Electronic Music

When I mention electronic dance music, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds is the constant “boom boom boom” of your average house track, or maybe the “bleeps and boops” of a techno track. What they don’t realize is that electronic music has been a rather large part of musical history. From Disco, to 80s pop rock, to modern rock, and even classical, electronic music has had a large influence on modern music culture. It may be creeping into the limelight due to the recent popularity of trance in clubs and dance hits such as Darude’s Sandstorm, but few people actually know electronic music’s true history. It may come as a surprise, but electronic music first appeared just a few years after Edison and Bell discovered the many uses of electronic current. In 1874, Elisha Gray, a friend of Graham Bell, discovered that his nephew had found a way of using electromagnetic fields to make a switch vibrate. This principle Gray turned into a musical instrument, the harmonic telegraph. Although Gray's invention was a novelty, the true electronic instruments weren’t built until after the turn of the century. The two most important of these being Thaddeus Cahill's huge Tellharmonium, and Leo Theremin’s Theremin. The Tellharmonium was later made into a small version now known as a Hammond Organ, who’s compact size made is easier to transport, helping lead to its popularity with many rock bands. The Theremin is best described as a small box with two antennas sticking out, controlled by waving the hands near the antennas. This resulted in an eerie violin sound that is so distinctive, movie producers began used the Theremin as a sound effect in many Horror movies. Right after the creation of the instrument, some composers did write music for it, but it’s use in The Beach Boys hit, Good Vibrations, gave it it’s greatest success. 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What Exactly Electronic is Music ?