The history of electronic music is closely tied to technological progress, starting long before the first records were pressed. It is an evolution from primitive electrical devices to the complex digital synthesis of today.
The first push towards electronic music came with the invention of instruments that generated sounds purely by electricity, without strings, membranes, or air columns.
Telharmonium (1897): Invented by Thaddeus Cahill. This was the first instrument to produce synthetic sounds using tone wheels and was so large (200 tons) that its output was sent to theaters via telephone lines.
Theremin (1920): Invented by Léon Theremin. This is the first instrument to generate sound without physical contact. Pitch and volume are controlled by the player's hand movements in an electromagnetic field.
Ondes Martenot (1928): An electronic keyboard instrument known for its ethereal, singing sound and heavily used by classical composers such as Messiaen.
After World War II, composers began using the electronic studio as a laboratory. This era marked the split between two important schools: the French and the German.
Led by Pierre Schaeffer in Paris, Musique Concrète focused on using recorded, natural sounds (concrete sounds) that were then manipulated.
Techniques: Recordings were edited by speeding them up, slowing them down, playing them backward, cutting, splicing, and creating loops using magnetic tape recorders. The focus was on sound processing, not sound generation itself.
In Germany, under the leadership of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Herbert Eimert, the focus was on generating sounds purely through electronic means (sine waves, noise) and completely avoiding the 'concrete' sounds from the real world. This resulted in Elektronische Musik.
The 1960s brought the first modular synthesizers, making electronic music more accessible and beginning its transition into popular music.
The Moog and Buchla Synthesizers: Robert Moog and Don Buchla introduced the first commercial synthesizers. The modular synthesizers required manual patching (cables) to create the sound.
Wendy Carlos - Switched-On Bach (1968): This groundbreaking album proved that synthesizers could be used for complex, musical works, helping them achieve mainstream acceptance.
Krautrock: German progressive rock bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream began using synthesizers and sequencers to create long, hypnotic, rhythmic soundscapes, laying the foundation for ambient and techno.
The 1980s were dominated by digitization, automation, and the introduction of crucial, affordable hardware.
This protocol allowed different synthesizers, sequencers, and computers to communicate with each other, simplifying studio and live performance.
The Roland TR-808 and TR-909, due to their affordability, became the foundational rhythm tools of much electronic music.
Genres like Synth-Pop (Depeche Mode, Eurythmics) brought entirely electronic music to the top of the charts.
In the mid-80s, Chicago House and Detroit Techno emerged. These genres were directly linked to the new technologies (sequencers, drum machines) and driven by dance culture, ushering in the era of the EDM club.
Starting in the 1990s, electronic music exploded into a huge number of subgenres, fueled by affordable software and internet distribution.
This led to the spread of genres such as Trance, Hardcore, and Drum & Bass.
Artists like Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada shifted the focus from the dance floor to experimental, listening-focused electronica.
The rise of powerful computers and DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) such as Ableton Live, Logic, and FL Studio made it possible for anyone to own a full production studio, leading to an unprecedented growth in diverse subgenres, including Dubstep, Trap and modern EDM.