A Timeline of Electronic Music History
Contents
From the invention of the theremin to the rise of EDM, electronic music has come a long way in a short amount of time. This timeline looks at the history of electronic music and the key events that have shaped it.
Pre-History: The Birth of Electricity
Pre-1877: The First Electrical Experiments
In 1809, English chemist and physicist Sir Humphry Davy discovered that when an electrical current was passed through certain materials, they emitted light. This discovery paved the way for the development of the first electrical instruments.
In 1819, Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Oersted discovered that when an electrical current was passed through a coil of wire, it produced a magnetic field. This discovery led to the development of the first electromagnets.
In 1831, Scottish physicist and inventor James Clerk Maxwell discovered that when an electrical current was passed through a coil of wire, it produced electromagnetic waves. These waves could be used to transmit information over long distances.
In 1876, American inventor Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, which used electricity to transmit voice signals over long distances.
1877-1896: The First Electric Instruments
In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, which could record and reproduce sound. Soon thereafter, inventors began tinkering with ways to use electricity to make music. In 1884, New York engineer George Backus filed a patent for an “electric musical instrument” that used steel reeds to create sound. This was followed by a patent in 1886 for an “electrical musical instrument” from Louisiana inventor Jules Jacques Hartmann that used tuned carbon rods to create tones.
By 1890, there were a number of electric instruments in development or on the market, including the Telharmonium (pictured above), an electrical organ invented by Thaddeus Cahill that was one of the first electronic instruments ever patented; the Dynamophone, an electromagnetic instrument invented by Turkish-American inventor Mehmet Ali Necipoglu that could be played with a keyboard or by using hand gestures; and the Vox Humana, an electrical organ created by French-American inventor Leon Thérémin that used vacuum tubes to create its sound.
1896-1929: The First Electronic Instruments
1896: The first electronic instrument, the Telharmonium, is invented.
1906: The first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, begins broadcasting.
1920: The first electronic music studio, the Columbia Phonograph Company’s “Electrical Workshop,” is founded in New York City.
1929: The first electronic sound is recorded on a phonograph record by engineer Joseph P. Maxfield.
The Early Years: The Birth of Electronic Music
1929-1939: The First Electronic Music
The first electronic music was created in the late 1920s and early 1930s. These early pieces were created using a variety of electronic instruments, including the theremin, Ondes Martenot, and trautonium. The first electronic music was created for the stage, film, and radio. Early composers of electronic music included Daphne Oram, Goodwin Everitt, Edgard Varèse, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
1939-1945: The War Years
Though the years of World War II were tough ones for most people, they actually represented something of a boom time for electronic music. With much of the developed world’s young men away at war, many women found themselves working in fields and factories that had been previously closed to them. This increased social mobility allowed many people access to technology and training that they wouldn’t have otherwise had, laying the groundwork for the explosion of electronic music in the postwar years.
1945-1955: The Post-War Years
1945-1955: The Post-War Years
The end of World War II marked a major turning point in the history of electronic music. With the technological advancements made during the war, electronic music began to enter the mainstream. In 1947, American composers John Cage and Louis Clinker created one of the earliest examples of electronic music, entitled “Imaginary Landscape No. 1.” This piece used live performers and state-of-the-art technology, including urgency signals and shellac records.
During this time, composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen andPierre Schaeffer were experimenting with tape loops and other forms of musique concrète. In 1950, Stockhausen composed one of the first pieces of electronic music to use aleatory procedures, entitled “Studies for Tape.” This piece featured manipulated recordings of piano tones and spoken word. Schaeffer’s work with musique concrète led to the development of sound collage, a technique that would be used extensively by artists in the years to come.
In 1955, Russian composer Oskar Sala created one of the first works for Theremin, entitled “Mors Exodus.” This piece featured Sala’s wife Gertrude playing the Theremin alongside an orchestra. The Theremin would go on to be used in a number of classic film scores, such as Bernard Herrmann’s score for “The Day The Earth Stood Still” (1951) and Miklos Rozsa’s score for “Spellbound” (1945).
The Golden Age: The Birth of the Synthesizer
The 1960s saw the birth of electronic music, with the introduction of the first commercial synthesizer. This new instrument was capable of creating sounds that had never been heard before, and it revolutionized the music industry. The first synthesizer was developed by Bob Moog, and it quickly gained popularity with musicians all over the world.
1955-1965: The First Synthesizers
In 1955, the first commercial synthesizer was introduced by German engineer Werner Kaegi. The first synth, called the “MIDI Synthesizer”, was created to play back recorded sounds. This was followed by the release of the first electronic keyboard, the “Clavioline”, in 1957.
The 1960s saw the birth of many new types of synthesizers. In 1963, American engineer Bob Moog created the first voltage-controlled synthesizer. This invention allowed for greater control over the sound of the instrument, and opened up new possibilities for music production.
In 1965, Japanese engineer Osamu Kitajima created the world’s first programmable synthesizer. This machine allowed for greater control over the sound of the instrument, as well as the ability to create new sounds.
The 1970s saw a continued interest in synthesizers, with many new models being released. In 1975, Japanese company Yamaha released the world’s first digital synthesizer, the “Digital Synthesizer 9
1965-1975: The Golden Age of Electronic Music
1965-1975 was the Golden Age of Electronic Music. This was the birth of the synthesizer and electronic music as we know it today. In this period, experiments in sound and music were being conducted in academic, avant-garde, and popular contexts. This led to the development of new electronic instruments and sound-generating devices, as well as new approaches to composition and performance.
One of the most important figures in this period was Robert Moog, who invented the Moog synthesizer in 1964. This instrument revolutionized electronic music and would go on to be used by some of the most famous musicians in the world, including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and Kraftwerk.
Other important developments during this period include:
• The first use of a computer to generate music (by Stanford researcher James Merrill Strassman in 1965)
• The first use of a theremin in rock music (by The Who in their 1967 song “I Can See for Miles”)
• The first successful commercial synthesisers (produced by ARP Instruments in the early 1970s)
• The first use of sampling techniques in popular music (by hip hop pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa and Hip Hop Kclan in the early 1970s)
1975-1985: The New Wave of Electronic Music
In the mid-1970s, electronic music started to percolate into the mainstream with the help of artists like Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder. This was also the era when Robert Moog introduced his groundbreaking Minimoog analog synthesizer, making electronic music more accessible to a wider range of musicians.
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the rise of what came to be known as “new wave” music, a catch-all term for a wide variety of styles that were unified by their use of synthesizers and other electronic instruments. This was also the era of “post-punk,” a diverse set of British bands who were influenced by punk rock but decided to eschew its traditional instrumentation in favor of keyboards and other electronics.
Some of the most popular new wave artists included Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, New Order, The Human League, OMD, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Tears for Fears, and Visage. These artists helped to bring electronic music to a whole new audience and laid the groundwork for the synth-pop boom of the 1980s.
The Modern Age: The Birth of Digital Music
It all started with the telephone. In 1876, when Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, he had no idea his invention would lay the groundwork for the development of electronic music. But that’s exactly what happened. Bell’s invention paved the way for the creation of the first electronic musical instrument: the Theremin.
1985-1995: The First Digital Instruments
The first digital instruments began to appear in the early 1980s. These early instruments were mostly used by avant-garde composers and were not widely available. The first widely available digital instrument was the Yamaha DX7, released in 1983. The DX7 was a polyphonic synthesizer that used frequency modulation (FM) synthesis to generate its sounds. FM synthesis is a type of synthesis that uses frequency modulation to create sounds.
The DX7 was followed by a number of other digital instruments, including the Roland D-50 (1987), the Korg M1 (1988), and the Yamaha SY77 (1989). These instruments all used different types of synthesis to generate their sounds, but they all had one thing in common: they were digital.
The 1980s saw the birth of electronic dance music (EDM). EDM is a type of music that is made using electronic instruments. The first EDM song is generally considered to be “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force, which was released in 1982. EDM quickly became popular in nightclubs and on dance floors around the world.
In the early 1990s, new genres of music began to emerge that were based around the use of digital audio technology. These genres included drum and bass, jungle, and techno. These genres are all still popular today.
1995-2005: The Age of the MP3
Between 1995 and 2005, digital music went from an underground phenomenon to a universal one. This was largely due to the rise of the MP3 format, which allowed music to be compressed into small files that could be easily shared online. This made it possible for people to build huge collections of music without taking up large amounts of space on their hard drives.
The first MP3 player, the Diamond Rio, was released in 1998, and by 2001 there were over 100 million MP3 files in circulation. In 2003, the iTunes Store was launched, making it easy for people to buy and download individual songs. The following year, Napster, a popular file-sharing service, was shut down by the US government.
By 2005, digital music had become so popular that sales of CDs began to decline for the first time ever. iTunes was the biggest retailer of music in the world, and online radio services like Pandora were starting to gain traction. In 2006, Spotify launched in Europe, giving users access to a huge library of music that they could stream on demand.
2005-2015: The Age of Streaming
2005 saw the birth of one of the most disruptive forces in the music industry: YouTube. This video sharing platform allowed artists to share their music with the world for free, and quickly became the go-to destination for music discovery. Dubstep artist Rusko was one of the first to find success on YouTube, with his song “Cockney Thug” racking up over 10 million views.
The rise of YouTube also paved the way for another major development in the world of electronic music: live streaming. Services like Twitch and Beam allowed DJs and producers to broadcast their performances to a global audience in real-time. This gave rise to a new generation of superstars, like deadmau5 and Martin Garrix, who built their careers by livestreaming their sets to millions of fans.
The 2010s also saw the rise of electronic music festivals, which quickly become some of the biggest events in the world. The annual Ultra Music Festival in Miami draws over 150,000 attendees each year, while Tomorrowland in Belgium regularly sells out its 350,000 tickets. These festivals have not only boosted electronic music’s popularity, but have also served as a launchpad for new artists and trends.
