Electronic and Experimental Music
Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture, Sixth Edition, presents an extensive history of electronic music—from its historical beginnings in the late nineteenth century to its everchanging present—recounting the musical ideas that arose in parallel with technological progress. In four parts, the author details the fundamentals of electronic music, its history, the major synthesizer innovators, and contemporary practices. This examination of the music’s experimental roots covers the key composers, genres, and techniques used in analog and digital synthesis, including both art and popular music, Western and non-Western.
New to this edition:
- A reorganized and revised chapter structure places technological advances within a historical framework.
- Shorter chapters offer greater modularity and flexibility for instructors.
- Discussions on the elements of sound, listening to electronic music, electronic music in the mainstream, Eurorack, and more.
- An appendix of historically important electronic music studios around the globe.
Listening Guides throughout the book provide step-by-step annotations of key musical works, focusing the development of student listening skills. Featuring extensive revisions and expanded coverage, this sixth edition of Electronic and Experimental Music represents an comprehensive accounting of the technology, musical styles, and figures associated with electronic music, highlighting the music’s deep cultural impact.
Thom Holmes is a music historian and composer. He studied composition with Paul Epstein in Philadelphia, published the magazine Recordings of Experimental Music (1979–85), and worked with John Cage. He has recently been a member of Composers Inside Electronics, an electronic music performing ensemble dedicated to the realization of works by David Tudor. Holmes produces a personal blog, Noise and Notations, writes the blog Moog: A History in Recordings for the Bob Moog Foundation, and originated and maintains the Holmes Archive of Electronic Music, a curated collection of vintage electronic music recordings spanning the years 1930-85.