-
Theremin Is Developed
Leon Theremin develops the Theremin, the first all-purpose electronic instrument to be used in musical compositions. Soon after being patented in 1928 the Theremin is used in Joseph Schillinger's First Airphonic Suite for Theremin and Orchestra. Theremin was the soloist for this first appearance. -
John Cage publishes Imaginary Landscape, No. 1
John Cage was an American pioneer in making electronic music, creating the original Imaginary Landscapes with two variable-speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano, and cymbal. John continued on to make 5 more Imaginary Landscapes as well as other compositions in the early parts of the 1950s. -
Artists in France, Germany, and Japan experiment
Artists all over the world play around with different means by which to record limited musical spectrums in simple, more primitive means. -
First computer to play electronic music
The CSIRAC becomes the first computer to play electronic music. Its first publicly played song is Colonel Bogey March. No recordings exist of this performance. -
Beach Boys and The Beatles
The Beach Boys and The Beatles, wildly popular international artists, are some of the pioneers of using electronic instruments in their music. -
The Mini-Moog is released
Released by Moog Music, the Mini-Moog was the most portable, widely available, and fairly affordable option for a synthesizer. It was widely used throughout the 1970s and greatly increased the popularity of electronic music throughout the 1970s, alongside other more advanced synthesizers that were produced throughout the '70s. -
Digital Synthesizers
Engineers at Yamaha experiment with digital synthesis, an important aspect of what we now call "sampling", taking a part of one song and playing around with the audio to make it sound a specific way. -
Chiptunes
With the wider availability of computers many people are able to play with short, chirpy samples and low bit samples. Think NES music. Nowadays this is often referred to as "video game music". -
Marvine Gaye helps to popularize the use of drum machines
With his release of "Sexual Healing", drum machines gain widespread recognition. -
MIDI 1.0 is finalized
A standard musical interface is finally integrated, Musical Instrument Digital Interface 1.0, a significant leap forward with the widespread universal usage of a single interface. -
Italo Disco
Some of the first club electronic music is produced, using a combination of drum machines and synthesizers. This led to the popularity of "rave" type dance music, especially in European countries. -
Automated Harmonization of Melody in Real Time
The first of a series of machines that allowed for the manipulation of audio in real time. The aforementioned method of harmonizing a melody in real time was a huge breakthrough. Another popular method, much more popular, is auto-tune, produced in 1998 and used by Cher in her song Believe. Auto-tune is used in many different genres today and is both loved and hated by many.
