EDM Electronic Dance Music — Jerudong International School

Popular music in the twentieth century has been closely linked with the advances in technology. Radio and gramophone from the 1920's brought popular music to ever wider audiences. In the 1930's the first electronic instruments appeared and the invention of electronic recording tape in the 1940's would allow easier recording and manipulation of recorded sound.

The introduction of solid state technology in the 70's gave rise to effects units such as the fuzz box and wah-wah pedal.But the arrival of computer technology in the 1980's had the biggest impact, leading to ever cheaper music technology, available for everyone.

Why Does My Heart is composed entirely using music technology in Moby’s home studio. There are no live musicians recorded for this piece. Even the vocals are sampled from pre-existing recordings. Lets familiarise ourselves with some of the equipment and techniques used in Why Does My Heart.

Electronic Dance Music (EDM, Club Dance or just Dance Music) grew out of the disco music of the seventies and fuelled by the increasingly wide availability of cheap music technology. Nowadays just about anyone can make their own music and distribute it via the internet. This has had a democratising effect on music production.

What are the main features of EDM?

Reliance on Music Technology. (There is no need to record live sounds)
Primary instruments are synthesizer and drum machine.
Use of samples and loops
Music is highly repetitive
Minimal lyrics (if any)
Strong 4/4 metre
Usually fast tempo: 130 - 170 BPM (Why Does My Heart is an exception as down tempo techno)

There are many sub genres of EDM starting with House (Chicago) and Techno (Detroit) in America in the early ‘80s. Other sub genres include Jungle/Drum ‘n’ bass (fast tempo, deep bass and prominent drum “breakbeats”); UK Garage (essentially a British offshoot of jungle) ; Trance (slow, repetitive and trippy”); Ambient (slow, chilled and sometimes jazzy).

Sampling and Looping

Moby makes great use of samples in his music.Samples are short sections of existing recordings used to make a new piece of music. Sometimes samples are played repeatedly. This is called looping. Although sampling and looping are common techniques in EDM, they were first developed by classical composers such as Steve Reich, who first used looped samples in his electronic tape piece It's Gonna Rain.

Notice how the original sample is modified in this video (by speeding it up). Here is Barry White's original song for comparison.

Another electronic technique employed by Moby is Equalisation or EQ. EQ allows the composer to either filter out or enhance different frequency ranges in the spectrum of sound. This is most commonly used to create the "telephone effect" where both high and low frequencies are filtered out and the remaining mid range is boosted. This creates a rather nazal sound like when a voice is heard down an old fashioned telephone.

Music technology in Why Does My Heart

What is it?	What does it do?	Where can you hear it?
Synthesizer	A synthesizer is an electronic device which creates sounds. It is usually controlled by a (piano) keyboard, with additional effect dials, feeding into a computer.	The string sounds from A3 onwards are created by a Yamaha synthesizer. The bass and sub bass sounds are also created by a synthesizer.
Drum machine	A device which produces synthesized drum sounds. It sounds far more accurate than a human drummer can manage and can also play faster, an effect often used in techno music. Sounds can be samples or synthetic.	The drum part enters in A3 and continues for most of the song. However, notice the dramatic effect on the music when they are dropped after the breakdown in Bx2
Samples	A short segment taken from an existing recording to be included in a new composition. Samples can be manipulated in various ways using music technology.	Two vocal samples are used. They are taken from a 1953 recording of King Jesus Will Roll My Burdens Away sung by the Shining Light Gospel Choir. The male sample forms the verse and the female sample the chorus. Both samples have been manipulated to change their meaning. In addition to the drum machine loops, Moby includes a sample of a breakbeat from an unknown hip-hop track as well as sampled claves which play an offbeat syncopated rhythm. The piano sample was provided by a Emu Proformance piano module.
Loops	Repeating a sample or other section of music. Originally done with tape loops but now achieved in a sequencer	Why Does My Heart is largely composed using loops of piano chords and drum patterns.
EQ	Equalisation is the process of filtering certain frequencies and amplifying others. Originally it was used to ‘improve’ recorded sound but now it is used for effects such as the “telephone effect”. This utilises both high and low pass filters.	There are good examples of the use of EQ in the echoes of the male voice in A6 and the Female voice immediately after the breakdown (Bx2).
Reverb	An electronic effect which makes the music sound as if it is in a large space. It can also makes the source sound further away.	The initial male sample is treated with reverb and so is the synth strings sound. The EQ treated female voice in Bx2 is treated to lots of reverb which is removed in By2.
Delay	An effect which stores and plays back and audio signal to create a repeated, decaying echo.	In A6 and A7, the EQ treated response to sample A has noticeable delay added. This spills over noticeably into the breakdown.
Mixer	A device which combines the various sounds in a composition. This can be done with a physical mixing desk or digitally on a computer. The mixer can also be used to move sounds around in the stereo field, a technique known as panning.	The female sample in Bx2 which is treated to EQ and reverb is also reduced in the mix so that it sounds distant. In By2 the same sample is suddenly brought forward in the mix.
Sequencer	A computer programme which facilitates the input and editing of MIDI data. Most sequencers are now capable of combining MIDI data and audio are called audio sequencers.	Moby composed Why Does My Heart using Steinberg Cubase sequencing software running on an Apple Mac computer.
MIDI	Musical Instrument Digital Interface: An 8 bit computer language that allows electronic musical instruments and computers to talk to each other.