electronic musical instrument
Let an agent explain electronic musical instruments, relay history, synthesis methods and notable instruments from music technology sources, describe the instruments and practices the registry aliases name, and distinguish electronic instruments from electric instruments with pickups, from software alone and from recorded music.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain electronic musical instruments, relay history, synthesis methods and notable instruments from music technology sources, describe the instruments and practices the registry aliases name, and distinguish electronic instruments from electric instruments with pickups, from software alone and from recorded music.
A musical instrument that produces or processes sound electronically, including synthesisers, electronic organs, string ensemble keyboards, audio samplers that play back recordings, early instruments such as the Croix Sonore, a Russian-French theremin-like instrument, and digital interfaces such as the Yamaha Tenori-on; the registry aliases also name practices such as live electronics and pre-recorded audio, which are ways of using electronic sound rather than instruments.
What it is for: Making music with electronic sound.
It can be explain the category; relay history and synthesis; describe named instruments and practices; distinguish related categories.
Distinguishing features
Electronic sound
Synthesis or sampling
Varied controllers
Electrophone class
What it looks like
Keyboards, modules, pads, grids and unusual controllers.
Physical character
theremin: 1920 year - Leon Theremin
Moog synthesizer: 1964 year
MIDI standard: 1983 year
Tenori-on: 2007 year - Yamaha and Toshio Iwai
How it is recognised
Instrument generating or processing sound electronically
String ensemble keyboard, audio sampler, Croix Sonore, Tenori-on; live electronics and pre-recorded audio as practices
Electric guitars amplify acoustic vibration; software instruments run on computers; recorded music is playback
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is a kind of - in registry terms
is exemplified by -
communicates via -
In practice
Families and kinds
synthesisers
samplers
electronic organs and string ensemble keyboards
early electronic instruments such as the theremin and Croix Sonore
drum machines
grid controllers such as the Tenori-on
live electronics as a practice
Standards and regulation
MIDI specifications
Electrical safety standards
Failure modes and hazards
Confusing electronic and electric instruments
Registry aliases naming practices as instruments
Hearing damage at high volume
Also called
+21
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Understand What an electronic musical instrument is.
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
- What is an electronic musical instrument, and how does it differ from electric instruments, software and recorded music? definition
- Is the question about a category, a specific instrument, synthesis or performance practice? boundary
Named
Named instruments and practices.
Named
Named.
- What are string ensemble keyboards, samplers, the Croix Sonore and the Tenori-on, and what are live electronics and pre-recorded audio? definition
- Which entry fits the specific item? action
Technology Technology.
Science.
Synthesis
Synthesis methods.
Synthesis
Synthesis.
- How do subtractive, FM, wavetable and sample-based synthesis work? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Interfaces
Controllers and MIDI.
Interfaces
Interfaces.
- How do controllers and MIDI connect electronic instruments? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
History History.
Sources.
Early
Early instruments.
Early
Early.
- How did the telharmonium, theremin, ondes Martenot and Croix Sonore develop? provenance
- Which entry fits the history of electronic music? action
Modern
Modern instruments.
Modern
Modern.
- How did synthesisers, samplers and digital instruments transform music? provenance
- Which entry fits synthesizer? action
Context Performance.
Context.
Live
Live electronics.
Live
Live.
- What is live electronics in contemporary music? provenance
- Which entry fits live electronic music? action
Classification
Classification.
Classification
Classification.
- How are electrophones classified in the Hornbostel-Sachs system? provenance
- Which entry fits Hornbostel-Sachs? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should Croix Sonore and Tenori-on be separate primary entries?
- How should music technology sources be linked?
- The registry aliases live electronics and pre-recorded audio name practices rather than instruments; should they be split off?