Musicians use various methods to produce electronic music. Some producers play keyboards or drums while others utilize mouse and software programs to compose songs.
Fills are an integral component of many dance tracks, ending a four or eight-bar phrase with an explosive beat and leading to the drop – the song’s most dramatic moment.
Origins
In 1935, German company Allgemeine Elektricitats Gesellschaft (AEG) presented the world with the first commercially produced magnetic tape recorder. This innovative technology offered an efficient means of storing, retrieving and playing back audio signals quickly in large amounts; lightweight design enabled high quality recording; making this suitable for orchestras or large ensembles such as choirs. Avant-garde composer Toru Takemitsu made extensive use of these new devices by creating several tape pieces using combination of electronic sounds manipulated acoustically as well as electronic sound manipulation manipulated acoustically using various devices he created tape pieces using both manipulation techniques as well as electronic sounds using multiple combinations.
By the early 1950s, composers had more electronic instruments at their disposal, particularly the Theremin. This instrument became immensely popular among composers who advocated microtonal music due to its wide range of pitches which could not be produced using string instruments alone. It became widely popular due to its use in science fiction film soundtracks with composers like Bernard Herrmann creating iconic soundtracks such as that for The Day the Earth Stood Still using it extensively.
In the 1950s and 1960s, electronic music experienced significant development. There was an active community of composers using electronic devices for compositions like Edgard Varese’s Poeme electronique and Otto Luening’s Gargoyles; Stockhausen began experimenting with what has since been termed musique stochastique, or stochastic music during this era.
As the 1970s progressed, krautrock, synthpop, and disco musicians made use of polyphonic electronic keyboards and programmable drum machines, leading to dance music’s worldwide expansion dominated by EDM genres like techno and house. EDM also exerted significant influence over mainstream musicians like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams who embraced its influence into mainstream songs.
Instruments
Synthesizers are one of the cornerstones of electronic music. A synthesizer is a musical instrument that generates sounds using analogue circuitry such as voltage controlled amplifiers, oscillators and filters. First invented by Raymond Scott with his Clavivox synthesizer in 1956; Robert Moog later refined this design further.
Synthesizers can be used to accurately recreate the sounds of a variety of acoustic instruments such as pianos, violins and trumpets; or other instruments played acoustically like bass guitars flutes and clarinets. Furthermore, synthesizers also enable users to create sounds difficult or impossible for other instruments to recreate.
Samplers are essential tools in electronic music production. A sampler is a type of digital audio workstation that uses sound recordings, or samples, as triggers to trigger musical notes and effects. It is typically combined with sequencers and MIDI keyboards but may also be activated externally by drum machines or percussion instruments. Samples may be recorded or loaded from instruments as well as sounds such as ocean waves and sirens into its memory banks for playback.
Other early electronic instruments include Hans-Joachim von Wirthenhausen’s 1922 invention of the phonautograph, which converted mechanical movements to electrical signals to produce music; this was also considered as being among the first electromechanical devices capable of making musical sounds. Thaddeus Cahill’s 1897 creation, the telharmonium was the first electronic instrument capable of creating sounds through electronic circuitry – considered to be precursory of today’s synthesizers.
In the 1950s, composers in Paris started using tape recorders to develop musique concrete composition techniques using edited fragments of natural and industrial sounds gathered together from Pierre Schaeffer’s Etude aux chemins de fer as their starting point. Edgard Varese is another prominent practitioner in this genre with works for chamber orchestra and tape as examples of this genre of music.
Genres
Electronic music encompasses several genres, from dance and club music such as techno and acid house to new age and ambient styles. All genres heavily draw upon synthesizers and drum machines for inspiration and often sample or loop their sounds to compose musical pieces.
These genres have their roots in disco music, early hip hop and New York boogie. Their beats can be identified by a four-on-the-floor rhythm with heavy emphasis placed on bass and percussion; jazz-influenced chord extensions feature chord voicings from jazz music; while vocal samples may be sampled or recorded and delivered deadpan using voice altering technology called vocodering or talkboxing.
Trip hop, glitch and dubstep are other genres with strong electronic influences that are becoming increasingly popular today. These genres feature syncopated beats with faster tempos than traditional house or techno. Trip hop also combines drum samples and acoustic instruments with synthesizers for an experimental musical style.
Grubstep features an industrial sound that’s similar to EBM. This genre is defined by fast tempos, distorted vocals and heavy bass–an increasingly popular subgenre of dubstep music.
Electro-funk, breakbeat and trance have also been profoundly shaped by electronic music’s rise, with their roots in funk, early hip-hop, Italo disco and New Beat combining into these genres. Their beats feature modulated sounds from Roland TB-303 synthesizers with four-on-the-floor rhythms; breakbeat and trance are further distinguished by an emphasis on bass and percussion.
Techniques
As electronic music has developed, so have its techniques for production. Early forms of electronic music like musique concrete relied heavily on audio signal processing to alter timbres of acoustic sounds and juxtapose them in unique ways – an early period during which composers attempted to identify which object (water, trees or jet plane) produced these sounds while making them musical at once.
The late 1960s was a pivotal decade in the rise of electronic music as part of popular culture, due to affordable synthesizing technology. Dub, an electronic subgenre created during this era, quickly rose to popularity during this period due to repeated four, eight, or sixteen-bar verse sections that give listeners familiar rhythmic balance and predictability, often featuring build-up sections which raise tension before the chorus or drop comes in and abruptly shifts between lower tempos and volumes.
At this time, the first samplers became widely available. A sampler is an electronic musical instrument which uses recordings or “samples” of real instrument sounds such as piano, violin and trumpet as well as excerpts from recorded songs or found noises such as ocean waves or sirens to store digital memory for playback at any moment or trigger by keyboard, MIDI sequencer or drum machine.
MIDI technology of this era made algorithmic composition accessible to many composers by enabling one keystroke, control wheel movement or pedal stroke on a keyboard to activate any sound output device in a studio. This led to monophonic synthesizers such as Mini-Moog becoming very affordable synthesizers used for both popular music and electronic art music composition.
Styles
Producers often employ audition and loop techniques to find sounds that spark inspiration for entire sections of music at once. This could mean auditioning hundreds or even thousands of different sounds until one stands out and gives their song its spark – from drum sounds or chord progressions, through synth sounds that stand out on an otherwise average track, all the way to unique synthesiser sounds that set apart the track itself. Services like Splice allow producers to audition thousands of sounds until one stands out as inspiring enough.
Once a producer has selected an appropriate sound base, they will proceed to sequence and arrange rhythms. This process, known as arranging, involves building chord progressions, bass lines, and vocal melodies; all essential to creating the overall feel of a song.
Many electronic styles utilize similar rhythmic patterns as traditional pop, yet add their own distinct flares. House music uses a four-to-the-floor beat but places less emphasis on melody than before and more on percussion, synths and an industrial vibe; Detroit Techno has similar influences using modulated sounds from Roland’s TB303 synthesizer over skipping drum machine beats; Jungle and Drum & Bass are more chaotic, often reaching 160 BPM and featuring characteristic “rat-a-tat hi-hat beats”.
Electronic music styles typically incorporate a lead melody that complements chords and bass lines to help connect emotionally with listeners, creating what is known as the hook – that part of the track that remains memorable after you’ve heard it once or twice. Producers should consider creating an overall structure of their song that includes intro, verses and choruses with tonal changes along its musical arc.