The Fingerprints of Synth Pop as a Genre Essays

The Fingerprints of Synth Pop as a Genre Essays The Fingerprints of Synth Pop as a Genre Essay The Fingerprints of Synth Pop as a Genre Essay The Fingerprints of Synth Pop as a Genre Synth Pop is a genre that uses synthesizers to recreate the sounds of real audio instruments without actually having the instrument there; or in some cases do not even try to sound natural but as computerized as possible. Synthesizers were first used in the 1960s by rock bands and in the late 1970s by punk bands. Also in the late 1970s going into the early 1980s, synth only bands began to come out and created a whole new style, genre and generation of music. In the 1960s when synthesizers first began to be used, they were used to recreate audio instruments and were not used as a new style of music in its entirety but instead as an addition to what music was already around at the time. At this time it was used by bands such as The Doors and The Beatles, who used a synthesizer in their song that reached the top of the charts Strawberry Fields Forever. At this time synthesizers were very new, very large and very expensive; this meant that it was rarely used because of its price and was very hard to transport because of its size. This showed the 60s as not being a time that was ready for synthesizers to dominate the music scene. Synth Pop is a genre that is securely defined, with its electronic sounds produced by synthesizers it gives off a recognizable sound. Originally made to replace instruments, but later turned into its own unique timbres that showed no natural elements at all. Music from a synthesizer gets its input from a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) keyboard. Synth Pop when first developed as an individual genre sampled simplistic melodies that gave synth its catchy sound, but it still contained the typical song structure that was seen at the time with: Intro, Verse, Chorus, Re-Intro, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental, Chorus. Synth tracks tend to be primarily in diatonic keys, which is use of major and minor chords. They usually have four beats per bar in the songs and are typically upbeat with tempos ranging from 117 and 135 bpm (beats per minute). The synth timbres are sculpted using subtractive and additive synthesis involving complex combinations sine, saw, triangle and square waves, with the additional specific alteration of sound envelopes (ADSR). Some typical features in synth songs are drum machines, arpeggiated synth lines, use of auto-tune/vocoder, handclaps for snares. synth bass lines, syncopated kick drums, use of reverb, songs maintaing the same velocity levels throughout and songs that were lyrically centered around love, but did occasionally have darker meanings to them. The genre came about at a time of great modernization, especially in Britain. As old victorian infrastructures were knocked down and replaced with new modern buildings and cities were developed, music was also modernizing itself, the synth pop era came about. Although it did not come out of no where, synth pop was inspired by the earlier generation of music, punk. The soon to become synthesist musicians looked at the punk rock genre and appreciated the rebellious attitude that it carried with it, but however, saw the actual punk music as being old fashioned and with the increasing popularity and availability of synthesizers, decided to create a new genre of music changing all of music current conventions. The sound of the synthesizer was now seen as the sound of the future, it was something different that people had never heard before, purely electronically generated music, and this sense of unfamiliarity that people had with the music is what made it attract to its audience. Music was now going from classic rock with guitar solos, to performances with nothing more than synthesizers and drum machines up on stage with no natural instruments in site. So as a genre synth pop started in the 70s and blossomed in the 80s. The first electronic sounds heard came from the Clockwork Orange Soundtrack, this soundtrack instigated a whole new generation of synthesists. The German band Kraftwerk was one of the first groups to popularize synth music, especially in the UK. The kick-started a whole new style and were the people who broke away from the 80s style of long hair and flared trousers. They came over to England performing in suits and with short hair, which was of course looked on skeptically, but was also seen as a breath of fresh air, breaking away from the current punk rock conformities that pretty much ruled the nation. A more nerdy form of rebellion that proved to inspire much music after its time and have lasting affect across all types of genres. Other artists as well as Kraftwerk that had major influences on the genre and music in general at this time were musicians such as: Giorgio Moroder, who teamed up with Donna Summer to release single I feel love in 1977, this was primarily a disco song but again kick-started the electronic sound that people became so fond of; The Human League from Sheffield who debuted with single Being Boiled in 1978 and also Gary Numan, who actually inspired Kraftwerk. Artists such as: Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Aha and Goldfrapp also followed in the 1980s. In the 1980s Synth Pop took over the music scene, but was seen to die out in the nineties and going into the 21st century, although not dying out completely. Although the genre decreasing in popularity in later years, it didnt effect the influence that the genre had carried with it in its time. It had added aspects to music that now affect the majority if not all types of music and has shaped other genres to form. As time went on from the 60s, 70s and 80s synthesizers became much cheaper, smaller and more widely used; eventually resulting with the extinguishing of the need for a synthesizer all together. Nowadays all you need is the right software and a MIDI keyboard and you can still program in any sounds that you like, with software such as: Cubase, Logic, Ableton and Reason. Since the genres decreasing in popularity it has largely affected other genres that came after synth pop, such as: RB, Hip Hop, Dance and modern day pop; all of these genres use aspects of synth sounds in their music. Synth music is still around, but in most cases has taken a different direction to what it was back in the 1980s with artists such as: Owl City, Ambient Blue, Imogen Heap, Frou Frou and La Roux. These artists still carry the majority of the traits left by 80s synth pop but have made themselves relevant to todays audience; synth pop has had a profound effect on the music we listen to today and it always will do as music progresses over time.