Minimalist music is a form of Western art music that developed during the 1960s and 1970s. Minimalist composers took the music back to its basics of pitch and rhythm. They focused on slow and gradual changes over the course of the music.
Minimalist music has had some influence on developments in pop musicMusic which has general appeal and is often linked to styles of the 1950s. Driven by a strong rhythmic element.. Terry Riley's album A Rainbow in Curved Air, 1969, was released during an era of psychedelic rockA type of rock music inspired by the psychedelic culture. . It became the first minimalist work to have crossover success, appealing to rock and jazzA genre of music that has swing and syncopated rhythms, and extended chords. audiences.
Much of the music technology used in dance music has traditionally been designed to enable loopA small section of music, usually between four and eight bars, that is continually repeated. compositional methods. The stylistic features of minimal electronic dance music such as repeated loops and ostinatoA repeated melodic or rhythmic pattern. In film music an ostinato can create energy, excitement or tension. sound similar to minimalist art music.
Developments in music technology have allowed composers to repeat loops by recording music onto tape. Once recorded, the tape can be cut and a physical loop can be played continuously. Different loops can be recorded and layered on top of each other by using multi-tracking. The loops can then be edited to have different effects.
