The Most Important Tech Advances in Dance Music History

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: DJs and dance music producers are a bunch of nerds. That's not a bad thing, because what they end up doing with the different pieces of software and hardware has helped birth a worldwide scene. As with other contemporary genres, the advancements in the tech fields have done a lot to help dance music grow. Just consider the way information spreads virally via the Internet or how new pieces of equipment open the doors for artists to express fresh sonic ideas.

Today, we take a lot for granted. For one, we're in such a fast-paced world that new tech seems to emerge every pay cycle. But, there is a plethora of older equipment and software packages that dance music producers need to succeed. Want to understand the tools employed to create your favorite tracks? Take look at the most important technological advances in dance music history.

As Giorgio Moroder eloquently says on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, "why don't I use the synthesizer which is the sound of the future?" To put it plainly and most obviously, EDM would not exist without the synthesizer. It's feasible to say it could have without anything else on this list, but not the synthesizer.

Early synthesizers date back to the late 1890s, but it wasn't until 1965 when Robert Moog created his Moog synthesizer that the idea of a portable, self-contained instrument was introduced. The influence of the Moog spread throughout multiple genres, from classical to rock, with dance music producers being heavily influenced by the experimentations with the Moog that Moroder came up with. Everyone from Daft Punk to Four Tet have drawn some inspiration from the Moog, and the use of the synthesizer is widespread throughout the entirety of dance music.

In its simplest terms, the drum machine is just that: a machine that imitates the sounds of a drum. And while we could get into the history of the importance of a drum machine, we really just need to mention Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 models. These machines formed the backbone of electro, house, and techno, with the 909 specifically being seen as a vital instrument for the Detroit techno scene. The 808 is so important that it's part of the backbone of today's trap resurgence in the EDM scene, with the meaty bass of the 808 resonating with producers from all parts of the world.

It cost Daft Punk over a million dollars just to hire the musicians they needed for Random Access Memories. While we imagine they could have gotten great players at a smaller rate, it's an interesting tidbit to understanding how important the sampler has been on music production. You don't need to call on your friends to attempt to replay an amazing bassline on a record; you can just use your sampler, record the piece of music, and use it however you see fit. While the legality of sample-based producing can get some artists into trouble, you can't deny the power and freedom of creating full tracks based on samples. Some of our favorite artists, from Goldie and Daft Punk, have sampled music in some way, shape, or form, taking a piece of music and reinterpretating it.

MIDI (or Musical Instrument Digital Interface), along with the dawn of the personal computer, is seen as being one of the driving forces in reviving the music industry in the 1980s. Being able to have devices connect and communicate with each other, to the point where you can control one piece of hardware with a keyboard or other device, helped move mountains in the possibilities of what you could do with music. MIDI helps those who might not have proper backgrounds in writing music to get ahead, as well as allow a small number of artists to perform tracks that might require many more musicians if the instruments were being played live. Studio costs go down, which is important for bedroom producers who might have a vision or a gift but not the means to create on their own.

Would dance music have grown to where it is now without the Internet? We know that drum & Bass would'nt have spread without message boards and AIM helping connect non-UK producers to British DJs and labelheads who helped open the floodgates on the scene. Even if you go back to the 1990s and how rave promoters had to utilize the web to spread the message of parties, or just connect people who shared a common interest, the rise of the Internet has given way to the playing field being extended for dance music. These days, you can run an entire label from your bedroom, using a blog, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Twitter. The power of e-mail and services like Dropbox have allowed producers to collaborate on tracks without needing to be in the same room, and services like SoundCloud let anyone post their ideas and receive almost instant feedback... or blog love. Now more than ever, the Internet is a vital marketing tool for a connected world.

The backbone of this scene starts out with the DJ, and the tools the DJ used were two turntables and a mixer. Whether it's a hip-hop DJ extending a breakbeat for people to dance to or the DJs in Chicago's Warehouse, creating new genres of music based on certain styles of music, the turntables and mixer have been the most vital tools in getting music heard, keeping parties rocking, and exploring different areas of sound. If there were no turntables or mixers, there'd be no DJ (at least in the sense that we know). There could possibly be parties, but who wants to sit around while the selector waits for a new CD to load, or hear the dead air? We want constant beats banging, and the art of DJing is where it's at.

Digital Audio Workstations (or DAWs) have been around since before the rise of producing music solely on computers, giving people a place where they can produce, edit, and listen back to their works in progress all in one spot. With the rise of software suites, DAWs are vital to producers who also regularly tour. Have an idea that you want to play with on the fly? Fire up your laptop and work on some sounds. It's gotten to the point that the ease-of-use of these DAWs have made them one of the most important tools in making music today, with everyone from bedroom producers to multi-million dollar studios basing their entire setup on which DAW they use, and the sharing of Pro Tools files over the 'Net to collaborate is a common practice in dance music and other genres.

As illegal as it may be, peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing has helped create scores of new fans. You cannot deny that legendary "scene" groups like #sour helped spread drum & bass worldwide, given that the scene at the time was such a UK-based fraternity. We definitely understand how the sharing of MP3s cuts into the monies that are made by artists, but we also understand that the idea of making money selling music can also be a dead end. If you're looking to raise your status as a producer, it helps to give enough quality music away and let your torchbearers spread the word virally.

The radio landscape in 2013 is vastly different than it was 10 or 20 years ago; you have all-EDM stations popping up across America, as well as a number of dedicated dance music channels on satellite radio, not to mention the various streams of radio stations across the globe on the 'Net. But look at Rinse FM; it was one of the more popular channels operating on an illegal pirate radio signal, but it had a purpose: Rinse brought the music that the youth wanted to hear without the bullshit politics. It went from operating in the dark to going to an Internet-only signal. The best part? After a three-year crusade to obtain a legal FM license, the London-based station received one, making it the little pirate that did.

If it wasn't for pirate radio stations in the UK, much of the underground might not have caught on as properly. The heart of sounds like drum & bass, dubstep, and grime thrived on these illegal signals, where there were no advertisements to be played or no corporations to satisfy; you just played the best of the beats until they knocked the door down. Long live the pirate mentality.