http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/cultivating-a-sense-of-belonging/
The term “electronic music” comes up on this forum every once in awhile and some of us have struggled to articulate its meaning. It means different things in the “art” versus “popular” worlds which, of course, sometimes intersect.
I was hoping that people practicing or enjoying various types of “electronic” music- no limits on the definition- might share a little on this forum. There have been countless threads on electronic music here, mainly looking for schools.
Most conservatories and college music departments have electronic or electroacoustic work in their curricula, and have studios. Then again, there are high schoolers doing some interesting things.
This is a fun topic and here’s a great article on commercial styles of electronic music or EDM (Electronic Dance Music)(http://www.complex.com/music/2013/03/an-idiots-guide-to-edm-genres/house-2)
I became a DJ in college in the '80’s and sometimes still spin for fun. I started out with strictly Hip-Hop but branched out into House Music. I started getting into Acid Jazz / Downtempo / Chillout in the late '90’s and early 2000’s and its remained my favorite listening genre since then.
I also like Moombaton which has roots in Reggae/Dancehall and Reggeaton. While exploring Acid Jazz and Downtempo music I stumbled across lots of international artists and find I like them a lot more than American artists because they tend to be less siloed in a particular genre and blend their styles very creatively. I also enjoy UK Garage, Drum & Bass, and Breakbeat which has roots in the original Hip Hop dating back to the 1970’s.
Thanks for the link: I am going to listen to some of the subgenres of EDM when my computer starts behaving again (just tried and volume isn’t working).
Interesting comment about the international scene, which some would say is true of “concert music” electronics as well. IRCAM is the best known center for this work: http://www.ircam.fr/?L=1 I especially have liked the work of Phillippe Manoury and Marco Stroppa. I loved pieces by Jonathan Harvey and Hans Tutschku (acousmatic, meaning sounds are recorded and manipulated to create a piece) that I heard at a concert at Harvard. And so many emerging artists: Nina Young is one I enjoy. These are a very few among many.
Various universities and conservatories have programs in “electroacoustic” composition, sonic arts, sound art, computer music, digital arts…it is easy to see the desire to come up with terminology that is consistent. Then there are studio production, music technology, recording technology and all those other applied studies that use electronics or computers. It is very confusing.
The link you posted, “Idiot’s Guide to EDM” has a large number of sub-genres and there is apparently confusion about terminology even within that area of work:“You can’t really blame the outside media for any confusion with the term EDM, though - if no one is giving them a simple guide to differentiate dubstep from hardstyle, how can you get so cross when they mess a term up?” I had no idea there was so much variety and complexity to EDM…I fact, I didn’t even know the term electronic dance music.
This is helpful because so many young people come on this forum doing the kinds of work that are unfamiliar to others who are also working in “electronics.” And at some point a lot of these different disciplines do intersect, or at least form a spectrum.
Its interesting to see how universities approach this area. My D is a singer and about to start her college career this fall majoring in Commercial Music. Through visits and camps we came across a handful of programs that have study in electronic music. University of Colorado Denver had an Electronic Ensemble for their summer Music Industry camp and the students ended up writing and performing an original downtempo piece. Cal Arts had an experimental / electro concentration in their program and Loyola New Orleans said they welcome anyone who can hook up a laptop, turntable or anything that makes music into their Popular and Commercial Music program.
I’ve encouraged my D to think broadly and seek out producers, DJ’s, and other electro musicians to work with. She wants to do Pop music but has interests in dance, house, downtempo etc. I’ve gotten her into artists and groups like Aluna George, Marian Hill, Kimbra, Res, Alina Baraz, and Sinead Harnett who all play in that space. She’s interested in studying abroad in the UK to learn more about EDM.
I think schools like Full Sail University and McNally Smith also have programs that dabble in these genres. But based on our research in trying to even find Popular and Commercial programs there aren’t a lot of schools that have majors in this area.
I think what is even less known by the public, or even folks on this forum, is the electronic/computer work going on in “classical” environments.
It is really helpful to hear your comments on commercial or pop environments and how they deal with electronic music. We usually think Berklee, Belmont, Miami Frost, USC but there are many programs. The problem is they use different terminology for their programs and majors, as you have shown in part, and it can even be hard to google info!
And synthesizers in Drum Corps…
Thanks GoForth. Can you explain a little?
@compmom - sure, drum corps (such as those in DCI (Drum Corps International)) have even been touched with electronic sounds, such as allowing synthesizers as part of the show that would have started out as drums and bugles.
I don’t consider music created by a synthesizer to be per se electronic. To me a synthesizer is an instrument just like an electric guitar or a drum machine is an instrument. I think electronic or electroacoustic music is deeper that just an electric instrument being used.
I am realizing that not many people, even on this forum, know much about electroacoustic composition, which is a significant part of some young composers’ studies and the focus for some.
That said, many of those who know about that work, do not know much about certain other kinds of “electronic music” including EDM subgenres or other forms of “electronic” or computer music.
I was not even sure what GoForth meant: apparently synthesizers are just replacing drums and bugles electronically and yes, that is very different from what I was posting about.
However I was not clear. I basically intended to post about the creation of “electronic” music and the confusion about terminology for all the very different types of creative work, in both the classical/ art music realm and the commercial/pop realm and no doubt other realms as well (indie rock, alternative, others).
Anyway, I have learned a little behind the scenes as a result of this thread, even if there aren’t many responses, and the next time a high school genius posts about electronic music he is doing at home I will know a little more, though still won’t be very helpful unless he is doing classical work!.
Would this be an example of “electronic” music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2reuQyLoZM
The point is that there are so many different types and subtypes of music that get termed “electronic”. Some of which don’t resemble each other at all, and some of which intersect. The original post has a good article on this.
The area of “electronic work” I am most familiar with is the work being done in universities and other organizations throughout the world in the field of academic composition. I hate to use Wikipedia and these are dated, but to give you and idea of the number of serious composers working in this area: (the second link also attempts to list genres)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electroacoustic_music_composers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacoustic_music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electroacoustic_music_composerPhilippe Manoury
Two of my favorites:
http://www.philippemanoury.com/
Philippe Manoury is a French composer. Manoury was born in Tulle and began composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to 1978 at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Philippot, Ivo Malec, and Claude Ballif. In 1975, he undertook studies in computer assisted composition with Pierre Barbaud, and joined IRCAM as a composer and electronic music researcher in 1980. From 2004 until 2012, Manoury served on the composition faculty at the University of California, San Diego, where he taught composition, electronic music, and analysis in the graduate program. After retiring from teaching at UCSD, he currently lives in Strasbourg, France.
Marco Stroppa is an Italian composer who writes computer music as well as music for instruments with live electronics. Marco Stroppa studied piano, composition, choral direction and electronic music at the conservatoires of Verona, Milan and Venice. From 1980 to 1984, Stroppa collaborated with the Centro di Sonologia Computazionale of the University of Padua, before moving to the USA where he continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supported by a grant from the Fulbright Foundation until 1986. At MIT he took courses in cognitive psychology, computer science and artificial intelligence.
Go Forth, you seem like the kind of person who might enjoy listening to some of this work! Thanks for posting the link on Nancarrow, who did some interesting work with player pianos apparently.
@compmom- you don’t know Conlon Nancarrow’s work? It’s amazing - all pre-computers. He was one of the very first MacArthur Fellows. His work is not, however, at all what I think of when I think of electronic music. It was all performed on an acoustic instrument - the player piano.
Yes I was just reading about him and knew he had a genius grant. As I said, his most well-known work is player piano. The link provided isn’t about him for the most part though: it’s about black Midi, and that was what my response was about.
And the point, I guess, is that there are so many examples from so many different definitions of electronic music that picking just one composer doesn’t really convey the diversity described in the original link.
Also, this topic will be important to many instrumentalists and vocal performers, since “new music” includes mixed acoustic and electroacoustic (or acousmatic) work.