Spacesynth
Information about Spacesynth
The article here is about a music style. "Spacesynth" is also the name of a software synthesizer which was developed by MHC Synthesizers and Effects
Spacesynth, also known as synthdance and spacedance, is a modern U.S.A. term to describe various 1980s music styles of European electronic dance music, that emerge from a 70s Eurodisco music style, called Space Disco. Most tracks are completely instrumental and are focused on upbeat futuristic, science fiction and epic battle scene style themes with driving basslines and catchy synthesizer riffs. The genre began in the late 1970s as Space Disco and lasted until the early 1990s. The French electronic rock band Rockets pioneered the genre, releasing some disco hits from 1978 to 1981. Since the genre's decline it has gone underground, with new albums being published by a number of European independent record labels.
Meantime, in Europe, a new music style called Italo disco (a.k.a. 80s eurodisco) became to dominate the disco dancefoors. Many of the artists were Italians and centered around the Italian label Memory Records, but many other Europeans followed. Inside this paneuropean music scene, an Italo-Disco influenced "space disco"-like music emerged. The first notable hits was Magnetic Fields 2 and Pulstar. This new Italo Disco / Space Disco crossover, continued with Cyber People releasing successful singles "Polaris" and "Void Vision" for the Memory Records. Koto developed his own Italo-inspired synth music style and the single "Visitors" was a big hit in 1985.
This new music style, needed a new term so to be exported to the non European markets (like U.K. and U.S.A.). Because the word "disco" didn't sell in USA during the 80s and at the same time sounded outdated on the UK, other already established terms used, like Synthpop and electropop. But this crossover never belonged on those music styles, so during the 90s, the "Spacesynth" term used by American fans, in retroprospective.
Back in the history of this crossover, Erik van Vliet from The Netherlands established Laserdance in the mid 80s, and together with Michiel van der Kuy, Laserdance became the most successful spacesynth group ever. Their debut album "Future Generation" (1987) sold approximately 150 000 copies and the singles "Powerrun" and "Humanoid Invasion" were big hits in Europe. Koto and Laserdance could be considered the most popular spacesynth groups. They set the standards of the genre and since the golden era of spacesynth many producers have tried to replicate that sound.
In the early 1990s spacesynth started to lose its popularity and almost completely vanished during the 1990s when eurodance, house, techno and their subgenres were dominating electronic music charts. Spacesynth was nearly forgotten until it showed some signs of recovering towards the end of the decade. There has recently been a growing interest in spacesynth again as the 1980s melodic sound is becoming popular again. During the last few years Hypersound and Alpha Centauri have released a numerous of spacesynth albums from many new artists. In the 2001 movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?" during the meeting of the Cult of Zoltan, one of the devotees was playing an old 80s' synth in a way similar to Laserdance, thus implying that spacesynth is for 'nerds'.
Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi
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Spacesynth, also known as synthdance and spacedance, is a modern U.S.A. term to describe various 1980s music styles of European electronic dance music, that emerge from a 70s Eurodisco music style, called Space Disco. Most tracks are completely instrumental and are focused on upbeat futuristic, science fiction and epic battle scene style themes with driving basslines and catchy synthesizer riffs. The genre began in the late 1970s as Space Disco and lasted until the early 1990s. The French electronic rock band Rockets pioneered the genre, releasing some disco hits from 1978 to 1981. Since the genre's decline it has gone underground, with new albums being published by a number of European independent record labels.
History
During the 70s, synthesizers and electronic sounds had become an essential part of popular music and were widely used by such artists as Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, Telex, Yello and Art of Noise. Space Disco hits like Magic Fly, Spacer and Supernature are well known tracks even today. By late 1979, Space disco evolve to other music genres, without a specific name (it was "disco").Meantime, in Europe, a new music style called Italo disco (a.k.a. 80s eurodisco) became to dominate the disco dancefoors. Many of the artists were Italians and centered around the Italian label Memory Records, but many other Europeans followed. Inside this paneuropean music scene, an Italo-Disco influenced "space disco"-like music emerged. The first notable hits was Magnetic Fields 2 and Pulstar. This new Italo Disco / Space Disco crossover, continued with Cyber People releasing successful singles "Polaris" and "Void Vision" for the Memory Records. Koto developed his own Italo-inspired synth music style and the single "Visitors" was a big hit in 1985.
This new music style, needed a new term so to be exported to the non European markets (like U.K. and U.S.A.). Because the word "disco" didn't sell in USA during the 80s and at the same time sounded outdated on the UK, other already established terms used, like Synthpop and electropop. But this crossover never belonged on those music styles, so during the 90s, the "Spacesynth" term used by American fans, in retroprospective.
Back in the history of this crossover, Erik van Vliet from The Netherlands established Laserdance in the mid 80s, and together with Michiel van der Kuy, Laserdance became the most successful spacesynth group ever. Their debut album "Future Generation" (1987) sold approximately 150 000 copies and the singles "Powerrun" and "Humanoid Invasion" were big hits in Europe. Koto and Laserdance could be considered the most popular spacesynth groups. They set the standards of the genre and since the golden era of spacesynth many producers have tried to replicate that sound.
In the early 1990s spacesynth started to lose its popularity and almost completely vanished during the 1990s when eurodance, house, techno and their subgenres were dominating electronic music charts. Spacesynth was nearly forgotten until it showed some signs of recovering towards the end of the decade. There has recently been a growing interest in spacesynth again as the 1980s melodic sound is becoming popular again. During the last few years Hypersound and Alpha Centauri have released a numerous of spacesynth albums from many new artists. In the 2001 movie, "Dude, Where's My Car?" during the meeting of the Cult of Zoltan, one of the devotees was playing an old 80s' synth in a way similar to Laserdance, thus implying that spacesynth is for 'nerds'.
See also
Artists
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External links
Record labels
Sites with music and more info
| Disco |
|---|
| Aqua Disco - Bright disco - Dance-punk - Disco polo - Euro disco - Hi-NRG - House - Italo disco - Strangle disco - Spacesynth |
| Artists - Discothque - Nightclub - Orchestration - Other electronic music genres |
A software synthesizer, also known as a softsynth or virtual instrument is a computer program for digital audio generation. Computer software which can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed are allowing softsynths to accomplish the same
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Electronic dance music (EDM), is a broad set of percussive music genres that largely inherit from 1970s disco music and, to some extent, the experimental pop music of Kraftwerk. Such music was originally borne of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s.
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Euro-Disco (also Eurodisco or Euro-disco, or "80s European dance") is a term that was first used during the 1970s to describe a variety of non UK-based European disco pop music.
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Space Disco was a short lived 70s Eurodisco variation.
It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
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It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
..... Click the link for more information.
worldwide view of the subject.
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Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi
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A bassline (also spelled bass line) is the term used in many styles of popular music, jazz, blues, trance and funk for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass or keyboard (piano, Hammond organ,
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Synthesizer is generally any kind of electronic musical instrument, or electronic device capable of producing or manipulating audio tones, such as musical notes, through audio signal processing.
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In music, a riff is an ostinato figure: a repeated chord progression, pattern, refrain or melodic figure, often played by the rhythm section instruments, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition (though they are most often found in rock music, Latin, funk and
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Space Disco was a short lived 70s Eurodisco variation.
It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
..... Click the link for more information.
It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
..... Click the link for more information.
Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. In everyday usage, a record label is also a company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution,
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Electronic music refers to music that emphasizes the use of electronic musical instruments or electronic music technology as a central aspect of the sound of the music. [1]
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Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. It stands in contrast to art music[1]
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Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Greek: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου IPA:
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Jean-Michel André Jarre (born 24 August 1948 in Lyon, France) is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is highly regarded as one of the pioneers in the Electronic and New Age music genres, as well as the organiser of record-breaking outdoor spectacles of his music,
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Kraftwerk (pronounced [ˈkʁaftvɛɐk], German for "power station") is a German musical group from Düsseldorf that has made immense contributions to the development of improvisational rock and electronic music,
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The Belgian pop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers, as a kind of elaborate joke. Mixing the aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic music, they released a stripped-down synthesized cover version of "Twist à St.
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Yello is a popular Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals.
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Art of Noise was an avant-garde synthpop group formed in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, music journalist Paul Morley, and session musicians/studio hands Anne Dudley, J. J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan.
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Space Disco was a short lived 70s Eurodisco variation.
It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
..... Click the link for more information.
It was very popular in France and partly Germany, during 1977 - 1979. Well known artists that contributed to this music style was Cerrone (Supernature), Sarah Brightman (I lost my heart to a starship trooper), Space
..... Click the link for more information.
Italo disco is a very wide term that refers to various types of European disco and pop-styled dance music, that evolved during the early 1980s in Italy, Germany, Spain and other parts of Europe.
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Euro-Disco (also Eurodisco or Euro-disco, or "80s European dance") is a term that was first used during the 1970s to describe a variety of non UK-based European disco pop music.
..... Click the link for more information.
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Italo disco is a very wide term that refers to various types of European disco and pop-styled dance music, that evolved during the early 1980s in Italy, Germany, Spain and other parts of Europe.
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Koto is an Italian synth pop group that originally consisted of Anfrando Maiola and Stefano Cundari. Their most popular songs were "Visitors", "Dragon's Lair", "Chinese Revenge" and "Jabdah", released in 1983-1988.
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Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It is most closely associated with the era between the late 1970s and early to middle 1980s, although it has continued to exist and develop ever since.
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Electropop (also called Technopop) is a form of synth pop music that is made with synthesizers, and which first flourished from 1978 to 1981. Electropop laid the groundwork for a mass market in chart-oriented synthpop, but later became seen by musicologists as merely a
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Motto
"Je maintiendrai" (French)
"Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
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"Je maintiendrai" (French)
"Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
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Laserdance is a synthdance studio project, that was popular in the 80s with the hits like "Laserdance", "Power Run" and "Humanoid Invasion", and continues its production in the new millennium. It consists of two Dutch producers - Michiel Van Der Kuy and Erik van Vliet.
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Eurodance is a synonymous term for European synthesizer-driven dance music which became popularized worldwide since the early 1990s. The term has come to define the European dance music genre of today.
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House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980s. House music is strongly influenced by elements of the late 1970s soul- and funk-infused dance music style of disco.
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