Synthpop

From ArticleWorld

Synthpop is a type of popular music that introduced the synthesizer as the main musical instrument. The period of its popularity peak is believed to be between 1970 and 1980 because this was when the synthesizer became affordable and popular among composers. The unique features of the instrument were taken in and transformed in lead by several artists like Gary Numan, Devo or Ultravox.

History

Synthesizers have been used before the peak period, mainly by The Beatles. The problem was obvious with the instrument as it was very expensive and very complex. It was difficult to learn to use it and it only reached its high popularity around 1975 thanks to the German band Kraftwerk. As time passed Abba took it in and producers started to use them in disco music. New wave music appeared and synthpop became a subgenre of it. 1980 is considered to be the peak in Synthpop popularity because this is when the synthesizer became to be used in most musical genres. Bands like Dead or Alive, Bananarama and Rick Astley have presented songs that were fully synthesized and this was considered to be a breakthrough in technology. In the United States of America the genre become underground because of lack of popularity but lead to a new generation of DJs. Synthesizers became popular in discothèques although in the beginning they were considered “outlawed” by musical specialists.

Characteristics

Synthpop was very popular but the machines themselves were not used as they are today. There was not a tendency to imitate actual instruments but a drive to create new ones and provide songs with a mechanical drum feeling. The gothic and industrial genres took them in and are still using them. This is based on the machine’s characteristic of being able to create dark sounds that were not possible to produce until that time.