Electro is an artistic musical form in the wide world of electronic
music culture. With few exceptions, the definition of the electro sound
is the use of
drum machines as the rhythmic base of a track. Rhythm patterns tend to be electronic emulations of
breakbeats, with syncopated kick drums, and usually a snare or clap accenting the downbeat. Adopted by many electro enthusiasts, the
Roland TR-808 is a legendary drum machine created in
1980with a immediately recognizable sound. It remains popular in this and
other genres to the present day. The instrumentation is generally
all-electronic, favoring
analog synthesis,
funk-style bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with
synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as
reverbs,
delays,
chorus or
phasers along with synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasize the common
science fiction or
futuristic theme of the lyrics and/or music. Most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a
vocoder. Additionally,
speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content. Some earlier electro features
rapping, but that lyrical style has become less popular in the genre from the
1990s onward.