre-recorded waveforms. Even acoustic instruments can be processed electronically, using techniques such as ring modulation and frequency modulation synthesis.

The studio

The studio is the musical instrument of electronic music, where sounds are recorded, processed and mixed to create the final composition. In the early days of electronic music, studios were simple affairs with just a few pieces of equipment. Today, they are complex multi-room facilities housing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

The heart of any studio is the control room, where the composer works at the mixing desk, crafting the sound of the piece. The control room is usually acoustically treated to provide a neutral environment for listening to music. Surround sound systems are often used in control rooms so that the composer can hear how their music will sound in different environments.

Adjoining the control room is usually a live room, where acoustic instruments can be recorded. This room is designed to have good acoustics so that sounds can be captured clearly. Sometimes a separate vocal booth will be provided so that singers can record without being affected by ambient noise in the live room.

The other main area of a studio is the machine room, where all the electronic equipment is stored. This includes synthesizers, samplers, drum machines and other electronic instruments. It also houses computer equipment for sequencing and processing audio signals.

The Music of Electronic Music

Electronic music is a type of music that uses electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music gear. It emerged in the late 19th century and became popular in the 20th century. electronic music has since been evolving and has become one of the most popular genres of music.

The early years

Electronic music first came to prominence in the early 20th century, with early pioneers such as Leon Theremin and Pierre Schaeffer. These pioneers were followed by a wave of composers who explored the new possibilities offered by electronic instruments and technologies, including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio, and Morton Subotnick. By the mid-20th century, electronic music had become an established genre, with a wide range of styles and genres existing side by side. In the 21st century, electronic music has continued to evolve, with new styles and genres emerging all the time.

The development of electronic music

The first electronic instruments were developed in the early twentieth century. The Theremin was invented in 1919 by the Russian musician and scientist Leon Theremin (1896–1993). The Theremin was the first instrument that could be played without being touched – the player moved their hands in the air to control the pitch and volume of the sound. The Theremin was used by several composers in the 1920s, including Edgar Varèse (1883–1965) and Kurt Weill (1900–1950), but it did not become widely known until it was used in popular music, such as in Jewish religious music, and in film soundtracks, such as in the scoring for Spellbound (1945), composed by Miklós Rózsa (1907–1995).

In 1928, another Russian scientist, Georgios Jakobidis (1898–1982), invented the Trautonium, an electronic keyboard instrument. The Trautonium was used by several composers in the 1930s, including Kurt Weill, who used it in his ballet The Seven Deadly Sins (1933).

The Ondes Martenot was invented by Maurice Martenot (1898–1980) in 1928. It was similar to the Theremin, but it had a keyboard which made it easier to play melodies. Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) wrote some of the first works for the Ondes Martenot.

In 1937, John Cage (1912–1992) composed Imaginary Landscape No. 1 for two variable-speed turntables, frequency generators, amplifier and speakers. This was one of the first pieces of electronic music.

Electronic music began to be composed using tape recorders in the 1940s. Composers such as Pierre Schaeffer (1910–1995) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (b.1928) experimented with manipulating sounds recorded on tape. These composers were influenced by musique concrète, a type of music which uses recorded sounds as its material.

The Future of Electronic Music

Since the advent of the first electronic musical instruments in the early 20th century, electronic music has undergone a dramatic transformation. With the help of new technologies, composers and performers have been able to create a vast array of sounds and timbres that would not have been possible before. In the last few decades, electronic music has become increasingly popular, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In this heading, we will discuss the future of electronic music and some of the exciting new developments that are taking place.

The future of electronic music

The future of electronic music is shrouded in uncertainty. Will it continue to develop as a distinct genre, or will it be subsumed into other genres such as pop and rock? Only time will tell.

There are, however, some trends that suggest that electronic music is here to stay. First, the increasing popularity of portable digital devices such as smartphones and tablets has made it easier than ever for people to create and listen to electronic music. Second, the rise of social media has created a new generation of musicians who are comfortable promoting their music online. And finally, the popularity of electronic dance music (EDM) has shown that there is a large audience for this type of music.

So what does the future hold for electronic music? Only time will tell. But one thing is certain: it will continue to evolve and change in ways that we cannot even imagine.