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What is electronic music?

To me, electronic music is like music that has no identity or lose identity. For example,trance, house, DnB & etc.... Every genre has its own identity rite, how about electronic music?

its just a broad description for a whole array of music

i.e rock/country/jazz/pop/electronic

Re: What is electronic music?

quote:

Originally posted by essentia89 To me, electronic music is like music that has no identity or lose identity. For example,trance, house, DnB & etc.... Every genre has its own identity rite, how about electronic music?

Those are all types of electronic music. Look at it this way...

Electronic music is the parent, and trance, house, techno, and every other "electronic genre" are its children. lol

(Somehow tho I think this is a spammer in disguise haha)

According to Wikipedia, "Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production."

But has actually baffled me, since you can technically make a folk song or a country song entirely out of synthesizers and other electronic equipment. So I consider the term to be a bit to broad to specify what we actually mean. We need IMO a new term for what's today called electronic music.

I mean, like some artist put their genre of their musical work, electronic but no specification like trance, dance or as u know sub genre. Its like their music got no identity to me. Question is, what is their music identity, 1 minute trance and the other minute house and DnB = no identity rite? Thats what I mean. We all know they are many sub genre but which side are they? I think electronic is too big word for genre specification.

quote:

Originally posted by pointPi According to Wikipedia, "Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production." But has actually baffled me, since you can technically make a folk song or a country song entirely out of synthesizers and other electronic equipment. So I consider the term to be a bit to broad to specify what we actually mean. We need IMO a new term for what's today called electronic music.

You're rite.

Re: Re: What is electronic music?

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Originally posted by euphoria Those are all types of electronic music. Look at it this way... Electronic music is the parent, and trance, house, techno, and every other "electronic genre" are its children. lol (Somehow tho I think this is a spammer in disguise haha)

I know that you are a dj rite, so what you call your music genre, Electronic Music? Half house,half DnB and make it a lil bit trance then put some dance in the middle, Not satisfied put some techno in the end? Thats what I mean, No Identity... Haha

Re: Re: Re: What is electronic music?

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Originally posted by essentia89 Thats what I mean, No Identity... Haha

If that's your understanding, I have to question who rather than what is lacking identity.

I can't decide whether this thread is touching on very deep considerations of the mechanics of what we collectively term "electronic music" and how and why it is set apart from music that happens to be made electronically... OR if the poster is a complete cretin.

When in doubt, go with "cretin."

Often it's the cretins who touch upon the truth, though. Most people are too careful to repeat and respect received wisdom.

quote:

Originally posted by KilldaDJ its just a broad description for a whole array of music i.e rock/country/jazz/pop/electronic

quote:

Originally posted by KilldaDJ its just a broad description for a whole array of music i.e rock/country/jazz/pop/electronic

considering that any of those types of music can be (and often are) produced electronically, that doesn't make much sense.

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Originally posted by mehta considering that any of those types of music can be (and often are) produced electronically, that doesn't make much sense.

ok then, its a broad term for any type of music which is or has been produced electronically.

basically, music falls into two categories.

acoustic or electronic.

then it goes down in the chain of endless sub-categories.

electronic music is atmospheric noises

there's always the acronym 'EDM'

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Originally posted by netroM there's always the acronym 'EDM'

Not all electronic music is dance-oriented, though.

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Originally posted by netroM there's always the acronym 'EDM'

Polka music is dance music.
Tango music is dance music.
Salsa music is dance music.

Sorry, but it's still a too broad term.

nearly all music produced for the mainstream since the 1950s is electronic music. at the same time all the weird academic stuff you can do only with the supercomputers of the era came out. electronic music is about the recording technologies and their manipulation. this is why almost everything is included. there is no set aesthetic or anything like that.

the names are silly, and electronic music is so broad that it doesn't describe anything, which is why most of the conversations on this board can happen only in reference to specific sounds.

example: a classical music enthusiast would crucify anyone for calling Tchaikovsky's work "classical music" -- it's Romantic. "Classical" was the era before that. but most people still call anything with an orchestra or a single violin "classical music".

Meh, as a classical music fan, I say that "classical" is actually the best term for the general category, because all the other terms suck.

"Symphonic music" leaves out chamber and choral music. "Orchestral music" would include things like soundtracks and stringy pop music that aren't the same thing. And "art music" and "serious music" sound snotty.

Unless someone gives me a better option, I am sticking with "classical."

what is electronic music: good shit. i love them muddy synthesized tones and overtones and big bass booms.

Electronica = Techno

Not the "Sub-Genre". But as a Term that defines the entire Field itself. Electronica is not its own genre. If it were, I'd prefer to call it experimental. Techno was the broad term, but then Techno felt like being its own genre so they fond a new word.

Electronic means....electronic.

Techno, short for Technologic Music.

Tomato Tomato. Different way describing the same thing.

Re: What is electronic music?

quote:

Originally posted by essentia89 To me, electronic music is like music that has no identity or lose identity. For example,trance, house, DnB & etc.... Every genre has its own identity rite, how about electronic music?

I always use this as the ultimate qualifier:

If you have to plug it in to make music with it, it's electronic.

I better post a followup before people reply with dumbass exceptions before thinking it through first:

percussion/wind/string/brass/wood instruments are not electronic. You can play them manually without the need of electric power.

Yes, a polysynth can recreate any of those sounds and technically be called electronic by doing so, but because those sounds can be recreated in their native environment without the need for electronic instrumentation, they are considered non-electronic sounds.

Now, take a unique electronic sound such as the TB-303 (or SH-101, TR-808/909), Yamaha DX7, Roland Alpha Juno, Roland JP 8080, or any of the myriad synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and effects processors that have flooded the market over the past 40 years. These are unique sounds that can not be created by any mechanical instrument. They require electric power to produce their sounds.

So too do the softsynths and sample playback virtual synths that reproduce these sounds -- still electronic instrumentation.

You can make non-electronic music using electronic instruments (which is what the ethnic/worldbeat/new age/ambient scene is all about), but if you're going to use uniquely electronic sounds in your project, no one will ever not call it electronic music. Regardless of what it sounds like.

quote:

Originally posted by Ishkur You can make non-electronic music using electronic instruments (which is what the ethnic/worldbeat/new age/ambient scene is all about), but if you're going to use uniquely electronic sounds in your project, no one will ever not call it electronic music. Regardless of what it sounds like.

Animal Collective, for example, uses uniquely electronic sounds, but very few people call them electronic music band, nor do they associate themselves with the scene. On the other spectrum you have acts like Bonobo, who basically uses electronics just for rhythm programming (and sometimes not even for that) and an odd effect here and there, but pretty much everyone classifies it under electronic music.

The line between electronic and non-electronic music these days is blurred to unrecognizability, with more and more bands using electronics and classic instruments equally to form something that can be achieved just this way. A lot of people find it confusing in terms of classifying - not so much with older bands who started to incorporate electronics relatively late (I serisouly doubt Radiohead will be discarded as alternative rock band any time soon) as with newer acts such as Bibio and Stateless, who have been making indeterminable music their whole life.

So in the end, I think it has a lot to do with arrangements (and sequencers), not just sounds, together with some other factors - such as label associated with that particular artist and even that artist's past releases. Some people say that this whole electronic dance music thing started with Tomorrow Never Knows, and while that may be a slight exaggeration since the track itself doesn't use any electronic instrumentation, it still sounds more electronic than a vast amount of electronic music composed with electronic instruments only.

But at the end of the day, who really gives a fuck if something is classified as electronic music or not. Good music is good music, no matter by what means it's executed.

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