| Name | Techno |
|---|
| Bgcolor | silver |
|---|
| Color | black |
|---|
| Stylistic origins | Electro, Electropop, Post-disco, Chicago house, Industrial, Funk, Hi-NRG |
|---|
| Cultural origins | mid-1980s, Detroit, US |
|---|
| Instruments | Synthesizer, keyboards, sampler, drum machine, sequencer, personal computer |
|---|
| Popularity | Moderate, largely in late 1980s and 1990s in Europe, more popular in Eastern Europe and Brazil currently |
|---|
| Derivatives | Minimal techno, acid techno, hardcore techno |
|---|
| Subgenrelist | List of electronic dance music genres |
|---|
| Subgenres | Ambient techno, ghettotech, microhouse, tech house, tech trance, techstep |
|---|
| Fusiongenres | IDM, Trance, Eurodance |
|---|
| Regional scenes | Detroit techno, Nortec, Schranz |
|---|
| Other topics | Electronic musical instrument – computer music – record labels – raves – free party – teknival |
|---|
Techno is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in Detroit, Michigan (USA) in the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988. Many styles of techno now exist, but Detroit techno is seen as the foundation upon which a number of subgenres have been built.
The initial take on techno arose from the melding of European electronic music by artists such as Kraftwerk with African American music including funk, electro, Chicago house and electric jazz. Added to this is the influence of futuristic and fictional themes that are relevant to life in American late capitalist society—particularly the book The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler. Pioneering producer Juan Atkins cites Toffler's phrase "techno rebels" as inspiring him to use the word techno to describe the musical style he helped to create. This unique blend of influences aligns techno with the aesthetic referred to as afrofuturism. To producers such as Derrick May, the transference of spirit from the body to the machine is often a central preoccupation; essentially an expression of technological spirituality. In this manner: "techno dance music defeats what Adorno saw as the alienating effect of mechanisation on the modern consciousness".
Music journalists and fans of techno are generally selective in their use of the term; so a clear distinction can be made between sometimes related but often qualitatively different styles, such as tech house and trance. "Techno" is also commonly confused with generalized descriptors, such as electronic music and dance music.
Origins
The initial blueprint for techno was developed during the mid-1980s in
Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of
Detroit by
Juan Atkins,
Kevin Saunderson,
Derrick May (the so-called Belleville Three), and
Eddie Fowlkes, all of whom attended school together at
Belleville High. By the close of the 1980s, the four had recorded and released material under various guises: Atkins as
Model 500, Flintstones, and Magic Juan; Fowlkes simply as
Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes; Saunderson as Reese, Keynotes, and Kaos; with May as Mayday, R-Tyme, and
Rhythim Is Rhythim. There were also a number of joint ventures, the most commercially successful of which was "
Big Fun," the first single by Saunderson's group
Inner City; it was produced by Saunderson, mixed by Atkins, re-edited by Saunderson & May, and co-written by Saunderson with vocalist
Paris Grey, and fellow DJs
James Pennington and Arthur Forest.
School days
Prior to achieving notoriety, Atkins, Saunderson, May, and Fowlkes shared common interests as budding musicians,
"mix" tape traders, and aspiring DJs. They also found musical inspiration via the
Midnight Funk Association, an eclectic five-hour late-night radio program hosted on various Detroit radio stations, including
WCHB,
WGPR, and WJLB-FM from 1977 through the mid-1980s by DJ Charles "
The Electrifying Mojo" Johnson. Mojo's show featured
electronic music by artists such as
Giorgio Moroder,
Kraftwerk, and
Tangerine Dream, alongside the funk sounds of
Parliament, and danceable selections of
new wave music from bands such as
Devo and
the B-52's. Atkins has noted: }}
Despite the short-lived disco boom in Detroit, it had the effect of inspiring many individuals to take up mixing, Juan Atkins among them. Subsequently, Atkins taught May how to mix records, and in 1981, "Magic Juan", Derrick "Mayday", in conjunction with three other DJ's, one of whom was Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes, launched themselves as a party crew called Deep Space Soundworks (also referred to as Deep Space). In 1980 or 1981 they met with Mojo and proposed that they provide mixes for his show, which they did end up doing the following year. created the incubator in which techno was grown. These young promoters developed and nurtured the local dance music scene by both catering to the tastes of the local audience of young people and by marketing parties with new DJs and their music. As these local clubs grew in popularity, groups of DJs began to band together to market their mixing skills and
sound systems to the clubs in order to cater to the growing audiences of listeners. Locations like local church activity centers, vacant warehouses, offices, and
YMCA auditoriums were the early locations where underage crowds gathered and the musical form was nurtured and defined.
's 1983 electro classic]]
Juan Atkins
Of the four individuals responsible for establishing techno as a genre in its own right, Juan Atkins is widely cited as "The Originator". Atkins' role was likewise acknowledged in 1995 by the American music technology publication
Keyboard Magazine, which honored Atkins as one of
12 Who Count in the history of keyboard music.
In the early 1980s, Atkins began recording with musical partner Richard "3070" Davis (and later with a third member, Jon-5) as Cybotron. This trio released a number of rock and electro-inspired tunes, the most successful of which were "Clear" (1983) and its moodier followup, "Techno City" (1984).
According to a recent bio on MySpace, Atkins claims to have ...coined the term techno to describe their music, taking as one inspiration the works of Futurist and author Alvin Toffler, from whom he borrowed the terms 'cybotron' and 'metroplex.' Atkins has used the term to describe earlier bands that made heavy use of synthesizers, such as Kraftwerk, although many people would consider Kraftwerk's music and Juan's early music in Cybotron as electro. Atkins viewed Cybotron's "Cosmic Cars" (1982) as unique, Germanic, synthesized funk, but he later heard Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) and considered it to be a superior example of the music he envisioned. Inspired, he resolved to continue experimenting, and he encouraged Saunderson and May to do likewise.
Eventually, Atkins started producing his own music under the pseudonym Model 500, and in 1985 he established the record label Metroplex. In the same year, he released a seminal work entitled "No UFOs," one of the first Detroit techno productions to receive wider attention and an important turning point for the music. Of this time, Atkins has said
Detroit sound
The early producers, enabled by the increasing affordability of sequencers and synthesizers, merged a European
synth-pop aesthetic with aspects of
soul,
funk,
disco, and
electro, pushing electronic dance music into uncharted terrain. They deliberately rejected the
Motown legacy and traditional formulas of
R&B; and
soul, and instead embraced technological experimentation.
The resulting Detroit sound was interpreted by Derrick May and one journalist in 1988 as a "post-soul" sound with no debt to Motown, May famously described the sound of techno as something that is "...like Detroit...a complete mistake. It's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company."
The sound exerted an influence on widely differing styles of electronic music, yet it also maintained an identity as a genre in its own right, one now commonly referred to as "Detroit techno."
Chicago
The music's producers, especially May and Saunderson, admit to having been fascinated by the Chicago club scene and influenced by house in particular. May's 1987/1989 hit "Strings of Life" (released under the alias Rhythim Is Rhythim) is considered a classic in both the house and techno genres.
Atkins also believes that the first acid house producers, seeking to distance house music from disco, emulated the techno sound. There is also suggestion that the Chicago house sound developed as a result of Frankie Knuckles' using a drum machine he bought from Derrick May. Juan Atkins claims:
In the UK, a club following for house music grew steadily from 1985, with interest sustained by scenes in London, Manchester, Nottingham, and later Sheffield and Leeds. The DJs thought to be responsible for house's early UK success include Mike Pickering, Mark Moore, Colin Faver, and Graeme Park.
Acid House
By 1988, house music had exploded in the UK, and
acid house was increasingly popular.
Acid house party fever escalated in London and Manchester, and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. MDMA-fueled club goers, faced with 2 A.M. closing hours, sought refuge in the warehouse party scene that ran all night. To escape the attention of the press and the authorities, this after-hours activity quickly went underground. Within a year, however, up to 10,000 people at a time were attending the first commercially organized mass parties, called raves, and a media storm ensued.
The success of house and acid house paved the way for wider acceptance of the Detroit sound, and vice-versa: techno was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with Detroit clubs catching up later; but in 1987, it was "Strings of Life" which eased London club-goers into acceptance of house, according to DJ Mark Moore.
The New Dance Sound of Detroit
The explosion of interest in EDM during the late 1980s provided a context for the development of techno as an identifiable
genre. The mid-1988 UK release of
Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit,, an album compiled by ex-Northern Soul DJ and Kool Kat Records boss Neil Rushton (at the time an
A&R; scout for Virgin's "10 Records" imprint) and Derrick May, was an important milestone and marked the introduction of the word
techno in reference to a specific genre of music. In fact, the compilation's working title had been
The House Sound of Detroit until the addition of Atkins' song "Techno Music" prompted reconsideration.
Derrick May views this as one of his busiest times and recalls that it was a period where he
Despite Virgin Records' disappointment with the poor sales of Rushton's compilation, the record was successful in establishing an identity for techno and was instrumental in establishing a platform in Europe for the music and its producers. Ultimately, the release served to distinguish the Detroit sound from Chicago house and other forms of EDM that were emerging during the rave era of the late 1980s and early '90s, a period during which techno became more adventurous and distinct.
Music Institute
In mid-1988, developments in the Detroit scene lead to the opening of nightclub called the Music Institute (MI), located at 1315 Broadway in downtown Detroit. The venue was secured by George Baker and Alton Miller with Darryl Wynn and Derrick May participating as Friday night DJs, and Baker and Chez Damier playing to a mostly gay crowd on Saturday nights.
The club closed on November 24, 1989, with Derrick May playing "Strings of Life" along with a recording of clock tower bells. May explains: Though short-lived, MI was known internationally for its all-night sets, its sparse white rooms, and its juice bar stocked with "
smart drinks" (the Institute never served liquor). The MI, notes Dan Sicko, along with Detroit's early techno pioneers, "helped give life to one of the city's important musical subcultures – one that was slowly growing into an international scene." to the distinctly anti-commercial sentiments of
Underground Resistance. Derrick May's experimentation on works such as
Beyond the Dance (1989) and
The Beginning (1990) were credited with taking techno
in dozens of new directions at once and having the kind of expansive impact John Coltrane had on Jazz. By the late 1980s and early '90s, the original techno sound had garnered a large underground following in the
United Kingdom,
Germany, and
Belgium. The growth of techno's popularity in Europe between 1988 and 1992 was largely due to the emergence of the party scene known as
rave and a thriving club culture. This first wave of Detroit expatriates was soon joined by a number of up-and-coming artists, the so called "second wave", including
Carl Craig,
Octave One, Jay Denham,
Kenny Larkin, and
Stacey Pullen, with
UR's
Jeff Mills,
Mike Banks, and
Robert Hood pushing their own unique sound. A number of New York producers were also making an impression at this time, notably
Frankie Bones, Lenny Dee, and
Joey Beltram. In the same period, close to Detroit (
Windsor, Ontario),
Richie Hawtin, with business partner
John Acquaviva, launched the influential imprint
Plus 8 Records.
Developments in American-produced techno between 1990 and 1992 fueled the expansion and eventual divergence of techno in Europe, particularly in Germany. In Berlin, following the closure of a free party venue called UFO, the club Tresor opened in 1991. The venue was for a time the standard bearer for techno and played host to many of the leading Detroit producers, some of whom relocated to Berlin. By 1993, as interest in techno in the UK club scene started to wane, Berlin was considered the unofficial techno capital of Europe.
Although eclipsed by Germany, Belgium was another focus of second-wave techno in this time period. The Ghent-based label R&S; Records embraced harder-edged techno by "teenage prodigies" like Beltram and C.J. Bolland, releasing "tough, metallic tracks...with harsh, discordant synth lines that sounded like distressed Hoovers," according to one music journalist.
Berlin
Germany's engagement with American EDM during the 1980s paralleled that in the UK. By 1987 a German party scene based around the Chicago sound was well established. The following year (1988) saw acid house making as significant an impact on popular consciousness in Germany as it had in England. In 1989 German DJs
Westbam and Dr. Motte established
UFO, an illegal party venue, and co-founded the
Love Parade. After the
Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, free underground techno parties mushroomed in
East Berlin, and a rave scene comparable to that in the UK was established.
In 1991 a number of party venues closed, including UFO, and the Berlin Techno scene centered itself around three locations close to the foundations of the Berlin Wall: Planet (later renamed E-Werk by Paul van Dyk), Der Bunker, and the relatively long-lived Tresor. It was in Tresor at this time that a trend in paramilitary clothing was established (amongst the techno fraternity) by a DJ named Tanith; possibly as an expression of a commitment to the underground aesthetic of the music, or perhaps influenced by UR's paramilitary posturing. In the same period, German DJs began intensifying the speed and abrasiveness of the sound, as an acid infused techno began transmuting into hardcore. DJ Tanith commented at the time that: Berlin was always hardcore, hardcore hippie, hardcore punk, and now we have a very hardcore house sound. At the moment the tracks I play are an average one hundred and thirty-five beats per minute and every few months we add fifteen more. In Germany, fans referred to this sound as Tekkno (or Bretter).
A Techno Alliance
In 1993, the German techno label
Tresor Records released the compilation album
Tresor II: Berlin & Detroit – A Techno Alliance, a testament to the influence of the Detroit sound upon the German techno scene and a celebration of a "mutual admiration pact" between the two cities. It is thought that
Robert Hood, a Detroit based producer and one time member of UR, is largely responsible for ushering the emergence of the minimal strain of techno. Hood describes the situation in the early 1990s as one where techno had become too
"ravey", with increasing tempos leading to the emergence of
gabber. Such trends saw the demise of the
soul infused techno that typified the original Detroit sound leading Hood and others to redefine the music as "a basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move". Hood explains:
Jazz influences
Some techno has also been influenced by or directly infused with elements of jazz. This led to increased sophistication in the use of both rhythm and harmony in a number of techno productions.
Manchester (UK) based techno act
808 State helped fuel this development with tracks such as
Pacific State from the
mini-album Quadrastate, and
Cobra Bora, taken from the 1989 release
Ninety. In Detroit, a producer heavily influenced by said jazz sensibilities at this time was Detroit's Mike Banks, a demonstration of which can be found on the influential
Underground Resistance release
Nation 2 Nation (1991). By 1993, Detroit acts such as
Model 500 and
UR had made explicit references to the genre, with the tracks "Jazz Is The Teacher" (1993) This lead was followed by a number of techno producers in the UK who were evidently influenced of both jazz and
UR,
Dave Angels'
Seas of Tranquility EP (1994) being a case in point.
Intelligent techno
In 1991 UK music journalist Matthew Collin wrote that "
Europe may have the scene and the energy, but it's America which supplies the ideological direction...if Belgian techno gives us riffs, German techno the noise, British techno the breakbeats, then Detroit supplies the sheer cerebral depth". By 1992 a general rejection of rave culture, by a number of European producers and labels who were attempting to redress what they saw as the corruption and commercialization of the original techno ideal, was evident. Following this the ideal of an
intelligent or Detroit derived
pure techno aesthetic began to take hold. Detroit techno had maintained its integrity throughout the rave era and was inspiring a new generation of so called
intelligent techno producers.
As the mid-1990s approached, the term had gained common usage in an attempt to differentiate the increasingly sophisticated takes on EDM from other strands of techno that had emerged,including overtly commercial strains and harder, rave-oriented variants such as breakbeat hardcore, Schranz, Dutch Gabber. Simon Reynolds observes that this progression "...involved a full-scale retreat from the most radically posthuman and hedonistically functional aspects of rave music toward more traditional ideas about creativity, namely the auteur theory of the solitary genius who humanizes technology...".
Warp Records was among the first to capitalize upon this development with the release of the compilation album Artificial Intelligence Of this time, Warp founder and managing director Steve Beckett has said
Warp had originally marketed Artificial Intelligence using the description electronic listening music but this was quickly replaced by intelligent techno. In the same period (1992–93) other names were also bandied about such as armchair techno, ambient techno, and electronica, but all were used to describe an emerging form of post-rave dance music for the sedentary and stay at home. Following the commercial success of the compilation in the United States, Intelligent Dance Music eventually became the phrase most commonly used to describe much of the experimental EDM emerging during the mid to late 1990s.
Although it is primarily Warp that has been credited with ushering the commercial growth of IDM and electronica, in the early 1990s there were many notable labels associated with the initial intelligence trend that received little, if any, wider attention. Amongst others they include: Black Dog Productions (1989), Carl Craig's Planet E (1991), Kirk Degiorgio's Applied Rhythmic Technology (1991), Eevo Lute Muzique (1991), General Production Recordings (1991), New Electronica (1993), Mille Plateaux (1993), 100% Pure (1993), and Ferox Records (1993).
Free techno
In the early 1990s a post-rave,
DIY,
free party scene had established itself in the UK. It was largely based around an alliance between
warehouse party goers from various urban
squat scenes and politically inspired
new age travellers. The new agers offered a readymade network of countryside festivals that were hastily adopted by squatters and ravers alike. Prominent among the
sound systems operating at this time were Tonka in
Brighton,
DiY in
Nottingham,
Bedlam, Circus Warp, LSDiesel and London's
Spiral Tribe. The high point of this free party period came in May 1992 when with less than 24 hours notice and little publicity more than 35,000 gathered at the
Castlemorton Common Festival for 5 days of partying.
This one event was largely responsible for the introduction in 1994 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act; effectively leaving the British free party scene for dead. Following this many of the traveller artists moved away from Britain to Europe, the US, Goa in India, Koh Phangan in Thailand and Australia's East Coast. EDM styles had emerged including wonky techno, ghettotech (a style that combines some of the aesthetics of techno with hip-hop and house music), nortec, glitch, digital hardcore, and so-called no-beat techno.
Commercial exposure
during a live performance]]
Whilst techno and its derivatives only occasionally produce commercially successful mainstream acts—
Underworld and
Orbital being two better known examples—the genre has significantly affected many other areas of music. In an effort to appear relevant, many established artists, for example
Madonna and
U2, have dabbled with dance music, yet such endeavors have rarely evidenced a genuine understanding or appreciation of techno's origins. The mainstream music industry has been responsible for the growth of a huge
remix industry. This is largely a drive to gain exposure for artists that are not identified with club styles such as house, techno, and drum & bass. Many club acts and dance DJs have made very successful careers out of remixing alone,
Armand Van Helden being a good example.
More recently, contemporary R&B; has taken a significant foray into the dance genre, thanks largely to club scene remixes such as Freemasons' recent interpretations of Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, and whilst some criticize this as indicative of the music industry's seeking greater exposure for its big-act roster, it can also be viewed as a natural part of the process of musical evolution. One R&B; artist, Missy Elliott, inadvertently exposed the popular music audience to the Detroit techno sound when she featured material from Cybotron's Clear on her 2006 release "Lose Control"; this resulted in Juan Atkins' receiving a Grammy Award nomination for his writing credit. Elliott's 2001 album Miss E... So Addictive also clearly demonstrates the influence of club culture. Hip hop and pop music producers have also incorporated elements of electronic dance music recently, some examples include Lady Gaga's single "Poker Face" use of Trance music sounds, and The Black Eyed Peas use of techno sound in their song "Boom Boom Pow" (after Fergie's vocals).
In recent years, the publication of relatively accurate histories by authors Simon Reynolds (Generation Ecstasy aka Energy Flash) and Dan Sicko (Techno Rebels), plus mainstream press coverage of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, have helped to diffuse the genre's more dubious mythology. Even the Detroit-based company Ford Motors eventually became savvy to the mass appeal of techno, noting that "...this music was created partly by the pounding clangor of the Motor City's auto factories. It became natural for us to incorporate Detroit techno into our commercials after we discovered that young people are embracing techno." With a marketing campaign targeting under-35s, Ford used "Detroit Techno" as a print ad slogan and chose Model 500's "No UFO's" to underpin its November 2000 MTV television advertisement for the Ford Focus. In attempting to sum up the changes since the heyday of Detroit techno, Derrick May has since revised his famous quote in stating that "Kraftwerk got off on the third floor and now George Clinton's got Napalm Death in there with him. The elevator's stalled between the pharmacy and the athletic wear store."
Proto-techno
:
Computer World (1981), first popularized in the U.S. by radio station
WLBS-FM, "Detroit’s version of New York’s disco
WBLS".]]
In exploring techno's origins writer
Kodwo Eshun maintains that
Kraftwerk are to Techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones: the authentic, the origin, the real. Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an early enthusiasm for
Kraftwerk and
Giorgio Moroder, particularly Moroder's work with
Donna Summer and the producer's own album
E=MC². Atkins also mentions that
"...around 1980 I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan, and I'd ride around in my car playing it." Regarding his initial impression of Kraftwerk, Atkins notes that they were
clean and precise relative to the
weird UFO sounds featured in his seemingly
psychedelic music.
Derrick May identified the influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty... everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. It, like, ignited our imagination!. May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition. Kevin Saunderson has also acknowledged the influence of Europe but he claims to have been more inspired by the idea of making music with electronic equipment: I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself. has prompted a number of commentators to try and redefine the origins of techno, by incorporating musical precursors to the Detroit sound as part of a wider historical survey of the genres development. This results in a chronologically distinct point of origination being removed. To support this view, they point to examples such as "Sharevari" (1981) by A Number of Names, danceable selections from Kraftwerk (1977–83), the earliest compositions by Cybotron (1981), Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder's "I Feel Love" (1977), Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" (1977), and Manuel Göttsching's proto-techno masterpiece
It is apparent that certain electro-disco and European synth pop productions share with techno a dependence on machine-generated dance rhythms but comparisons are not without contention. Efforts to regress further into the past, in search of antecedents, entails a further regression, to the sequenced electronic music of Raymond Scott, whose "The Rhythm Modulator," "The Bass-Line Generator," and "IBM Probe" are considered early examples of techno-like music. In a review of Scott's Manhattan Research Inc. compilation album the English newspaper The Independent suggested that Scott's importance lies mainly in his realization of the rhythmic possibilities of electronic music, which laid the foundation for all electro-pop from disco to techno. Another example of early EDM-like music has recently come to light (2008). On a tape, reportedly made in the mid to late 1960s by the original composer of the Doctor Who theme, Delia Derbyshire, is evidence of music virtually indistinguishable from contemporary EDM. Paul Hartnoll, formerly of the dance group Orbital describes the example as quite amazing and notes that it sounds not unlike something that could be coming out next week on Warp Records.
Music production practice
Stylistic considerations
: a popular software based music production environment]]
In general, techno is very
DJ-friendly, being mainly
instrumental (commercial varieties being an exception) and is produced with the intention of its being heard in the context of a continuous
DJ set, wherein the DJ progresses from one record to the next via a synchronized
segue or "mix." Much of the
instrumentation in techno emphasizes the role of
rhythm over other musical parameters, but the design of
synthetic timbres, and the creative use of
music production technology in general, are important aspects of the overall
aesthetic practice.
The main drum part is almost universally in common time (4/4); meaning 4 quarter note pulses per bar. In its simplest form, time is marked with kicks (bass drum beats) on each quarter-note pulse, a snare or clap on the second and fourth pulse of the bar, with an open hi-hat sound every second eighth note. This is essentially a disco (or even polka) drum pattern and is common throughout house music and house-influenced genres such as techno. The tempo tends to vary between approximately 120 bpm (quarter note equals 120 pulses per minute) and 150 bpm, depending on the style of techno.
Some of the drum programming employed in the original Detroit-based techno made use of syncopation and polyrhythm, yet in many cases the basic disco-type pattern was used as a foundation, with polyrhythmic elaborations added using other drum machine voices. This syncopated-feel (funkiness) distinguishes the Detroit strain of techno from other variants. It is a feature that many DJs and producers still use to differentiate their music from commercial forms of techno, the majority of which tend to be devoid of syncopation. Derrick May has summed up the sound as 'Hi-tech Tribalism': something "very spiritual, very bass oriented, and very drum oriented, very percussive. The original techno music was very hi-tech with a very percussive feel... it was extremely, extremely Tribal. It feels like you're in some sort of hi-tech village." The use of motivic development (though relatively limited) and the employment of conventional musical frameworks is more widely found in commercial techno styles, for example Euro-trance, where the template is often an AABA song structure.
There are many ways to create techno, but the vast majority will depend upon the use of loop-based step sequencing as a compositional method. Techno musicians, or producers, rather than employing traditional compositional techniques, may work in an improvisatory fashion, often treating the electronic music studio as one large instrument. The collection of devices found in a typical studio will include units that are capable of producing unique timbres and effects but technical proficiency is required for the technology to be exploited creatively. Studio production equipment is generally synchronized using a hardware- or computer-based MIDI sequencer, enabling the producer to combine, in one arrangement, the sequenced output of many devices. A typical approach to utilizing this type of technology compositionally is to overdub successive layers of material while continuously looping a single measure, or sequence of measures. This process will usually continue until a suitable multi-track arrangement has been produced.
Once a single loop based arrangement has been generated, a producer may then focus on developing a temporal framework. This is a process of dictating how the summing of the overdubbed parts will unfold in time, and what the final structure of the piece will be. Some producers achieve this by adding or removing layers of material at appropriate points in the mix. Quite often, this is achieved by physically manipulating a mixer, sequencer, effects, dynamic processing, equalization, and filtering while recording to a multi-track device. Other producers achieve similar results by using the automation features of computer-based digital audio workstations. Techno can consist of little more than cleverly programmed rhythmic sequences and looped motifs combined with signal processing of one variety or another, frequency filtering being a commonly used process. A more idiosyncratic approach to production is evident in the music of artists such as Twerk and Autechre, where aspects of algorithmic composition are employed in the generation of material.
Retro technology
Instruments used by the original techno producers based in Detroit, many of which are now highly sought after on the retro music technology market, include classic drum machines like the Roland
TR-808 and
TR-909, devices such as the Roland
TB-303 bass line generator, and synthesizers such as the
Roland SH-101, Kawai KC10,
Yamaha DX7, and Yamaha DX100 (as heard on Derrick May's seminal 1987 techno release
Nude Photo).
The TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines have since achieved legendary status, a fact that is now reflected in the prices sought for used devices. During the 1980s the 808 became the staple beat machine in Hip hop production while the 909 found its home in House music and techno. It was the pioneers of Detroit techno [who] were making the 909 the rhythmic basis of their sound, and setting the stage for the rise of Roland's vintage Rhythm Composer. In November 1995 the UK music technology magazine Sound on Sound noted: By May 1996 Sound on Sound was reporting that the popularity of the 808 had started to decline, with the rarer TR-909 taking its place as the dance floor drum machine to use. This is thought to have arisen for a number of reasons: the 909 gives more control over the drum sounds, has better programming and includes MIDI as standard. Sound on Sound reported that the 909 was selling for between £900 and £1100 and noted that the 808 was still collectible, but maximum prices had peaked at about £700 to £800. Such prices have held in the 12 years since the article was published, this can be evidenced by a quick search on eBay.
Emulation
In the latter half of the 1990s the demand for vintage drum machines and synthesisers motivated a number of software companies to produce computer based emulators. One of the most notable was the
ReBirth RB-338, produced by the Swedish company
Propellerhead and originally released in May 1997. Version one of the software featured two TB-303s and a TR-808 only, but the release of version two saw the inclusion of a TR-909. A
Sound on Sound review of the RB-338 V2 in November 1998 noted that Rebirth had been called "the ultimate techno software package" and mentions that it was "a considerable software success story of 1997". In America
Keyboard Magazine asserted that ReBirth had "opened up a whole new
paradigm: modeled analog synthesizer tones, percussion synthesis, pattern based sequencing, all integrated in one piece of software". Despite the success of ReBirth RB-338, it was officially taken out of production in September 2005. Propellerhead then made it freely available for download from a website called the "ReBirth Museum". The site also features extensive information about the software's history and development.
In March 2001, with the release of Reason V1, Propellerhead upped the ante in providing a £300 software based electronic music studio, comprising a 14-input automated digital mixer, 99-note polyphonic 'analogue' synth, classic Roland-style drum machine, sample-playback unit, analogue-style step sequencer, loop player, multitrack sequencer, eight effects processors, and over 500 MB of synthesizer patches and samples. With this release Propellerhead were credited with "creating a buzz that only happens when a product has really tapped into the zeitgeist, and may just be the one that many [were] waiting for." Reason has since achieved popular appeal and is now (as of April 2008) at version 4.
Technological advances
In recent years, as computer technology has become more accessible and
music software has advanced, interacting with music production technology is now possible using means that bear no relationship to traditional
musical performance practices: for instance,
laptop performance (
laptronica) and
live coding.
In the last decade a number of software-based virtual studio environments have emerged, with products such as Propellerhead's
Reason and
Ableton Live finding popular appeal. These software-based music production tools provide viable and cost-effective alternatives to typical hardware-based production studios, and thanks to advances in
microprocessor technology, it is now possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances have democratized music creation, leading to a massive increase in the amount of home-produced music available to the general public via the internet. Artists can now also individuate their sound by creating personalized software synthesizers, effects modules, and various composition environments. Devices that once existed exclusively in the hardware domain can easily have virtual counterparts. Some of the more popular software tools for achieving such ends are commercial releases such as
Max/Msp and
Reaktor and
freeware packages such as
Pure Data,
SuperCollider, and
ChucK. In some sense, as a result of technological innovation, the
DIY mentality that was once a core part of dance music culture is seeing a resurgence.
Noted artists
John Acquaviva (Canada)
The Advent (UK)
Dave Angel (UK)
Juan Atkins (USA/Detroit)
Si Begg (UK)
Daniel Bell (USA/Detroit)
Joey Beltram (USA/New York)
Adam Beyer (Sweden)
C. J. Bolland (Belgium)
Frankie Bones (USA/New York)
Thomas Brinkmann (Germany)
Basic Channel (Germany)
Dave Clarke (UK)
Carl Cox (UK)
Carl Craig (USA/Detroit)
Kirk Degiorgio (UK)
Vladislav Delay (Finland)
The Black Dog (UK)
Drexciya (USA/Detroit)
Darren Emerson (UK)
A Guy Called Gerald (UK)
Laurent Garnier (France)
Hardfloor (Germany)
Richie Hawtin (Canada)
DJ Hell (Germany)
Robert Hood (USA/Detroit)
Ken Ishii (Japan)
Speedy J (Netherlands)
Alexander Kowalski (Germany)
Cari Lekebusch (Sweden)
LFO (UK)
Chris Liebing (Germany)
Ash Verschuur (UK)
Derrick May (USA/Detroit)
Jeff Mills (USA/Detroit)
Paulo Nascimento (Portugal)
Orbital (UK)
James Pennington (USA/Detroit)
Regis (UK)
DJ Rush (USA/Chicago)
Kevin Saunderson (USA/Detroit)
Slam (Scotland, UK)
Luke Slater (UK)
Pan Sonic (Finland)
808 State (UK)
Surgeon (UK)
System 7 (UK)
Keith Tucker (USA/Detroit)
Aphex Twin (UK)
Umek (Slovenia)
UR (USA/Detroit)
Underworld (UK)
Sven Väth (Germany)
Ricardo Villalobos (Chile)
Vitalic (France)
Cristian Vogel (UK)
Adam X (USA/New York)
Pacou (Germany)
See also
Detroit Electronic Music Archive
Freetekno
Bibliography
Anz, P. & Walder, P. (eds.), Techno, Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1999 (ISBN 3908010144).
Barr, T., Techno: The Rough Guide, Rough Guides, 2000 (ISBN 978-1858284347).
Brewster B. & Broughton F., Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey, Avalon Travel Publishing, 2006, (ISBN 978-0802136886).
Butler, M.J., Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music, Indiana University Press, 2006 (ISBN 978-0253218049).
Cannon, S. & Dauncey, H., Popular Music in France from Chanson to Techno: Culture, Identity and Society, Ashgate, 2003 (ISBN 978-0754608493).
Collin, M., Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House, Serpent's Tail, 1998 (ISBN 978-1852426040).
Cosgrove, S. (a), "Seventh City Techno", The Face (97), p.88, May 1988 (ISSN 0263-1210).
Cosgrove, S. (b), Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit liner notes, 10 Records Ltd. (UK), 1988 (LP: DIXG 75; CD: DIXCD 75).
Cox, C.(Author), Warner D (Editor), Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd., 2004 (ISBN 978-0826416155).
Fritz, J., Rave Culture: An Insider's Overview, Smallfry Press, 2000 (ISBN 978-0968572108).
Kodwo, E., More Brilliant Than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction, Quartet Books, 1998 (ISBN 978-0704380257).
Nelson, A., Tu, L.T.N., Headlam Hines, A. (eds.), TechniColor: Race, Technology and Everyday Life, New York University Press, 2001 (ISBN 978-0814736043).
Pesch, M. (Author), Weisbeck, M. (Editor), Techno Style: The Album Cover Art, Edition Olms; 5Rev Ed edition, 1998 (ISBN 978-3283002909).
Rietveld, H.C., This is Our House: House Music, Cultural Spaces and Technologies, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, 1998 (ISBN 978-1857422429).
Reynolds, S., Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Pan Macmillan, 1998 (ISBN 978-0330350563).
Reynolds, S., Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, Routledge, New York 1999 (ISBN 978-0415923736).
Savage, J., The Hacienda Must Be Built, International Music Publications, 1992 (ISBN 978-0863598579).
Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, Billboard Books, 1999 (ISBN 978-0823084289).
Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, 2nd ed., Wayne State University Press, 2010 (ISBN 978-0814334386).
St. John, G.(ed.). Rave Culture and Religion, New York: Routledge, 2004. (ISBN 978-0415314497).
St. John, G.(ed.), FreeNRG: Notes From the Edge of the Dance Floor, Common Ground, Melbourne, 2001 (ISBN 978-1863350846).
St John, G. Technomad: Global Raving Countercultures. London: Equinox. 2009. ISBN 9781845536268.
Toop, D., Ocean of Sound, Serpent's Tail, 2001 [new edition] (ISBN 978-1852427436).
Watten, B., The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text to Cultural Poetics, Wesleyan University Press, 2003 (ISBN 978-0819566102).
Filmography
High Tech Soul - Catalog No.: PLX-029; Label: Plexifilm; Released: 2006-09-19; Director: Gary Bredow; Length: 64 minutes.
Technomania - Released: 1996 (screened at NowHere, an exhibition held at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, between May 15 and September 8, 1996); Director: Franz A. Pandal; Length: 52 minutes.
Tresor Berlin: The Vault and the Electronic Frontier - Label: Pyramids of London Films; Released 2004; Director: Michael Andrawis; Length: 62 minutes
– Label: Les Films à Lou; Released: 1996; Director: Dominique Deluze; Length: 63 minutes.
We Call It Techno! – A documentary about Germany's early Techno scene and culture – Label: Sense Music & Media, Berlin, DE; Released: June 2008; Directors: Maren Sextro & Holger Wick.
References
External links
Sounds Like Techno – an online documentary exploring techno music, from its roots and early influences in the US to its place in Australian music today.
From the Autobahn to I-94: The Origins of Detroit Techno and Chicago House – reminiscences by techno and house innovators
- A video example of techno being performed live.
Category:African American music
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Category:Culture of Detroit, Michigan
Category:Electronic music genres
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