


The development of electronic instruments is now inseparable from that of electricity, electronics, and experimental and popular music as well as computers and computer music. This article will employ the common inclusive usage of the term. Technically, electronic instruments must utilize electronic circuitry as a necessary component for sound generation, and, in fact, the later evolution and sound production of most electrophones typically involves electronic circuitry. While they are properly a subset of electrophones (instruments that produce vibrations that must pass through a loudspeaker to be heard), common usage includes electric or electroacoustic instruments. Evolving from their early experimental origins through the popular fame of the alien sounding Theremin to the present, these instruments have become a ubiquitous part of the avant-garde, rock and popular music worlds. The category of electronic musical instruments has a large and diverse membership.
