Trevor Keller | The Rise of Electronic Music
Trevor Keller Electronic music emerged in the early 20th century as composers began experimenting with electronic instruments and devices. The Theremin, invented in 1920 by Léon Theremin, was one of the first electronic instruments, producing eerie, otherworldly tones. This era also saw the development of the Ondes Martenot and the Trautonium, which expanded the sonic possibilities available to composers. Post-World War II, advances in tape technology enabled composers like Pierre Schaeffer to pioneer musique concrète, a genre that manipulated recorded sounds to create entirely new musical pieces. Meanwhile, Karlheinz Stockhausen and other avant-garde composers explored electronic sound synthesis, paving the way for modern electronic music. The 1960s and 1970s marked the advent of synthesizers, with instruments like the Moog and ARP revolutionizing music production. These devices allowed musicians to generate and shape sounds electronically, leading to the rise of...