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Thaddeus Cahill's Telharmonium
The Telharmonium was an early electrical organ, developed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897. The electrical signal from the Telharmonium was transmitted over wires; it was heard on the receiving end by means of 'horn' speakers. -
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Electronic Music
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The Wurlitzer
As the popularity of the Telharmonium began to fade, the new invention was The Wurlitzer. Also called a theatre organ. -
Edgard Varese
Edgard Varese was known as the "Father of Electronic Music." He moved to the United States in 1915 and was one of the first composers of the development of electronic music. His goal was to make entirely new and organized sounds in which he became successful. He was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. -
The Theremin
In 1920, one of the most radical instruments was born. The Theremin. Invented by Leon Theremin. It was a very unique instrument because it didn't have to be touched to be played. It was played by the movement of your hands. -
The Ondes Martenot
Followed by the invention of the Theremin was the invention of the Ondes Martenot. This instrument had a very similar sound to the theremin, but was a lot better in tone and quality. -
Hammond Organ
Laurens Hammond invented an instrument that was extremely similar to the Telharmonium. It was called the Hammond Organ. It was about the size of a standard piano and was built to mimic the sound of a pipe organ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0sVcMoPid4 -
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph or digital turntables. Although turntables may seem like they are newer instruments, they were actually played in the early period of Musique Concrete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXdVnDVjSL8 -
Les Paul
Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, which made the sound of rock and roll possible. Paul taught himself how to play guitar and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music -
Musique Concrete
Musique Concrete is a form of Electronic Music. Louis and Bebe Barron were the two early pioneers of Musique Concrete in the U.S. They composed Heavenly Menagerie which was the first electronic piece of music written in the United States. -
Computer Composed Music
In 1957, Bell Labs engineer Max Mathews was the first man to synthesize music on a computer. He succeeded in being able to play a few notes of music on the computer. -
RCA Mark II
The first programmable electronic music synthesizer was the RCA Mark II. It was designed by Herbert Balar and Harry Olsen in 1958. -
The Beatles
The group of 4 guys changed the music world forever. They were legends in the rock music scene. But they also highly impacted the genre of electronic music. They had used many of the electronic instruments that had been invented. Such as the moog synthesize, tape loops, the Leslie Speaker and etc.. -
Moog Synthesizer
A Moog Synthesizer was more modern than the RCA Mark II. It was invented by Robert Moog and was much easier to use than the RCA. The Moog Synthesizer came to be a very successful instrument. -
MIDI
In January of 1983 a group of manufacturers got together to agree on MIDI. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is a system of language in which allows electronic musical instruments to send information to computers or to be able to talk to each other. -
Laptop Orchestra
The first Laptop Orchestra was founded in 2005 by Professor Trueman and Perry Cook at Princeton University.
A Laptop Orchestra is basically an orchestra who's music is played using laptops. There are many Laptop Orchestras around the world but the two most known ones are the PLOrk (Princeton Laptop Orchestra) and the SLOrk (Standford Laptop Orchestra)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chA-4GRCb-I
