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Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electronic means. The retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the advent of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar, Hammond organ and the synthesiser.[1] Given the relatively recent appearance of electronic instruments in the history of music, one can classify almost all musical instruments and consequently almost all music as "acoustic".
Performers of acoustic music may still amplify their output using electronic amplifiers. However, these amplification devices must remain separate from the amplified instrument and need to reproduce its natural sound accurately.
Following the increasing popularity of the television show MTV Unplugged during the 1990s, acoustic (though in most cases still electrically-amplified) performances by artists who usually rely on electronic instruments became colloquially referred to as "unplugged" concerts.
Someone labeling music as "acoustic" or as "unplugged" may make an implied contrast to music that has become "cluttered" by technology and overproduction: in this sense, some may consider acoustic music more sonically "pure".[2]
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