Electronic music is a popular music form that uses electronic musical instruments in creating sound. It can also use digital instruments and electromechanical instruments as well. These instruments can be strings, drums you name it but all are used via an amplifier or through some digital means. They do not have vibrating strings or any other mechanism that produces a sound but instead create the sounds via a computer or synthesiser.
Electronic Beginnings
The first of these types of instruments were created at the beginning of the 20th century and were later investigated by Italian Futurists who attempted to create sounds from something that hadn’t been thought of as musical. The 20s and 30s saw more electronic instruments being created and it was during this time that the first electronic pieces were composed. By the 1940s the UK had developed magnetic audiotapes where the sound could be modified which began the electroacoustic movement.
The first true electronic music however, was produced in Germany in 1953 and by the 1960s the music was spreading across Europe and to Japan and the US. It wasn’t until the 1970s however that electronic music started to have a serious influence on popular music. It was also during this time that other genres such as disco, new wave and synthpop started to spring up and by the 80s it was a fully-fledged movement. With the increase in availability of electronically produced music, it is now a highly popular medium with many different subareas within it. Electronic pop is one of the most commonly recognised today, though there are still a large number of niche electronic genres.
Best of the British
The 90s saw a number of British electronic bands reach global fame. And the UK is considered to have some of the best Electronic music in the world. These include 2 Bad Mice, Binary Finary, Gorillaz, Primal Scream, Aphex Twin, Radiohead, Massive Attack and of course The Prodigy as notable inclusions. Later in 2005 M.I.A. joined their ranks cementing electronic pop’s popularity in the British market.
Electronic music does not sit in one single genre and like other musical areas, continues to grow and thrive. With the increased use of technology in today’s world, it could be argued that almost any musical track is now electronic given the somewhat excessive use of technological features such as auto tuning.