Defining Electronic Music
What is electronic music? Why is it that some people call it EDM (Electronic Dance Music), and others call it "techno?" How is a style of music that has taken over such a broad area of modern pop culture so confusing and complex to understand? What is electronic music MADE of?
Over the past five years, electronic music has experienced an enormous boost in popularity all over the world. Names like Skrillex, Avicii, Afrojack, David Guetta and Hardwell have played a major role in the colossal upbringing of this style of music. However, electronic music has been prone to constant labelling over the years and as a result, many tend to believe that the sound of electronic music is limited to the sound of the five artists I have mentioned. I'm here to give
my take on the sound of today.
The truth is, electronic music is a diverse genre. It has hundreds upon hundreds of sub-genres, countless numbers of performers, DJs/producers, and a massive span of sounds. Electronic music is not just what Skrillex and Hardwell come out with each year. It's on the radio; all of us listen to it. Modern pop music is all composed electronically (how do you think their instrumentals are made?). Bands like Coldplay, Korn, Linkin Park and Depeche Mode have been known for using electronic music in their songs. Even a Casio, or a Roland keyboard can be considered an instrument of electronic music. Matter of fact any instrument that is electronically programmed to produce sound waves and can be used to write music on its own is an
instrument of electronic music.
Now moving on to the popular term, "Electronic Dance Music". To be frank it is what originally defined electronic music. However, due to its sudden abuse to describe the sound of Skrillex and Hardwell, electronic music elitists dropped the term and rendered back to using its original name.
Over the years, genres like soul, disco, rock, funk, and metal have been straightforward when it came to describing their sounds and differentiating them because there was always a set of instruments that defined the genre's sound. In the case of electronic music, it cannot be dealt with in the same way. In electronic music, there's no single set of instruments; you either make your own sound, or sample a sound from a song of another style. Hence, this freedom of being able to create anything we like, from anything we like makes it so difficult for us to categorise it all as one sound. New sub-genres are being invented practically almost every week, and as technology progresses, the sound library only gets bigger. Music blogs like "The Sound You Need", "Majestic Casual" and "This Song Is Sick" constantly share new electronic music every day for us to enjoy and broaden our knowledge regarding this ever-growing sound of tomorrow. So get on the internet, and explore the world of electronic music. There's a lot more to it than what meets the eye.
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