Electronic Dance Music

People have always enjoyed dancing and creating music. Until the start of the 20th Century, music technology was very slow to change and was mostly limited to primitive tribal or acoustic orchestral instruments. With the creation of the Teleharmonium in the early 1900's and the Theremin around 1920, people started to create their music with entirely electronic instruments.

In the 1970's, thanks to the ingenuity of Bob Moog, the analog synthesizer became popular as the most advanced musical tool available; and was used frequently in psychedelic rock and experimental music. The late 70's saw the explosion of disco and the influence of producer Giorgio Moroder, as well as the invention of Techno music by the German group Kraftwerk.

The new technologies of the 1980's gave us improved synthesizer circuitry, the drum machine, the digital sampler, and the revolutionary advent of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). Computers, sampling, and MIDI changed the way music was written and recorded with sequencing and hard-disk based recording systems. House music was born in the early 80's in a club called "The Warehouse", Hip Hop was in its infancy, New Wave was mainstream, and Detroit was expanding on the techno sound. Notable artists from the 80's that continue their influence in dance music today include Depeche Mode, Yaz, New Order, Yello, and Gary Numan.

Music fragmented into a multitude of sub-genres in the 1990's including acid house, Goa trance, electro, jungle, and many more. The increasing accessibility of computers and affordability of music equipment created many new artists and DJ's and fueled a cultural movement. The rave scene of the late 90's peaked at the turn of the millenium and gave us such great electronic dance music artists such as Rabbit in the Moon, The Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and DJ Icey.

The mid 2000's have seen a rennaissance in electronic dance music with many styles represented in nightclubs and festivals around the world. New music technologies and virtual instruments continue to inspire producers and DJ's to create new styles of music that transcend our expectations. Some of these artists have achieved global recognition for their contributions to dance music. Some of the new popular dance artists include Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, BT, and Paul Oakenfold.