Electronics in rock music

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A Mellotron, an early form of music sampler, used extensively in the late 1960s and early 1970s

The use of

electronic musical instruments and the genre's emergence as a distinct style. Rock music has been highly dependent on technological developments, particularly the invention and refinement of the synthesizer, the development of the MIDI
digital format and computer technology.

In the late 1960s, rock musicians began to use electronic instruments, like the

synthpop dominated electronic rock. In the new millennium the spread of recording software led to the development of new distinct genres including electroclash, dance-punk and new rave
.

Technology

The first commercial Moog synthesizer, commissioned by the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater of NY in 1964

Experiments in tape manipulation or musique concrète, early computer music and early sampling and sound manipulation technologies paved the way for both manipulating and creating new sounds through technology. The world's first computer to play music was CSIRAC in 1950–1, designed and built by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard and programmed by mathematician Geoff Hill.[1][2] Early electronic instruments included the theremin, which uses two metal antennas that sense the position of a player's hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) to produce an eerie but difficult to manipulate sound. It was used by avant garde and classical musicians in the early twentieth century and was used on a large number of 1940s and 50s science fiction films and suspense.[3]

Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre.

monophonic (only able to play one note at a time), but polyphonic versions began to be produced from the mid-1970s, among the first being the Prophet-5.[7]

computers and other electronic equipment (MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers) to communicate and synchronize with each other. Unlike previous analog devices, MIDI does not transmit an audio signal, but sends event messages about pitch and intensity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo, allowing the building of more complex music and the integration of different devices.[8]

In the new millennium, as computer technology become more accessible and

Native Instruments Reaktor finding widespread appeal.[12] Such tools provide viable and cost-effective alternatives to typical hardware-based production studios, and thanks to advances in microprocessor technology, it is now possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances have been seen as democratizing music creation,[13] leading to a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the internet.[10]

History

1960s

Moody Blues
, a pioneer of electronic rock, in 1974

One of the earliest composers to use electronic instruments in popular music was

Nights In White Satin" and by The Beatles from "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967).[18] Ian McDonald of King Crimson, Rick Wakeman of Yes and Tony Banks of Genesis also became major Mellotron users at this time, infusing the violin, cello, brass, flute and choir sounds as a major texture in the music of their respective bands.[19]

1970s

Keith Emerson performing in St. Petersburg in 2008

Progressive rock musicians such as

Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Tomita, who with Brian Eno were a significant influence on the development of new-age music.[32]

Synthesisers were not universally welcomed by rock musicians in the 1970s. Some bands, including Queen, stated on their album liner notes that they did not use synthesisers.[33] Similarly, early guitar-based punk rock was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesiser,[34] but many new wave and post-punk bands that emerged from the movement began to adopt it as a major part of their sound.[35] The American duo Suicide, who arose from the post-punk scene in New York, utilized drum machines and synthesizers in a strange hybrid between electronics and post punk on their eponymous 1977 album.[36] Together with British bands Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, they moved on to use a variety of electronic and sampling techniques that emulated the sound of industrial production to produce industrial music.[37]

In April 1977,

importance of example(s)?
]

1980s

Depeche Mode in concert at London's O2 Arena, 2009

The definition of

New Romantic movement, synthesizers came to dominate the pop and rock music of the early 80s.[48] The early sound of synthpop was "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", but more commercially orientated bands like Duran Duran adopted dance beats to produce a catchier and warmer sound.[48] They were soon followed into the charts by a large number of bands who used synthesizers to create three-minute pop singles. These included New Romantics combined elements of glam rock, science fiction and romanticism, and adopted an elaborate visual style such as Spandau Ballet, A Flock of Seagulls, Culture Club, ABC, Soft Cell, Talk Talk, B-Movie and the Eurythmics
, sometimes using synthesizers to replace all other instruments, [49] until the style began to fall from popularity in the mid-1980s.[48]

1990s

A man sitting in front of a field of craggy rocks.
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails in 2008

In the 90s many electronic acts applied rock sensibilities to their music in a genre which became known as big beat. It fused "old-school party breakbeats" with diverse samples, in a way that was reminiscent of

Old school hip hop. Big beat was criticised for dumbing down the electronica wave of the late 1990s. This sound was popularised by British acts such as Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers and from the US The Crystal Method, Überzone and Lunatic Calm.[50]

This period also saw the rise of artists who combined industrial rock and metal.

platinum-selling albums.[51][52] Their success led to mainstream attention other industrial musicians; including Foetus and Coil. The mid-90s was a high point for industrial rock, when, in addition to bands that had been around since the 1980s, such as KMFDM, newer bands such as Gravity Kills emerged as commercial acts.[53]

2000s

Justice
in 2007

In the 2000s, with the increased accessibility of computer technology and advances in

laptop computer.[10] This resulted in a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the expanding internet,[54] and new forms of performance such as laptronica[10] and live coding.[11] These techniques also began to be used by existing bands, as with industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails' album Year Zero (2007),[51]
and by developing genres that mixed rock with digital techniques and sounds, including indietronica, electroclash, dance-punk and new rave.

Indietronica, which had begun in the early '90s with bands like

Ladytron in 2008, originally categorised as electroclash they helped revive interest in synthpop

Renewed interest in electronic music and nostalgia for the 1980s led to the beginnings of a synthpop revival, with acts including

nu-metal. In particular the Killers enjoyed considerable airplay and exposure and their debut album Hot Fuss (2004) reached the Billboard Top Ten.[71] The Killers, the Bravery and the Stills all left their synthpop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock.[72]

Some modern practitioners of metal and hardcore punk subgenres such as

auto-tuned vocals.[73][79][82] Such groups have been formed in England,[80][83] the United States,[75][77] Canada,[73] Brazil, Hong Kong[84] and Czech Republic. The trend has been referred to using the terms electronicore,[79][82] synthcore,[79] and trancecore,[74] among others. Some recently formed post-hardcore and metalcore bands utilize characteristics of electronica.[75][76][77] Sumerian Records notes that "there has been a surplus of 'electronica/hardcore' music as of late".[76] Notable bands that demonstrate a fusion of hardcore punk subgenres and electronic dance music include Abandon All Ships,[73][79] Attack Attack!,[79][85] Asking Alexandria,[79][80][83] All For A Vision,[86] Enter Shikari,[74][87] I See Stars[75][76][79][82] Breathe Carolina, Ghost Town and Public Relations.[88] Horse the Band acted so on a somewhat different way by combining metalcore with chiptune called Nintendocore.[78]

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