Issue 8 - North Canton City Schools - sparcc

KRT/USED WITH PERMISSIONelectronica:music by machinesMike Howes Staff WriterIf you ask the average high school student what their favoritetype of music is, the usual an-swers include “Rap,” “Rock”and “Pop.” But it is not very often that you hear the answers“Trance,” “Techno,” “House” or “Industrial.”For some students, this Electronica music is the music of choice.Electronica is a term used to describe any music produced withelectronic instruments and synthesizers.“Since there’s rarely words, the music is almost like a story thatyou can make mean whatever you want,” junior Eric Hockmansaid. “Plus, since the songs are usually pretty long, you can just getlost in it, forget where you are.”Electronica is broken down into seemingly endless genres andsubgenres. According to ethnotechno.com, Trance has a “hypnoticflowing effect,” House usually consists of a beat and bassline foundationwith electronically generated sounds and samples of musicand Techno is a type of high-energy dance music.Junior Josh Gory believes that another type of Electronica,Industrial music, is unpopular because of the nature of the music.“It’s pretty hardcore,” he said. “Also, Industrial is usually independent.It’s really experimental, and they try a lot of new things.”Sophomore Kevin Cook believes Electronica music in generalis also underground.“I don’t think it’s popular music because most people don’t listento it,” he said. “I find that when people listen to it, they usuallylike it.”Sophomore Brittany Viscounte agrees that Electronica is unpopular.“It’s not very popular because a lot of people think it’s lame,”she said. “How often have you heard someone talking about some-32u the viking views u 03.04.05one of this genre at the lunch table?”According to Hockman, although it is not popular in the UnitedStates, Electronica is popular in Europe.“In the U.S. it is very underground,” he said. “Personally, I don’tknow anyone else who listens to it.”There are usually few words in Electronica songs, a feature thatCook likes.“A lot of times for me the song is ruined by the lyrics, and withoutthem, the music is really good,” he said.Due to the lack of commercialization of Electronica, many peoplediscover the music through word of mouth.“My friend talked about it often,” Viscounte said. “When wewould do things at each other’s houses, that’s the kind of music shewould play. I got hooked.”Viscounte also finds out about different artists through word ofmouth.“I learn about different artists from my friends or if it’s recommendedto me by someone,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to findgood Trance in the stores.”Since Electronica is usually hard to come by, listeners may turnto Internet radio.“I listen to a lot of Internet radio, and I buy imported CDs,”Hockman said.Gory likes that Electronica can be made easily by use of synthesizersor computer programs.“One thing that I like is that almost anyone can make it,” Gorysaid.In Hockman’s opinion, Electronica is better than most otherpopular types of music.“Everyone always made fun of Techno, so I wanted to find outwhat it was like,” he said. “I found out that I just liked it better thanwhat was on the radio.” nV