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The Mid-Week Beat: The San Francisco Electronic Music Festival

244214-250When electronic music first emerged in the 1940s and 50s it was generally considered “art” music and was pioneered by forward-thinking composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Its reputation began to change in the 1960s  when popular musicans like The Beach Boys and The Beatles began to employ electronic instruments like the theremin and the Mellotron into their music. The prevalence of the Moog synthesizer in 1970s prog rock and the synth-heavy “krautrock” sound of bands like Kraftwerk began to further electronic music’s popularity, leading to what would be known as “synth rock.” New Wave and dance music of the 1980s furthered its popularity, eventually leading to the throbbing beats of techno music and the rave scene of the 1990s. Today, you can find electronic elements in pretty much every form of music from movie soundtracks to pop music and electronic instruments are as common as the guitar or piano.

While electronic music and instruments have risen in popularity, there is still a hardcore community of electronic musicians that are determined to push the boundaries of what electronic music is capable of. These artists and musicians owe more to the work of Cage and Stockhausen than to Depeche Mode. These are serious composers and technological wizards that challenge traditional concepts of musical composition and who employ cutting edge technology as an ever-evolving tool to realize their individual artistic vision. This community that will be celebrated at this weekend’s San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, which celebrates its 14th year this year.
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What Was the First Thing You Bought Tickets For?

What was the first thing you ever bought tickets for? We posed this question to attendees at the open house for our new offices last Thursday and got some great responses. Here’s an easier to read, summary of what people wrote:


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