Electronic Music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments and circuitry-based music technology. Pure electronic instruments do not have vibrating strings, hammers, or other sound-producing mechanisms. Devices such as the theremin, synthesizer, and computer can produce electronic sounds.

In the 1960s, live electronics were pioneered in America and Europe, Japanese electronic musical instruments began having an impact on the music industry, and Jamaican dub music emerged as a form of popular electronic music. In the early 1970s, the monophonic Minimoog synthesizer and Japanese drum machines helped popularize synthesized electronic music. In the 1970s, electronic music began having a significant influence on popular music, with the adoption of polyphonic synthesizers, electronic drums, drum machines, and turntables, through the emergence of genres such as disco, krautrock, new wave, synth-pop, hip hop and EDM. In the 1980s, electronic music became more dominant in popular music, with a greater reliance on synthesizers, and the adoption of programmable drum machines such as the Roland TR-808 and bass synthesizers such as the TB-303.

Electronically produced music became prevalent in the popular domain by the 1990s, because of the advent of affordable music technology. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from experimental art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music.

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Links To Peel
In June 1998, the lineup of the Meltdown festival curated by Peel featured electronic music artists spanning the decades of his Radio One show, from 60s electronic music pioneers Silver Apples (playing with members of Blur), American electronic punk duo Suicide and a live special of artists on the Warp electronic dance label to contemporary electronic outfits such as Adventures In Stereo, Add N To X and Propellerheads.

Pushed forward by technological innovations, electronic music continued to offer the DJ “something I haven't heard before”, while falling equipment prices opened up the field to outsiders without conventional musical skills, alongside the inevitable “white boys with guitars”. Phil Oakey of Human League recalled:

"“We were laughing at the bands that learned to play guitars, because they bothered learning three chords. We didn't even do that. We used one finger.”"

Although electronic music sometimes provoked opposition from critics as not “real music”, Peel was happy to showcase it alongside more standard fare, including electronic cover versions of rock and roll classics by Silicon Teens. The 2000 Festive Fifty included 'The Light 3000', a futuristic re-imagining of the Smiths' 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out', by German electronic combination Schneider TM vs KPT.Michi.Gan.

WORK ONGOING While punk stuck largely to conventional guitar-based lineups, with electronic alternatives such as Suicide given a rough reception by UK live audiences, the overturning of the musical old guard opened up a space in which different types of electronic music were heard more often on Peel's show, particularly after the unexpected commercial breakthrough of session veteran Gary Numan in 1979.

Even at the height of punk, Peel session bands such as Ultravox were introducing more electronic elements into a rock format, influenced by earlier German outfits, while the “Berlin” albums of David Bowie and Eno provided an icy European template for post-punk session bands such as Magazine, Simple Minds and Joy Division. Early incarnations of outfits such as Echo & The Bunnymen deployed drum machines for live performances.

The DJ was happy to support independent labels that focused on electronic music, such as Industrial, Mute and Some Bizarre, including leftfield offerings from the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. In the national charts, a series of former Peel session artist followed Numan to success with variations of synthpop, such as Blancmange, Black, China Crisis, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, Human League, OMD, and Ultravox. Incorporating elements from New York dance music, New Order pointed a new way forward for UK electronic music with the release of 'Blue Monday', which reached #1 in the 1983 Festive Fifty. Later in the decade, U.S. innovations from rap, techno and house music proved influential as electronic dance music found a regular home on Peel's show, including sessions and Festive Fifty entries for 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Coldcut and Orbital, alongside more abstract electronic offerings from Aphex Twin, Orb and others. In October 1998, a special live techno DJ night was arranged at Maida Vale to celebrate 100 releases on Berlin's Tresor label.

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