This document summarizes the history and development of electronic music from early pioneers like Ferruccio Busoni in the early 20th century to modern artists using generative and algorithmic composition techniques. It covers major genres and artists in electronic music like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Jean Michel Jarre, Depeche Mode, Bjork, and Ryoji Ikeda. It also discusses early computer-generated music by David Cope's EMI and Emily Howell systems and debates around whether machines can truly compose music that expresses emotion.

1. Music and the Machine
Technological Themes in Electronic Music
Andrew Dun: Science, Technology & The Future 2013

2. Ferruccio Busoni (Italy, 1866 - 1924): 'I almost think that in the new great music, machines
will also be necessary and will be assigned a share in it. Perhaps industry, too, will bring
forth her share in the artistic ascent.’ (Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music,1907)

3. Influences
Futurism, Dada, Musique concrète, Avante Garde, Electro-Acoustic, Minimalism
Duchamp, Stockhausen, Josef Tal, Alvin Lucier, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, John Cage, Robert Ashley, CSIRAC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XfeWp2y1Lk

4. BBC Radiophonic Workshop
London, England,1958 Onward

5. Ron Grainer / Delia Derbyshire: Electronic Music circa 1963
Scitech: Lava Lamp, Mellotron, Arecibo Observatory, Final NASA Mercury Probe
Zeitgeist: Milgram’s Shock Experiment, ‘Butterfly Effect’, The Birds (film), Doctor No (film)
Tools: Acoustic Strings, Test Oscillators, White Noise, Analogue Tape
Themes: Abstraction, Experimentation, Atmospherics
Technology Attitudes: Exploratory
“Some sounds were created at all the required pitches direct from the oscillators, others had to be repitched later. This was
done by taking the piece of tape with the sound on and looping it. The loop was placed on a tape machine and its playback
speed varied until the pitch was correct, then the sound was rerecorded onto another machine. This process continued until
every sound was available at all the required pitches.” http://markayres.rwsprojects.co.uk/DWTheme.htm Dr Who Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AnTi1X2QM

6. Jean-Michel Jarre
Lyon, France, 1973 to Present

7. Jean Michelle Jarre: Progressive Electronica circa 1976
Scitech: Altair 8800 (1975), Apple Computer founded, Viking 1 Lander, Concorde
Zeitgeist: James Callaghan PM (UK), Ford regime (USA), Logan’s Run (film), Saints - Stranded (Melbourne)
Contemps: Vangelis, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Hawkwind
Tools: ARP 2600, EMS VCS 3, Eminent 310, 8 Track Recorder (early demos), Fairlight CMI (Peter Vogel Insts)
Themes: Ambience, Psychedelia, Science Fiction, Futurism, Platonicity, Ethereality
Technology Attitudes: Optimistic, Exploratory, Utopian, Playful, Adventurous

8. Jean Michelle Jarre: Oxygene 1976
Oxygene (Part I)
Oxygene (Part II)
Oxygene (Part III)
Oxygene (Part IV) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDEl7JnWvo
Oxygene (Part V)
Oxygene (Part VI)

9. Kraftwerk
Düsseldorf, Germany, 1974 to Present

10. Kraftwerk / Electro circa 1978
Scitech: First Bulletin Board System (Chicago), Discovery of Charon, Artificial Insulin
Zeitgeist: China lifts ban on Western Lit, Sydney G&L Solidarity March, USSR Stockpile > US
Contemps: ?
Tools: Vocoder, Votrax, Synthesizer, Prophet 5, Prophet 10, Yamaha CS-80, Minimoog
Themes: Futurism, Constructivism, Utopianism, Europe, Germany, Technology, Mass Production, Robots
Technology Attitudes: Inquisitive, Engaged, Provocative, Humorous, Irreverent

11. Kraftwerk / Man-Machine 1978
A1 The Robots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okhQtoQFG5s
A2 Spacelab
A3 Metropolis
B1 The Model
B2 Neon Lights
B3 The Man-Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7sGtXkUqeo
Die Mensch Maschine, Halb Wesen und halb Ding
Die Mensch Maschine, Halb Wesen und halb Überding
Man Machine, semi human being
Man Machine, super human being

12. Brian Eno
England, 1970s to Present

13. Brian Eno / Ambient circa 1978
Music for Airports 1978
1/1
2/1
1/2
2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81G9W8pEno

14. Throbbing Gristle
1975–1981, 2004–2010

15. Throbbing Gristle / Industrial circa 1976
Players: Test Dept, Einsturzende Neubauten, Non, SPK, Cabaret Voltaire, Lou Reed
Tools: Tape Machine, Found Sounds, Synthesizers, Guitar, Bass, Sax, Contact Mics
Themes: Industrialisation, Transgression, Technocracy, Power, Control, War, Alienation,
Abstraction, Occultism, Extremism
Tech Attitudes: Experimental, Anarchic, Instrumental, Ironic, Punk

16. Throbbing Gristle / Music from the Death Factory (1976)
Untitled
Untitled
Discipline http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8klW9trVTQ
Photophobia (Cabaret Voltaire) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d83KftUGIEI
Total State Machine (Test Department, 1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUxoughdYto

17. Depeche Mode
Basildon, UK, 1980 to Present

18. Depeche Mode / Synth Pop circa 1981
Scitech: IBM PC, Donkey Kong, First Heart-Lung transplant, First Space Shuttle flight
Zeitgeist: AIDS Pandemic, Reagan elected, Iran-Contra authorisation, Brixton riot, Pepsi in China
Contemps: New Order, Human League, Ultravox, OMD, Japan, Gary Numan
Tools: Korg KR-55, ARP 2600. Also: DX7 (1983), Fairlight CMI, Synclavier, Emulator
Themes: Love, Conflict, Personal vs Political, War, Sexuality, Capitalism, Cyber-pop
Tech Attitudes: Technology as culturally sophisticated; not alien

19. Depeche Mode / Speak and Spell 1981
New Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1AW4bV4Edk
Puppets
Dreaming Of Me
Boys Say Go!
Nodisco
What's Your Name?
Photographic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUP5W10wGEA
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Big Muff
Any Second Now (Voices)
Just Can't Get Enough
Ice Machine
Photographic (Some Bizarre) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61_E9zuwUU0
John Foxx - Underpass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=919UyzgW6ws

20. Laurie Anderson
New York, USA, Late 1960s to Present

21. Laurie Anderson / Big Science 1982
From The Air
Big Science
Sweaters
Walking & Falling
Born, Never Asked
O Superman (For Massenet) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZogYdbBPVg (#2 UK)
Example #22
Let X=X
It Tango
O Superman: ”In this case it was the Contra affair and defeat as we were experiencing a series of techno disasters- helicopters
trying to rescue hostages and crashing in the desert. Oh, and as well as now, yet another war that is endless-or as the same war.
The same conflict with Islam.” (Mojo Magazine, June 2008)
“So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
Your petrochemical arms. Your military arms.
In your electronic arms.”
Cf. Dot Allison - We Are Science (2002)

22. Clock DVA
Sheffield, England, 1978 to Present

23. Clock DVA / Electronic Body Music circa 1992
Scitech: IBM Simon Smartphone, Carbon Nanotubes, WWW (browser), PGP Encryption, arXiv
Zeitgeist: Dunbar’s Number, Sonic the Hedgehog, Alien 3, Terminator 2, LA Riots, Nirvana
Contemps: Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, DAF, Severed Heads, Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire, FLA
Tools: DMX, Matrix, Akai S900, DX7, Emulator II, Korg MS-20, Kurzweil K2000, Commodore Amiga
Properties: Bass driven, 120bpm, Heavy percussion, Syncopation
Themes: Physicality, Machinery, Human Body, Facism, Corporatism, Repression, Identity, Fetishism
Attitudes: Technology both fetishised and critiqued. Transhumanism?
Voice Recognition Test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2e5Dd4NNCY
Axiomatic & Heuristic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ffqOsFK2c
Warsaw Ghetto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcECgEY6MH4

24. Clock DVA / Man Amplified 1992
Man-Amplifiers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5qiWzHETK8
Techno Geist
Axiomatic And Heuristic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ffqOsFK2c
NYC Overload http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSJ9oy4RKjI
Transitional Voices
Bitstream
Fractalize
Final Program
Dark Attractor
Memories Of Sound
Voice Recognition Test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2e5Dd4NNCY
Hacker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENISCG2a15g

25. Jeff Mills
Detroit, USA, Early 80s to Present

26. Jeff Mills / Detroit Techno circa 1993
Scitech: Intel Pentium, PDF Format 1.0, Sibelius Music Notation, Mosaic Browser 1.0, Hubble Telescope Optics Correction,
Windows 3.11
Zeitgeist: Jurassic Park (film), Detroit recession, START Treaty, IBM $5b Corporate Loss, Maastricht Treaty (European Union),
Turntablism
Others: Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson (Belleville Three), Cybotron
Tools: Roland 808, Roland 909, Delay, Reverb, Turntables, Samplers
Properties: Microsound, Microtonality, Polyrhythms, 4/4, Syncopation, Physicality, Full frequency
Themes: Urbanism, Futurism, ‘Soul in the machine’, Urban Decay, Robotics, Metropolis (2000)
Attitudes: Techno-progressive.

27. Jeff Mills / Waveform Transmission 1993
The Extremist
Solid Sleep
Life Cycle
Workers
Wrath Of The Punisher
DNA
Condor To Mallorca
Basic Human Design http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxItpoQhHEo
The Bells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KevUFO2moZI
The Bells Orchestral (1:10, 2005): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpOak4iAJY
DVS-1 Behind Lines (a): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl73jstIGmk

28. Björk
Reykjavík, Iceland, 1977 to Present

29. Björk / Electronica circa 1999
Scitech: First Blackberry, HTTP 1.1, Windows 98 SE, Power Macintosh G4, Napster
Zeitgeist: Kosovo Peace Treaty, Helen Clark NZ PM, WTO Protests, Loss of Mars Polar Lander, Matrix (film)
Others: Orbital, Underworld, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Leftfield, The Orb
Tools: Sampling Audio Workstations, DAWs (eg Protools), Software plugins
Themes: Grunge, Texture, Urban and global culture, Grassroots, Community, Networks
Attitudes: Technology as complementary, subtle, organic; hybridised
All Is Full Of Love (1998) (a?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0cS1FaKPWY

30. Ryoji Ikeda
Gifu, Japan, 1995 to Present

31. Ryoji Ikeda / Minimal circa 2005
Scitech: Youtube Launched, IBM Blue Brain Project, Successful Completion of DARPA Grand Challenge
Zeitgeist: GW Bush wins second term, Kyoto Protocol takes effect, Angela Merkel assumes office, Kūru Japan
Others: Alva Noto, Shinjuku Thief, Black Lung, Monolake, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Tools: Max MSP, Open Frameworks, Custom Software
Themes: Data, Mathematics, Transmission, Computation, Pattern, Abstraction
Attitudes: Technological Abstraction and Immersion
The Transfinite (2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omDK2Cm2mwo&list=RDcnai_KrK4Ko

32. Ryoji Ikeda / Dataplex 2005
data.index
data.simplex
data.duplex
data.triplex
data.multiplex
data.complex
data.hypercomplex
data.googolplex
data.microhelix
data.superhelix
data.minimax
data.syntax
data.telex
data.flex
data.reflex
data.convex
data.vertex
data.vortex
data.matrix
data.adaplex
The Transfinite (2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omDK2Cm2mwo&list=RDcnai_KrK4Ko

33. Emmy, Emily Howell, David Cope?
Santa Cruz, USA, 1980s to Present

34. David Cope / Generative circa 2012
Scitech: Higgs-Boson evidence, Nevada allows autonomous vehicles, Sirtuins linked to longevity, Google Glass, Telomerase gene
therapy extends lifespans in mice, iPv6 launch, Implantation of bionic eye, Mars Curiosity rover
Zeitgeist: Alan Turing Year, Cameron reaches Challenger Deep, Arab Spring, London Olympics, Greek debt crisis
Others (Algorthmic): CSIRAC (1951), Hiller Isaacson (1957), Mathews / MUSIC 1 (1963), Kurzweil (1963), Ezaki (1970), Melomics
(Spain, 2012)
Others (Improvising): Various - work underway in France, USA, UK, Netherlands, Israel, Australia
Tools: Sampling and Algorithmic Analysis (EMI, EH), Machine Learning (Annie, 2012 onward) Others: Max MSP, Pure Data, fractal
geometry algorithms. Improvisational: Continuator (Markov Models), Omax, factor oracle algorithm
Themes: Various, Formalist
Attitudes: Exploratory, technical, positive, visionary.

35. EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence) /
Computer Composed Music 1997
In 1997, with much of the classical music world paying attention, Emmy went head-to-head against
two formidable opponents at the University of Oregon. Steve Larson, a professor of music theory at
the school, helped put the event together. He also was one of the combatants. An audience of a few
hundred people listened while three piano pieces, all meant to sound like Bach, were played, one
composed by Emmy, one by Larson, and one by Bach himself. The audience then voted on the
identity of each composition. Larson’s pride took a ding when his piece was fingered as that
belonging to the computer. When the crowd decided that Emmy’s piece was the true product of the
late musician, Larson winced.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2suk4Jq9kM
Automate This: How Algorithms Took Over Our Markets, Our Jobs, and the World by Christopher
Steiner (2012)

36. EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence) /
Computer Composed Music 1997
Daniel Dennett, a philosopher and cognitive scientist at Tufts University, appreciated the marvel of
Emmy, but still didn’t think a machine could compete. “As wonderful as Cope’s work is, there is
something thin about it,” he said.16 A composer built from software has no sense of the real world
and therefore no idea how to express true feelings through music, Dennett reasoned. (ibid)
The compositions that result can then also be fed back into it, over and over, along with whatever
other music comes along in MIDI format,* and the result is EMI’s own “personal” musical style… EMI
can now compose not just two-part inventions and art songs but whole symphonies—and has
composed over a thousand, when last I heard. They are good enough to fool experts (composers
and professors of music), and I can personally attest to the fact that an EMI-Puccini aria brought a
lump to my throat. (Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, Daniel C Dennett, 2013)

37. Emily Howell / From Darkness, Light 2010
From Darkness, Light (20:57)
1
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – I Prelude
2:34
2
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – II Fugue 3:13
3
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – III Prelude 4:06
4
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – IV Fugue
6:02
5
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – V Prelude
3:16
6
Erika Arul & Mary Jane Cope – VI Fugue
1:43
7
Emily Howell, Ensemble Paralléle* – Land Of Stone
Shadow Worlds (20:01)
8
Emily Howell –
9
Emily Howell –
10 Emily Howell –
11 Emily Howell –
17:14
I
6:23
II 5:39
III 5:02
IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnBUxG-wSVg
Iamus - Nasciturus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq3iKbCNDCM

38. 2013
Algorithms, Machine Learning, Cheap Computation, Live Coding,
Sound Art, Multi-Sensory Music, Vocal Tuning, Electro-Acoustic

39. Currents
Technology, music, culture, humanity: movement through
experimentation, utopianism, dystopianism, assimilation,
subsumption, abstraction, critical reflection, pluralism, selfrepresentation, recursion, feedback

40. Also…
Metal - Gary Numan
The Becoming - NIN
A Machine Spiritual (In The People's Key) - Bright Eyes
A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun - Manic Street
Preachers
Radiohead - Kid A
Nothing But Flowers - Talking Heads
The Future Will Be Silent - OMD
Total Life Forever - Foals
Where The Birds Always Sing - The Cure
Virus - Deltron 3030
Blame The Machines - Duran Duran
Transmission - Joy Division

41. Future
Narrow AI, General AI, BCIs, TMS, Smart Drugs, Bionics,
Neurohacks

42. Noise
I believe that the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the aid of electrical instruments which
will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard.
—John Cage The Future of Music: Credo (1937)
Darrin Verhagen, Richard Grant 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_jdGiBnHeU