Music, Makers & Machines — Google Arts & Culture

A brief history of electronic music

In collaboration with

GROOVE Magazin Berlin

Bob Moog Foundation / Moogseum

Western Broadcasting Corporation (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Swiss Museum & Center for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM)

and 56 more partners from 15 countries

What kind of music fan are you?

Pick your electronic music adventure

Tech Nerd

Learn about the machines and studios

Just Here For The Music

Explore the songs and the artists

At The Club

Dive in to the nightlife and culture

A Total Novice

Your beginner's guide to electronic music

A Sample of Electronic Music History

From the first electronic tones, through early synth pioneers, to cutting-edge pop music

Play a Synth From Home in AR

Turn your home into an electronic music studio with 3D and augmented reality!

In 1895, the first synthesizer was invented

The Colossal History of a Magnificent Invention

Weighing 200 tonnes, 60 feet long, and consisting of 144 alternators, 672 keys, and 336 sliders

An Explosion of Technological Progress

Tracing the unlikely origins of electronic music

Music was electrified

The Pioneers of Dance Music

The movers and shakers of Dance music from Lee Scratch Perry to Juan Atkins

10 of the Most Memorable Electronic Music Tracks

Uncover the instruments and techniques behind some of the songs

Blacktronika

Exploring innovators of color in electronic music – curated by King Britt

... and pinged on our screens

A History of Video Game Music

From computer-generated blips and boops to fully orchestrated scores

From the Golden Era to Gigabytes

Dive into the history of film scoring

It thumped in the clubs...

Berghain: Club of Clubs

The world's most famous club – but why?

House Music

A genre becomes a movement

Reliving Nineties Berlin

Open spaces, illegal raves and a thriving sub culture in a newly united Germany

Factory Records

Learn about Manchester's electronic music scene

Loading 3D model

The Tresor door in 3D

One of the most iconic objects in Techno history

Check out the instruments that changed everything in 3D

Akai MPC-60

Roland TR-808

ARP Odyssey

Roland TR-909

Roland CR-78

Ensoniq EPS

Korg PS-3100

Rhythm ACE FR-1

Akai S900

Roland Jupiter-8

Casio VL-1

Korg MS-20

Oberheim OB-8

Fairlight CMI

Yamaha CS 80

Sequential Circuits Prophet 10

Roland SH-101

E-mu Emulator-II

Millioniser 2000

Roland Jupiter-6

Elka Synthex

Moog Memorymoog

Go inside the legendary studios...

Paris: INA GRM

The analogue era

Cologne: The CAN Studio

Krautrock origins at the rock'n'popmuseum

Paris: The Studio Pierre Henry

Explore it in 360°

Milan: The RAI Studio

Italy's journey to electronic music

Berlin: The Studio for Electroacoustic Music

A public platform for artistic innovation

Munich: Siemens Studio

A lab for the musical avant-garde

Cologne: The WDR Studio for Electronic Music

Entirely new sounds

... and meet the musical innovators

Ahead of The Curve

Early pioneers from Daphne Oram to Wendy Carlos

Alan R. Pearlman

The engineer who founded one of the early leading American synthesizer manufacturers

Raymond Scott

The composer who invented the polyphonic sequencer

Pierre Schaeffer

A French composer who put the new sounds together

Daphne Oram

A major music pioneer who could 'paint music'

Explore new sound and new instruments

7 Early Electronic Instruments That Changed Sound

From the successful to the one-of-a-kind

The Instrumental Instruments

Key creations from Leon Theremin to Bob Moog

Keep exploring

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3D Scans

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