ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the track “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex, released in 2010. The track and the entire EP redefined Dubstep, an electronic dance music subgenre, scripting the rise of underground dance music into the pantheons of mainstream pop culture. The chapter’s pedagogically oriented analysis of the track’s compositional and sound production techniques creates a framework for studying and legitimizing electronic dance music (EDM) in academic courses. Its conclusion briefly discusses the role of EDM as a subject area in the Electronic Digital Instrument (EDI) program at the Berklee College of Music.
