EL on Music Theory Print

El vito

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Electric blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early development (1930s-1940s)#

The blues, like jazz, probably began to be amplified in the late 1930s. The first star of the electric blues is generally recognized as being T-Bone Walker; born in Texas but moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1930s, he combined blues with elements of swing music and jazz in a long and prolific career. By the late 1940s several Chicago-based blues artists had begun to use amplification, including John Lee Williamson and Johnny Shines. Early recordings in the new style were made in 1947 and 1948 by musicians such as Johnny Young, Floyd Jones, and Snooky Pryor. The format was perfected by Muddy Waters, who utilized various small groups that provided a strong rhythm section and powerful harmonica. His “I Can’t Be Satisfied” (1948) was followed by a series of ground-breaking recordings. Chicago blues was influenced to a large extent by the Mississippi blues style, because many performers had migrated from the Mississippi region. Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. In addition to electric guitar, harmonica, and a rhythm section of bass and drums, some performers such as J. T. Brown who played in Elmore James’s bands or J. B. Lenoir’s also used saxophones, largely as a supporting instrument. Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Big Walter Horton were among the best-known harmonica (called “blues harp” by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene and the sound of electric instruments and harmonica is often seen as characteristic of electric Chicago blues. Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of slide electric guitar. Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters were known for their deep, “gravelly” voices. Bassist and composer Willie Dixon played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many standard blues songs of the period, such as “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (both penned for Muddy Waters) and, “Wang Dang Doodle”, “Spoonful” and “Back Door Man” for Howlin’ Wolf. Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based Chess Records and Checker Records labels; there were also smaller blues labels in this era including Vee-Jay Records and J.O.B. Records.

Electro (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition and characteristics#

From its inception, one of the defining characteristics of the electro sound was the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808, as the rhythmic basis of the track. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music, and are now used by the majority of electro producers. Although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro (electronic dance music) both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres. Classic (1980s) electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats with a syncopated kick drum, and usually a snare or clap accenting the backbeat. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats (or breaks) is that electro tends to be more mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel, like that of a live drummer. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the various uses of the term. The Roland TR-808 drum machine was released in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound. Staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a drum sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies. This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs (like NYC’s Funhouse), where the bass drum sound was essential for a record’s success. Its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of popular songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” Cybotron’s “Clear,” and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock.” The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status, eventually being used on more hits than any other drum machine. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro and other genres to the present day. Other electro instrumentation was generally electronic, favoring analog synthesis, programmed bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers along with eerie synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasized the science fiction or futuristic themes of classic (1980s) electro, represented in the lyrics and/or music. Electro hip hop group Warp 9’s 1983 single, Light Years Away, produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, exemplifies the Sci-Fi, afrofuturist aspect of electro, reflected in both the lyrics and instrumentation. The imagery of its lyrical refrain space is the place for the human race pays homage to Sun Ra’s 1974 film of the same name, while its synth lines and sound effects are informed by sci-fi, computer games, and cartoons,“born of a science-fiction revival.”. Although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap. Male rap dominated the genre, however female rappers are an integral part of the electro tradition, whether featured in a group as in Warp 9 or as solo performers like Roxanne Shante. The lyrical style that emerged along with electro became less popular by the 1990s, as rapping continued to evolve, becoming the domain of hip hop music. About electro origins:

Electro house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Simon Reynolds described electro house, as a style attributed to artists like Zedd, Erol Alkan and Bloody Beetroots. This is often in the form of buzzing basslines, It is also often in the form of large bass drum sounds but it can contain melodic elements

History#

Reynolds described the sound as being influenced by Discovery by Daft Punk and further developed by Justice and Digitalism. Early songs that have been labelled retroactively as electro house include “Dark Invader” (1996) by Arrivers and “Raw S*it” (1997) by Basement Jaxx. Mr. Oizo’s “Flat Beat” (1999) has also been considered an early example of the genre. Andy Kellman of AllMusic described “Satisfaction” (2002) by Italian DJ Benny Benassi as being a precursor to electro-house. By the mid-2000s, electro house saw an increase in popularity. Since then, electro house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Porter Robinson, Yasutaka Nakata and Dada Life have emerged.

Electro swing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable artists#

AronChupa
Boogie Belgique
Caravan Palace
Caro Emerald
DelaDap
Deluxe
Dimie Cat
Dutty Moonshine Big Band
Electric Swing Circus
Gramophondzie
Kormac
The Living Tombstone
Parov Stelar
Scatman John
Yolanda Be Cool
Waldeck

Chart performances of notable releases#

“I’m an Albatraoz” by the Swedish DJ AronChupa has received multiple platinum certifications.
Robot Face, an album by French band Caravan Palace placed at No. 3 on the US Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart in 2015.
“We No Speak Americano” by Australian musicians Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP was a major hit in Australia and Europe, and reached No. 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Other notable songs include “Doop” by Doop (UK No. 1); “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” by Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock (US platinum); “Bang Bang” by will.i.am (UK platinum); “Emergency” by Icona Pop (US Dance No. 1); and “Bboom Bboom” by Momoland (South Korea platinum).

Electro-industrial

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

After the EBM (electronic body music) movement faded in the early 1990s, electro-industrial increasingly attained popularity in the international club scene. In contrast to the straight EBM style, electro-industrial groups use harsher beats and raspy, distorted, or digitized vocals. In contrast to industrial rock, electro-industrial groups mostly avoided guitars, other than Skinny Puppy, who used electric guitar elements since the mid-’80s in songs like “Testure” or “Dig It”, and Numb on songs like “God Is Dead”. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound with a more experimental approach. Electro-industrial was anticipated by 1980s groups such as SPK, Die Form, Test Dept, Borghesia, Klinik, Cabaret Voltaire, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, Numb, Prominent electro-industrial groups of the 1990s include Mentallo and the Fixer, Nine Inch Nails, Yeht Mae, Velvet Acid Christ, and Pulse Legion (U.S.); Numb and Decoded Feedback (Canada); X Marks the Pedwalk, Plastic Noise Experience, Wumpscut, Haujobb, Forma Tadre, KMFDM, Putrefy Factor 7, and Abortive Gasp (Germany); Leæther Strip (Denmark); and early Hocico, Cenobita, and Amduscia (Mexico). Since the mid-1990s, some electro-industrial groups added guitars and became associated with industrial metal; other groups, e. g. Skinny Puppy, Download, Gridlock, and Haujobb, have incorporated elements of experimental electronic music styles like drum and bass, IDM, glitch, and other electronica genres.

Electroacoustic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tape music#

Tape music is an integral part of musique concrète, which uses the tape recorder as its central musical source. The music can utilise pre-recorded sound fragments and the creation of loops, which can be altered and manipulated through techniques such as editing and playback speed manipulation. The work of Halim El-Dabh is perhaps the earliest example of tape (or, in this case, wire recording) music. El-Dabh’s The Expression of Zaar, first presented in Cairo, Egypt, in 1944, was an early work using musique concrète–like techniques similar to those developed in Paris during the same period. El-Dabh would later become more famous for his work at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, where in 1959 he composed the influential piece Leiyla and the Poet. Composer John Cage’s assembly of the Williams Mix serves as an example of the rigors of tape music. First, Cage created a 192-page score. Over the course of a year, 600 sounds were assembled and recorded. Cut tape segments for each occurrence of each sound were accumulated on the score. Then the cut segments were spliced to one of eight tapes, work finished on January 16, 1953. The premiere performance (realization) of the 4'15" work was given on March 21, 1953, at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Electroclash

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology and characteristics#

The term electroclash describes a musical movement that combined synthpop, techno, punk and performance art. The genre was in reaction to the rigid formulations of techno music, putting an emphasis on song writing, showmanship and a sense of humour, DJ Hell is widely credited as inventor and name giver of the genre, while DJ and promoter Larry Tee later popularized the term in the US by naming the Electroclash 2001 Festival in New York

Electronic body music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term electronic body music was first used by Ralf Hütter of the German electronic band Kraftwerk in an interview with British music newspaper Sounds in November 1977. In June 1978 Hütter reused the phrase in an interview with WKSU radio (Kent, Ohio) to explain the more physical character of the Kraftwerk album The Man-Machine. Although the term originated in the late 1970s, it was not until the 1980s when it reappeared and started to come into popular use. In 1981, DAF from Germany employed the term “Körpermusik” (body music) to describe their danceable electronic punk sound. The term “electronic body music” was later used by Belgian band Front 242 in 1984 to describe the music of their EP of that year titled No Comment ; in the documentary Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records, Jean-Luc De Meyer explained that the band tried to have a more distinct, aggressive stage presence as opposed to what they perceived as the “stiff” electronic acts who stood still behind their keyboards: “We’re doing electronic music, but it’s also talking to the body.”

Electronic dance music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Various EDM genres have evolved over the last 40 years, for example; house, techno, drum and bass, dance-pop etc. Stylistic variation within an established EDM genre can lead to the emergence of what is called a subgenre. Hybridization, where elements of two or more genres are combined, can lead to the emergence of an entirely new genre of EDM.

Precursors#

In the late 1960s bands such as Silver Apples created electronic music intended for dancing. Other early examples of music that influenced later electronic dance music include Jamaican dub music during the late 1960s to 1970s, the synthesizer-based disco music of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder in the late 1970s, and the electropop of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Electronic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins: late 19th century to early 20th century#

At the turn of the 20th century, experimentation with emerging electronics led to the first electronic musical instruments. These initial inventions were not sold, but were instead used in demonstrations and public performances. The audiences were presented with reproductions of existing music instead of new compositions for the instruments. While some were considered novelties and produced simple tones, the Telharmonium synthesized the sound of several orchestral instruments with reasonable precision. It achieved viable public interest and made commercial progress into streaming music through telephone networks. Critics of musical conventions at the time saw promise in these developments. Ferruccio Busoni encouraged the composition of microtonal music allowed for by electronic instruments. He predicted the use of machines in future music, writing the influential Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music (1907). Futurists such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo began composing music with acoustic noise to evoke the sound of machinery. They predicted expansions in timbre allowed for by electronics in the influential manifesto The Art of Noises (1913).

Electronic rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Subgenres and other terms#

The term “progressive rock” (or “prog rock”) was originally coined in the 1960s for music that would otherwise be described as “electronic rock,” Electronic rock is also associated with industrial rock, synth-pop, dance-punk, indietronica, and new wave,

Synth-punk#

Synth-punk (originally techno-punk or electropunk) is a style of electronic music that mixes the aggression of punk rock with the use of synthesizers. Originally pioneered by New York band Suicide, formed in 1970. Their sound over their five studio albums mixed punk rock with various electronic-based genres such as electronic rock, synth-pop, and disco. Other artists such as Californian band the Screamers were labeled “techno-punk” by the Los Angeles Times in 1978. Rather than the usual electric guitars, the band’s instrumentation included a heavily distorted Fender Rhodes electric piano and an ARP Odyssey synthesizer. The term synth-punk (or electropunk) was coined in 1999 by Damien Ramsey. In the early 1980s, synth-punk fused with various electronic genres to create electronic body music, which would influence a number of subsequent industrial dance, industrial rock and industrial metal acts. It also influenced the hardcore punk inspired digital hardcore, which combines hardcore punk with electronic music, noise and heavy metal. It typically features fast tempos and aggressive sound samples. dance punk,

Electronica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1990s: Origins and UK scene#

The original widespread use of the term “electronica” derives from the influential English experimental techno label New Electronica, which was one of the leading forces of the early 1990s introducing and supporting dance-based electronic music oriented towards home listening rather than dance-floor play, At that time electronica became known as “electronic listening music”, also becoming more or less synonymous to ambient techno and intelligent techno, and was considered distinct from other emerging genres such as jungle and trip hop.

Electronicore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Reception#

Attack Attack! is often recognized as the primary American contributor of the style, being inspired by British band Enter Shikari. Enter Shikari is an electronicore band that began in 1999 as Hybryd, adding their last member and adopting their current name in early 2003, in St Albans, England. The group has received international radio airplay and a substantial number of musical awards, from Kerrang!, NME, Rock Sound Magazine and BT Digital Music Awards. They express a relationship with electronic music genres such as trance and have been referred to as the “kings of trancecore.” In 2020, British band Bring Me The Horizon released Post Human: Survival Horror, which has notable elements of electronicore in a few tracks such as 1x1 which features duo Nova Twins.

Electronics in rock music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Technology#

Experiments in tape manipulation or musique concrète, early computer music and early sampling and sound manipulation technologies paved the way for both manipulating and creating new sounds through technology. The world’s first computer to play music was CSIRAC in 1950–1, designed and built by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard and programmed by mathematician Geoff Hill. Early electronic instruments included the theremin, which uses two metal antennas that sense the position of a player’s hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) to produce an eerie but difficult to manipulate sound. It was used by avant garde and classical musicians in the early twentieth century and was used on a large number of 1940s and 50s science fiction films and suspense. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre. The Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic sample-playback keyboard, which used a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tape strips to produce a variety of sounds enjoyed popularity from the mid-1960s. The initial popularity of the Mellotron would be overtaken by the Moog synthesizer, created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds which could be manipulated by pitch and frequency, allowing the “bending” of notes and considerable variety and musical virtuosity to be expressed. The early commercial Moog synthesiser was large and difficult to manipulate, but in 1970 Moog responded to its use in rock and pop music by releasing the portable Mini-moog, which was much simpler, easier to use, and proved more practical for live performance. Early synthesisers were monophonic (only able to play one note at a time), but polyphonic versions began to be produced from the mid-1970s, among the first being the Prophet-5. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was created in 1982, as an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments (synthesizers, drum machines), computers and other electronic equipment (MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers) to communicate and synchronize with each other. Unlike previous analog devices, MIDI does not transmit an audio signal, but sends event messages about pitch and intensity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo, allowing the building of more complex music and the integration of different devices. In the new millennium, as computer technology become more accessible and music software has advanced, interacting with music production technology is now possible using means that bear no relationship to traditional musical performance practices: for instance, laptop performance (laptronica) In the last decade a number of software-based virtual studio environments have emerged, with products such as Propellerhead’s Reason, Ableton Live and Native Instruments Reaktor finding widespread appeal. Such tools provide viable and cost-effective alternatives to typical hardware-based production studios, and thanks to advances in microprocessor technology, it is now possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances have been seen as democratizing music creation, leading to a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the internet.

Electropop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1980s#

Depeche Mode’s composer Martin Gore said: “For anyone of our generation involved in electronic music, Kraftwerk were the godfathers”. During the early 1980s, Japanese artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto and British artists such as Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Human League, Soft Cell, John Foxx and Visage helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers.

Elevator music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Other uses#

The term can also be used for kinds of easy listening, lounge, piano solo, jazz, bossa nova or middle of the road music, or what are known as “beautiful music” radio stations. This style of music is sometimes used to comedic effect in mass media such as film, where intense or dramatic scenes may be interrupted or interspersed with such anodyne music while characters use an elevator. Some video games have used music similarly: Metal Gear Solid 4 where a few elevator music-themed tracks are accessible on the in-game iPod, as well as System Shock, Rise of the Triad: Dark War, GoldenEye 007, Mass Effect, and Earthworm Jim.

EL on Music Theory Print

El vito

See also#

Electric blues

Early development (1930s-1940s)#

Electro (music)

Definition and characteristics#

Electro house

Characteristics#

History#

Electro swing

Notable artists#

Chart performances of notable releases#

Electro-industrial

Characteristics#

Electroacoustic music

Tape music#

Electroclash

Terminology and characteristics#

Electronic body music

Etymology#

Electronic dance music

History#

Precursors#

Electronic music

Origins: late 19th century to early 20th century#

Electronic rock

Subgenres and other terms#

Synth-punk#

Electronica

Early 1990s: Origins and UK scene#

Electronicore

Reception#

Electronics in rock music

Technology#

Electropop

Early 1980s#

Elevator music

Other uses#