Acoustic Facts

Origins and early development

Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. The original acoustic instrument was the human voice, and the first constructed acoustic instrument is believed to be the flute with the oldest surviving flute as much as 43,000 years old and believed to have originated in Central Europe. By 1800 the most popular acoustic plucked-string instruments closely resembled the modern-day guitar and in the 19th century the guitar became a recognized instrument played in grand galas and concerts.

Evolution or diversification

As electric instruments took hold during the 20th century, many stringed instruments were redefined as acoustic. Following the birth of rock in the 1960s, some rock bands began to experiment with acoustic songs known as acoustic rock, and many artists such as Eric Clapton and Nirvana performed acoustic versions of their well-known songs in the early 1990s which were collected on the MTV Unplugged series. Pop music artists have also experimented with acoustic music, sometimes called acoustic pop, and by the 2000s popular indie musicians began to identify their genre as "contemporary acoustic" in opposition to being classified as "folk music".

Cultural or musical significance

The retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the advent of electric instruments such as the electric guitar, electric violin, electric organ and synthesizer. Music reviewer Craig Conley suggests "When music is labeled acoustic, unplugged, or unwired, the assumption seems to be that other types of music are cluttered by technology and overproduction and therefore aren't as pure." Acoustic versions of well-known songs were collected on the MTV Unplugged series.