Do you LOVE music?
Of course you do. Everyone loves music. But maybe you don’t KNOW much about music. We all listen to it, but that doesn’t mean we all study it. If you want to learn more about the history and culture surrounding the electronic genre, these films and documentaries are a good place to start.
First you should watch something general: How Clubbing Changed the World (the title says all you need to know).
Now that you’re intrigued let’s move onto something (much) more specific: this 20 minute video narrates the history of the “Amen Break,” a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hip-hop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music–a six-second clip that spawned entire subcultures.
Do you know who Robert Moog is? No? No biggie. Check out this biographical documentary to learn more about the inventor of the synthesizer.
You’ll also see the music mastermind interviewed in Modulations, a documentary about the history of electronic music, from early synthesizers to EDM.
When I Sold My Soul to the Machine offers a look at electronic music culture in the 90s, specifically in the Netherlands (a critical period in development of the genre). Also check out this rare 1996 Drum & Bass documentary by the Dutch TV program Lola Da Musica. Still want more? Super. Travel a bit north of these Dutch-inspired films to Ireland and watch this film about Drum & Bass subculture in Dublin.
Techno time! High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music traces Detroit techno from its beginnings through its evolution to High Tech Soul.
Now that you’re caught up with the history, sign up for one of our classes in DJing and Audio Production, because if you are so passionate about electronic music that you watched all those documentaries, The MMMMAVEN Project is definitely the place for you.
