What did people use to make electronic music with in 1990?

[Saga Musix]

So from what I understand, doing music back then was pretty much the same kind of sweet pain (...)

I don't know what kind of reality you're living in, but you know, there were times when people actually played instruments. by hand.

[uncloned]

some of us still do :-)

[Sam_Zen]

It's 'equivalent', LP.

rncekel is right. Things could be played with non-electronic instruments, but making an electronic composition nonetheless.

the electronification is made with just some tapes, altering the velocity (real velocity, not volume) as a function of the pitch.

When I was, 1971, student for a year at the Institute for Sonology, Utrecht, the technicians there constructed a tape-machine that could do such things, time-shifting, called the Tempophone.

Edgar Varese predates (the Poeme Electronique) Eno, and some French composers, like Pierre Henry, did  Musique Concrete already.

In fact, talking about the start of things, these works predate anything made with piano-look-a-like keyboards.
Before any single composer like me, could get his hand on a modular synthesizer, electronic music was made for years already in some dedicated studios, set up by universities. Like in Paris, Cologne, Utrecht, Eindhoven and others.

Huge studios, with big, heavy 19 inch equipment, industrial oscillators, scientific filters, hardware patchboards, etc.
And tape-recorders of course (The first samplers in fact. Slicing sound in pieces, making duplicates, stretching in time or pitch).

So one could say : the pre-portable era..
Concerts of these academic studios were, apart from the content, quite boring, having to watch a running taperecorder.

edit: Typically, imo the compositions of the local technician, Jaap Vink, were far better than works from some Utrecht professors.

[g]

the quality level of modern synthesizers is noticeably lower thanks to their orientation on non-professionals and large sales

You mean "build quality" and not "sound quality", right?

[g]

some of us still do :-)

:shock:

[uncloned]

It's 'equivalent', LP.

rncekel is right. Things could be played with non-electronic instruments, but making an electronic composition nonetheless.

the electronification is made with just some tapes, altering the

So one could say : the pre-portable era..
Concerts of these academic studios were, apart from the content, quite boring, having to watch a running taperecorder.

edit: Typically, imo the compositions of the local technician, Jaap Vink, were far better than works from some Utrecht professors.

That term is very fitting - pre-portable.

And - academics in the 20th century seemed to focus on... an alien feel quite often - perhaps unique but often lacking a soul. When expressively written it can be very, very good. But for instance I bought album after album of George Crumb's composition on Nonesuch records based on the description and was disappointed nearly every time. His concept was good - extreme minimalism and instrument exploration - but it most devoid of any expression I could divine.

But... on the other hand a Stravinsky piano etude, a simple set of intervals - evoked massive associations.

[Sam_Zen]

Yep, Nonesuch records had quite some examples. Listening, you think : ok, clever, but then what ?

You mention it, lacking of soul. Part of my restrictioned feelings about those early electronic compositions :
Soul also means rhythm in my way. Almost never any nice percussion structures in those pieces.

As the Duke said : It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing..

[Louigi Verona]

Thanks for all the input, although I am not satisfied. I think nobody really knows the answer.

I listened to Casio tracks, but they do not sound like the dance music I am talking about, with beautiful sounds, tight arrangements and very detailed sequencing. (Perhaps, those synths are capable of delivering that, but the tunes did not show that)

The amount of detail is what bothers me. If you listen to Scooter 1st album, you can hear lots of detailed stuff. In order to do that today, you would need a sequencer and edit every aspect of sound to get the same effect. They did it in 1994 without computers.

Also, I listened hard for any inconsistencies in synchronizations but found none - everything is perfectly in place.

[Sam_Zen]

Sorry Louigi,
I noticed that I was going out of line. I thought this was about how it all started, but now I saw that you asked about 1990..

[g]

They did it in 1994 without computers.

I'm pretty sure they did it with computers. Midi and sequencers have been around for a long time. The first version of Cubase (for Atari ST) was released in 1989, one of the most used synths ever, Roland JV-1080, was released in 1994. The biggest differences between now and then are probably hard disk based editing and software synths/effects.

[LPChip]

If you're wondering about songs like those from 2-unlimited, etc... They were actually tracked, as far as I know. I even read somewhere that Eminem also used a tracker in earlier songs.

[g]

If you're wondering about songs like those from 2-unlimited, etc... They were actually tracked, as far as I know.

As far as you know or as far as you think you may have heard someone say they might have have been using a tracker at some point in time?

[Louigi Verona]

Yeah, I am wondering about those kinda stuff. But I want a bit more than just guessing. I can guess very easily. I am trying to understand with as much precision as possible.
The tracker theory for Eminem I can believe, for 2Unlimited? No way! I have never to this day heard a tracker get a sound so high quality as 2Unlimited arrangements, with all the filters and compressors.

[g]

Yeah, I am wondering about those kinda stuff. But I want a bit more than just guessing.

I think that for a better guess than unspecified early 90's sequencer on an unspecified early 90's computer combined with some unspecified early 90's synths/samplers, you need to ask Scooter or 2 unlimited directly

On a related note, I found a site that deals with famous sounds: Famous Sounds @ Synthmania.com. You can find examples of synths, beats or effects, not just from the 90's. If you go to the main site there is a lot of information about and demos of synthesizers. Perhaps you'll find something useful there.

[Louigi Verona]

Thanks, g! That seems useful, I'll research the site!