An Evolution of The Beat: From the Sideman to the 808
From the name alone, the two most essential components of electronic dance music are extremely obvious: electronics and a danceable rhythm. Far less evident, however, is how the parameters of this combination are precisely defined. The presence of a beat and a synthesizer does not necessarily mean the resultant song will be EDM. For example, a ’60s Garage-Psych song might contain electronic accents and big drums. However, it will remain a far cry from what a reasonable person would call electronic dance music or even electronic music.
A genre is a tricky thing to pin down. However, one of the more efficient ways to go about it is to identify a core element, like an instrument, and place it at the center of the sound and style. For example, not every song with a guitar is considered to be Rock. On the other hand, for the most part, there is no real Rock music without a guitar. The guitar is the key link between the different strains of a massive genre. Guitars make it reasonable to claim that there is some kind of connection between the music of Elvis and Metallica.
Continue reading Roots of Electronica: Drum Machines at One EDM.
Source: oneedm.com
