electronicmusic

Electronic music refers to music produced or manipulated by electronic devices. It encompasses works created with synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, sequencers, and computer software. The aim is often to explore timbre, rhythm, and texture through electronic signal processing, synthesis, and digitization. It is not a single style but a broad field that spans concert music, film score, and popular music.

The origins lie in the mid-20th century, with pioneers of electronic and electroacoustic music such as Pierre Schaeffer's musique concrète in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen exploring electronically generated sounds. By the 1960s, modular and keyboard synthesizers from Moog, ARP, and Buchla broadened access. In Europe and the United States, groups such as Kraftwerk helped popularize electronic sound in pop music. The 1980s saw the rise of affordable synthesizers, MIDI, and drum machines, fueling genres from synth-pop to techno and house. The 1990s and 2000s expanded electronic production with digital audio workstations, sampling, and Internet distribution, shaping genres from trance and dubstep to ambient and experimental techno.

Production techniques include subtractive and FM synthesis, wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, sampling, and advanced sequencing. Composers and producers commonly use MIDI to control hardware and software, while DAWs handle recording, editing, and mixing. Live electronic performances often pair laptops with controllers, synthesizers, and modular systems.

Electronic music has global scenes and institutions, from club cultures in Detroit, Chicago, Berlin, and London to contemporary concert and film music. Its reach has grown with streaming, enabling rapid cross-cultural collaboration and fusion of styles.