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Rise of Electronic Music in America
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Teleharmonium
Thaddeus Cahill was the pioneer of electronic music in America. His invention, the Teleharmonium, can be considered a pivotal moment in the begginnings of elctronic music in America.
This website describes the instrument in greater detatail:Teleharmonium -
The Wurlitzer Organ
As the popularity of the Teleharmonium faded the Wurlitzer took control and began to appear in theaters andchurches. -
Edgar Varese
Edgar Varese makes his debut in America. He was the inventor of the term organized sound which basically meant organzing timbres and rhythms and timbres into a whole new definition of music. This term would be a basis for all future electronic music as that is what electronic music truly is, organized sound.
Peome Electonique -
Theremin
Clara Rockmore Performance In 1920 Leon Theremin invented the Theremin which allowed the users to control the pitch and amptitude by moving their hands. Clara Rockmore was a young student whom Leon met and she quickly grew to be his prodigy. -
Ondes Martenot Invented
Ondes Martenot
Invented in 1928 by Frenchman Maurice Martenot, the instrument sounded very similar to the Theremin, however the Ondes allowed for much more control over the timbre of the sound. -
Hammond Organ
Hammond Organ
The Hammond Organ was invented by Laurens Hammond and was a much smaller version of the Wurlitzer Organ. It grew to great popularity in jazz music and gospel music. -
Leslie Speakers
These speakers were created by Donald Lelsie to more closely to amplify the sound of the hammond organ as well as others to more closely resemeble a pipe or theater organ. This was sold as an addon to the hammond organ. -
Musique Concrete
A style of music developed by Pierre Schaeffer. Essentially, the composer starts the piece with a set of concrete sounds and then arranges them to create the song. -
Louis and Bebe Baron
Forbidden Planet Title Sequence
Loius and Bebe Baron's composition Heavenly Menagerie was the first electronic music for magnetic tape written in the United States. They also composed the first entirely electronic film score, which was written for the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. These two composers were early pioneers of musique concrete. -
First Computer Composed Song
Illiac
This was a breakthrough in electronic music as Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Issacson created a computer algorithm to compose a piece of music. -
Synthesizers
Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson in 1958 the RCA Mark II was the first programmable electronic synthesizer. In 1964 Robert Moog introduced the Moog Synthesizer which was much easier to use and gained wide popularity. -
Beattles And Beach Boys
Good VibrationsTomorrow Never Knows
In Tomorrow Never Knows the Beattles were one of the first artists to use the moog synthesizer. In Good Vibrations the Beattles used the elctro therimen which produced more natural sounds than its predecessor. Both of these bands were pioneers of electronic music. -
MIDI
MIDI was founded in 1983 by a group of manufactures including Roland, Yamaha, Korg, and Kawai got together and made this up. Its a system or "language" that allows electronic musical instruments and computers to send information or "talk" to each other. -
Turntablism
Turntablism
Turntablism was a new form of music pioneered by people such as Grandmaster Flash, DJ Kool Herc, Afrikaa Bambaata, and Christian Marclay. These artists would mix,scratch, and sample recordings to create exiting new songs. -
Laptop Orchestras
Atomic Tom
Univeristies such as Stanford, Princeton, and Michigan have begun using laptops as musical instruments. Furthermore, bands such as Atomic Tom are using their IPhones and IPads to play music.
