ABSTRACT

In spite of the numerous successive waves of music technology development, many of the basic aesthetic concepts and artistic choices that were invented by early composers of tape music remain at the core of electronic music still being produced today. These traits of electronic music can be traced not only to the exigencies of the tape medium itself, but also to the underlying principles that make electronic music different from music composed and performed for acoustic instruments. This chapter explores the characteristics that differentiate electronic music from other kinds of music and examines the roots of the aesthetic choices, effects, and techniques of electronic music that are descended from the early days of tape composition.