Electronic Instruments are the Focus of Electronic Music

Electronic music is music that is produced or performed using primarily electronic instruments in such a way that the focus of the composition is on those instruments. Vocals may be part of the music, but they are included to complement the electronic aspect of the composition. Synthesizers, samplers, drum machines and filtering techniques are part of the electronic music world.

Written in a non-generic fashion, electronic music uses a variety of instruments and even sounds of nature such as birds singing, as part of the composition. The electronic equipment, such as computers and the like, used to process these sounds, is used as an aid, rather than a focus of the worki.

More than any other type of music, electronic music thrives on technology to make it what it is. The medium received a huge boost in 1982 when Musical Instrument Digital Interface, more commonly known as MIDI, was introduced to the public. MIDI is a language, operating system and protocol all wrapped into one. MIDI allows a variety of instruments and processors to work flawlessly with each other via two cables run through the master unit.

Electronic music is not a genre, but some music genres fall into this category. These include techno, trance, ambient, downtempo, drum and bass, electro-acoustic, goa and psy, and breakbeat and big beat.