Since its introduction more than 50 years ago, electronic music has experienced significant growth and become a popular cultural phenomenon worldwide, attracting listeners from all corners of the globe.
While it was once experimental, over time, this art form has become mainstream and even influenced other genres. Rock, hip-hop, and even classical music have been positively impacted.
Electronic music has been greatly influenced by several bands and artists, such as Kraftwerk and Daft Punk, who played a significant role in advancing the genre during their respective periods. Currently, new artists are striving to further push electronic music beyond its current heights.
However, Robert Moog played a critical role in making all of this possible.
The Origins of Electronic Music
In 1964, Robert Moog managed to invent the Moog synthesizer; the invention that has been credited as the birth of electronic music and its history. With its creation, new sounds were able to be produced and used, as they were able to be manipulated by electricity for the very first time.
This was something that caught on rather quickly, with some of the world’s biggest bands at the time looking to take advantage. Rock bands like The Beach Boys and The Beatles were early adopters, while the end of the decade also saw other bands like Pink Floyd, and Genesis all incorporate instruments like the Theremin and Mellotron into their music and help the progressive rock era to emerge.
Electronic Music Gains Popularity
With that emergence being felt, the 1970s is arguably when electronic music’s popularity soared and reached new heights as a mainstream genre. Musicians became more aware of it and started to experiment more with synthesizers and other technology that had been made available. This included the use of drum machines, samplers, computers, and other resources that were available.
Once they got to grip these tools and instruments, bands like Kraftwerk entered the scene and began to use them effectively and create some incredible sounds. They also helped to popularize the genre further, while arguably having an influence on others, too.
EDM Brings Electronic Music into the Mainstream
The turn of the century had only helped to bring EDM to the mainstream, as technology continued to improve. Artists and producers gained access to a variety of techniques such as SFX, MIDI technology, and sound synthesis, which enabled them to create highly intricate electronic music.
Additionally, the availability and accessibility of this technology have made it easier than ever for everybody to experiment with creating their own versions of electronic music. New trends and subgenres have been created, thus pushing this form of music further into the spotlight.
Daft Punk is an evident example of the technology now available, as they managed to create a new subgenre by using it: EDM – electronic dance music – back in the 1990s. It is highly popular, as it has influenced a new way of experiencing music that is created electronically and the number of artists creating it.
There are stories in which producers and artists have simply been trying things out and playing with the instruments that they may have in a bedroom. Once they have made the sounds that they want, they have uploaded them onto platforms like YouTube or Soundcloud and have subsequently been found before going on to achieve widespread success as a result of doing so.
The emergence of specialized festivals can also help to highlight its popularity even further. These music events are attended by thousands of people from all over the globe.
Will Electronic Music Continue to Explode?
Given its popularity already, it is only likely that more and more people will gain an appreciation for electronic music and become fans of it in the future. Technology continues to improve at a rapid rate, which could mean artists and producers will have newer sounds to play with and create, thus potentially driving the genre forward in a new direction.
There have already been examples where experiments with new forms of technology have been used, and as people learn more about them, there is a strong likelihood that they will enter the mainstream market and provide something new and unique.
