Techno

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Techno
Stylistic origins	Electro, industrial, synthpop, electronic art music, Chicago house
Cultural origins	mid-1980s Detroit, Michigan, USA
Typical instruments	Keyboard, synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, sampler
Mainstream popularity	Moderate, largely in late-1980s and 1990s Europe, more popular in Eastern Europe and Brazil currently
Derivative forms	IDM, trance, acid house,hardcore
Subgenres
Acid, ambient, minimal, wonky, industrial
Fusion genres
Microhouse, ghettotech, tech house, tech trance, techstep
Regional scenes
Detroit techno, Nortec, Schranz, Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass, Jtek
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 during the mid to late 1980s. Many styles of techno now exist, but Detroit techno, a genre in its own right, is seen as the foundation upon which a number of subgenres have been built.^[1]

The initial take on techno arose from the melding of Eurocentric synthesizer-based music with various African American styles such as Chicago house, funk, electro, and electric jazz. Added to this was the influence of futuristic and fictional themes that were relevant to life in American late capitalist society: most particularly the novel The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler.^[2] Techno music pioneer 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 AfroDiasporic Futurism.^[3] To producers such as Derrick May, the transference of spirit from the machine to the body 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".^[4]

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.^[5][6]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.1.1 School days 1.1.2 The Originator 1.1.3 Music Institute 1.1.4 Windy city 1.1.5 London calling 1.2 Detroit sound 1.3 Proto-techno 1.4 Developments 1.4.1 Exodus 1.4.2 Free techno 1.4.3 Minimal techno 1.4.4 Jazz Is the Teacher 1.4.5 Intelligent dance music 1.5 Divergence 1.6 Commercial exposure 2 Music production practice 2.1 Stylistic considerations 2.2 Compositional techniques 2.3 Retro technology 2.4 Technological advances 3 Noted artists 4 Bibliography 5 Filmography 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The initial blueprint for techno was developed during the mid 1980s in 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, near Detroit, Michigan. By the close of the 1980s, the four had operated under various guises: Atkins as Model 500, Flinstones, and Magic Juan; Fowlkes simply as Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes; Saunderson as Reese, Keynotes, and Kaos; with May using the aliases Mayday, R-Tyme, and Rhythim Is Rhythim. There were also a number of joint ventures, the most commercially successful of which was the Atkins and Saunderson (with James Pennington) collaboration on the first Inner City single, Big Fun.

[edit] School days

Prior to achieving notoriety, the budding musicians, "mix" tape traders, and aspiring DJs^[7] found inspiration in 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.^[8] Mojo's show featured heavy doses of electronic sounds from the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk, and Tangerine Dream alongside the funk of Parliament and the new wave sounds of the B-52s.^[9] Atkins has noted that:

“

He [Mojo] played all the Parliament and Funkadelic that anybody ever wanted to hear. Those two groups were really big in Detroit at the time. In fact, they were one of the main reasons why disco didn't really grab hold in Detroit in '79. Mojo usd to play a lot of funk just to be different from all the other stations that had gone over to disco. When 'Knee Deep'[10] came out, that just put the last nail in the coffin of disco music.[11]

”

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 Derrick May how to mix records, and in 1980 the pair started working together as a DJ duo called Deep Space Soundworks,^[12] or just Deep Space.^[13] 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.^[11]

The music was initially conceived as party music that was played on daily mixed radio programs and played at high school club parties in Detroit. Late 1970s/early 1980s high school clubs such as Brats, Charivari, Ciabattino, Comrades, Gables, Hardwear, Rafael, Rumours, Snobs, and Weekends^[14] 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.^[15]

[edit] The Originator

Main article: Juan Atkins

Of the four individuals responsible for establishing techno as a genre in its own right, it is Juan Atkins who is recognized as "The Originator";^[16] a fact acknowledged in 1995 by the American music technology publication Keyboard Magazine who honored Atkins as one of "12 Who Count" in the history of keyboard music.^[17] 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 electro-inspired tunes, the best known of which is "Clear." According to a recent bio on MySpace, Atkins ...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.^[18]

Eventually, Atkins started producing his own music under the pseudonym Model 500, and in 1985 he established the record label Metroplex.^[19] 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.^[20][21] Of this time, Atkins has said:

“

When I started Metroplex around February or March of '85 and released "No UFOs," I thought I was just going to make my money back on it, but I wound up selling between 10,000 and 15,000 copies. I had no idea that my record would happen in Chicago. Derrick's parents had moved there, and he was making regular trips between Detroit and Chicago. So when I came out with 'No UFOs,' he took copies out to Chicago and gave them to some DJs, and it just happened.[11]

”

[edit] 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.^[22] 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).

[edit] Windy city

Main article: House music

The music's producers, especially May and Saunderson, admit to having been fascinated by the Chicago club scene and influenced by house in particular.^[23][24] May's 1987–88 hit "Strings of Life" (released under the nom de plume Rhythm Is Rhythm), for example, is considered a classic in both the house and techno genres.^[25][26][27] Atkins also believes that the first acid house producers, seeking to distance house music from disco, emulated the techno sound.^[28]There is also evidence that the Chicago house sound developed as a result of Frankie Knuckles' using a drum machine he bought from Derrick May. Juan Atkins claims that:

“

Derrick sold Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles a TR909 drum machine. This was back when the Powerplant was open in Chicago, but before any of the Chicago DJs were making records. They were all into playing Italian imports; 'No UFOs' was the only U.S.-based independent record that they played. So Frankie Knuckles started using the 909 at his shows at the Powerplant. Boss had just brought out their little sampling footpedal, and somebody took one along there. Somebody was on the mic, and they sampled that and played it over the drumtrack pattern. Having got the drum machine and the sampler, they could make their own tunes to play at parties. One thing just led to another, and Chip E used the 909 to make his own record, and from then on, all these DJs in Chicago borrowed that 909 to come out with their own records.[11]

”

[edit] London calling

See also: Acid house and Rave

Relatively quickly, techno began to be seen by its originators and up-and-coming producers as an expression of Future Shock post-industrial angst.^{[citation needed]} It also took on increasingly high-tech and science fiction-oriented themes but it was the success of House music, and in particular Acid house, on the UK club scene, that paved the way for the Detroit sound. Following the release in 1988 of an album compiled by Neil Rushton (an A&R scout for 10 Records)^[29] and Derrick May, titled Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit,^[30] the music press began to characterize techno as Detroit's relatively high-tech, mechanical brand of house music, as it retained the same basic structure as the soulful, minimalist post-disco styles that were forged in Chicago and New York City at the start of the decade. Derrick May views this as one of his busiest times and recalls that it as a period where he

“

was working with Carl Craig, helping Kevin, helping Juan, trying to put Neil Rushton in the right position to meet everybody, tyring to get Blake Baxter endorsed so that everyone liked him, trying to convince Shake (Anthony Shakir) that he should be more assertive...and keep making music as well as do the Mayday mix (for the show Street Beat on Detroit's WJLB radio station) and run Transmat records...For years no one cared about what Juan and I were doing in Detroit, and then I found myself dealing with people that were jealous, out of the clear blue sky.[31]

”

Despite Virgin Records disappointment with the poor sales of Rushton's compilation, the record was successful in establishing an identity for techno. The release served as a means to distinguish the Detroit sound from Chicago house and various other dance music derivatives that emerged during the rave era of the late 1980's and early 90's and in so doing established a platform in the UK for a number of prominent Detroit producers.^[32]

[edit] Detroit sound

In merging a European synth-pop aesthetic with the sensibilities of soul, funk, house, and electro, the early producers pushed dance music into unchartered terrain. The initial pioneers of the emerging genre melded the beat-centric styles of their Motown predecessors with the music technology of the time to create characteristically intense grooves and percussive basslines. The resulting Detroit sound exerted an influence on widely differing styles of electronic music but also maintained an identity as a genre in its own right, one commonly referred to as "Detroit techno." Derrick 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."^[33]

[edit] Proto-techno

See also: Italo disco, Euro disco, Synth-pop, New romantic, Electro, and Electronic art music

Undoubtedly, the Euro disco and Italo disco music of various acts including Moroder, Alexander Robotnick, and Claudio Simonetti (refered to as progressive in Detroit) and new romantic synth pop performers such as Visage, Human League, and Heaven 17 were popular on the Detroit high school party scene from which techno emerged^[34] but certain commentators have attempted to 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,^[35] the earliest compositions by Cybotron (1981), Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder's "I Feel Love" (1977), Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" (1977), and the more dance floor-oriented selections from Kraftwerk's repertoire (1977–83).^{[citation needed]} Another example is a record entitled Love in C minor, released in 1976 by Parisian Euro disco producer Jean-Marc Cerrone. It has been cited as the first so called conceptual disco production and the record from which house, techno, and other EDM styles flowed.^[36]

Juan Atkins has acknowledged that his earliest enthusiasm was 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."^[11]Derrick May has also 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!.^[37]However, Atkins has claimed he was unaware of Kraftwerk's music prior to his collaboration with Rick Davis, which was two years after he had first started experimenting with electronic instruments.^[38] Regarding his initial impression of Kraftwerk Atkins noted that they were clean and precise relative to the weird UFO sounds featured in his seemingly psychedelic music.^[39]

It seems apparent that certain electro-disco and European synth pop productions share with techno a dependence on machine-generated beats and dance floor popularity. However, for some, the comparisons remain contentious, as do the efforts to regress further into the past to find antecedents. The logical extension of this rationale 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 technolike music.^[40] It is also noteworthy that the possible influence of electronic music found in American sci-fi movie soundtracks, such as the work of Louis and Bebe Barron for the film Forbidden Planet, appears to be unconsidered.

[edit] Developments

As the original sound evolved it also diverged to such an extent that a wide spectrum of stylistically distinct musics was being referred to as techno.^[41] This ranged from overtly pop oriented acts such as Moby to the distinctly anti-commercial sentiments of the appropriately named 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.^[42] 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.^[43]

[edit] Exodus

In America, apart from regional scenes in Detroit, New York, and Chicago, interest was limited. Producers from Detroit, frustrated by the lack of opportunity in their home country, looked to Europe for their future livelihood. 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, 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.^[44]

Arguably, it was developments in American-produced techno between 1990 and 1992 that fueled the expansion and eventual divergence of techno in Europe, particularly in Germany.^[45] 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.^[46]

By 1994 there were a number of techno producers in the UK and Europe building on the Detroit sound, but a growing range of EDM styles were by then vying for attention. Some drew upon the Detroit techno aesthetic, while others fused components of preceding dance music forms. This led to the appearance (in the UK initially) of inventive new music, some of which bore little, if any, relation to the original techno sound; jungle (drum and bass) being a primary example, its origins having more to do with hip-hop, soul, and reggae, than with the EDM from Detroit and Chicago.

[edit] Free techno

See also: Free tekno, Teknival, Free Party, Acid techno, and DIY culture

In the early 1990's 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.^[47]

This one event was largely responsible for the introduction in 1994 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act; ^[48] 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.^[47] In the rest of Europe, due in some part to the inspiration of traveling sound systems from the UK,^[47] rave enjoyed a prolonged existence as it continued to expanded across the continent.^[49]

Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and other English sound systems took their cooperative techno ideas to Europe, particularly Eastern Europe where it was cheaper to live, and audiences were quick to appropriate the free party ideology. It was European Teknival free parties, such as the annual Czechtek event in the Czech Republic that gave rise to several French, German and Dutch sound systems. Many of these groups found audiences easily and were often centered around squated locations in cities such as Amsterdam and Berlin.^[50]

[edit] Minimal techno

Main article: Minimal techno

As EDM continued to transmute a number of Detroit producers began to question the trajectory techno was taking. One response came in the form of so-called minimal techno (a term producer Daniel Bell found difficult to accept, finding minimalism in the artistic sense of the word, too "arty").^[51] Another Detroit based producer credited with ushering the emergence of the minimal strain is one time member of UR, Robert Hood.^[52] Hood describes the situation in the early 1990's 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.^[53] Hood explains that

“

I think Dan [Bell] and I both realized that something was missing - an element...in what we both know as techno. It sounded great from a production point of standpoint, but there was a 'jack' element in the [old] structure. People would complain that there's no funk, no feeling in techno anymore, and the easy escape is to put a vocalist and some piano on top to fill the emotional gap.I thought it was time for a return to the original underground.[51]

”

[edit] Jazz Is the Teacher

See also: Jazz, Jazz fusion, and Musical improvisation

Another significant development was the infusion of techno with a jazz sensibility. This lead to increased sophistication in the use of both rhythm and harmony in a number of notable productions.^[54] Arguably, it was Manchester (UK) based techno act 808 State that fueled this development, with tracks such as Pacific 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) and Hi-Tech Jazz (1993), the latter from the groundbreaking EP Galaxy 2 Galaxy. 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.^[55]

[edit] Intelligent dance music

Main article: Intelligent dance music

As the mid-1990's approached, the term "intelligent dance music" (IDM) had gained common usage in an attempt to differentiate the increasingly sophisticated takes on EDM^[56] from two other strands of techno that had emerged: one being a harder, faster, industrial sounding variant known as Schranz; and the other, an overtly commercial strain that was simply referred to as "cheese." The Warp Records compilation Artifical Intelligence^[57] is credited as the record that ushered the rise of IDM and electronica. Of this time, Warp founder and managing director Steve Beckett has said that

“

...the dance scene was changing and we were hearing B-sides that weren't dance but were interesting and fitted into experimental, progressive rock, so we decided to make the compilation Artificial Intelligence, which became a milestone... it felt like we were leading the market rather than it leading us, the music was aimed at home listening rather than clubs and dance floors: people coming home, off their nuts, and having the most interesting part of the night listening to totally tripped out music. The sound fed the scene.[58]

”

[edit] Divergence

See also: List of electronic music genres

With an increasing diversification (and commercialisation) of dance music, the collectivist sentiment prominent in the early rave scene diminished, each new faction having its own particular attitude and vision of how dance music (or in certain cases, non-dance music) should evolve. Some examples not already mentioned are ambient techno, trance, industrial techno, breakbeat hardcore, acid techno, and happy hardcore. Less well-known styles related to techno or its subgenres include the primarily Sheffield (UK)-based bleep techno, a regional variant that had some success between 1989 and 1991, and a scene that was responsible for putting Warp Records on the map (largely as a result of its fifth release, LFO's self-titled 12″). More recent offshoots are nortec, wonky techno, and ghettotech (a style that combines some of the aesthetics of techno with hip-hop and house music). Other niche scenes include nu jazz, speedcore, breakcore, broken beat, digital hardcore, glitch, and so-called no-beat techno.^[59]

[edit] Commercial exposure

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.^[60] 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 criticise 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.

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.^[61] 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 would choose Model 500's "No UFO's" to underpin its November 2000 MTV television advertisement for the Ford Focus.^[62][63][64] 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.”^[65]

[edit] Music production practice

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

[edit] Stylistic considerations

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."^[66] 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.^[67] 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 its derivatives (of which techno is one). The tempo tends to vary between approximately 120 bpm (quarter note equals 120 pulses per bar) 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 polyrthythmic elaborations added using other drum machine voices. It is this syncopated-feel (funkiness) that distinguishes the Detroit strain of techno from other variants; indeed, this is a feature that many DJs and producers still use to distinguish their music from commercial forms of techno, the majority of which are 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."^[68]

[edit] Compositional techniques

EDM tends to be produced with the aid of instruments (synthesizer keyboards) that are designed with the Western musical tradition in mind. However, techno does not always adhere to conventional harmonic practice,^[69] and such strictures are often ignored in favor of timbral manipulation alone. 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 numerous ways to create techno, but the vast majority depend upon the use of loop-based step sequencing as a compositional method. Many techno musicians, or "producers," rather than employing traditional compositional techniques, will work in an improvisatory fashion,^[70] often treating the electronic music studio as one large instrument. This assemblage of devices will include units that are capable of producing unique timbres, but technical proficiency is required if the technology is to be successfully exploited. The equipment will be synchronised using a hardware or a computer-based MIDI sequencer; this enables the producer to combine, in one arrangement, the sequenced output of many devices. A typical approach is to create successive layers of material until a suitable mix is achieved.^[71] Once a usable palette of material has been generated, a producer may then focus on developing a temporal framework, a process of dictating how the work will unfold in time. 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, equalisation, 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. Some techno consists 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.

[edit] Retro technology

Instruments utilized by the original techno producers based in Detroit included classic drum machines like the Roland TR-808 and TR-909, devices such as the Roland TB-303 bass line generator,^[72] 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).^[73]. Much of the early music sequencing was executed via MIDI using hardware sequencers such as the Korg SQD1 and Roland MC-50, and the limited amount of sampling that was featured in this early style was accomplished using an Akai S900.^[74]

[edit] 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:^[75] for instance, laptop performance (laptronica)^[76]and live coding.^[77][78] 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.^[79] 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, for better or for worse, democratized music creation,^[80] 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^[81][82] is seeing a resurgence.^[83][84]

[edit] 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) Marco Carola (Italy)

Basic Channel (Germany) Dave Clarke (UK) Carl Cox (UK) Carl Craig (USA/Detroit) Daft Punk (France) Kirk Degiorgio (UK) Vladislav Delay (Finland) The Black Dog (UK) Drexciya (USA/Detroit) Darren Emerson (UK) Dominik Eulberg (Germany) A Guy Called Gerald (UK)

Laurent Garnier (France) Fred Giannelli (USA) 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)

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) 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)

[edit] 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, 2000 (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).
• 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).
• Reynolds, S., Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Pan Macmillan, 1998 [also published in abridged form as Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, Routledge, New York 1999] (ISBN 978-0330350563).
• 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).
• St. John, G., Rave Culture and Religion, Routledge, 2003 (ISBN 978-0415314497).
• St. John, G.(ed.), FreeNRG: Notes From the Edge of the Dance Floor, Common Ground, Melbourne, 2001 (ISBN 978-1863350846).
• 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).

[edit] 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 15th and September 8th 1996); Director: Franz A. Pandal; Length: 52 minutes.
• Tresor Berlin: The Vault and the Electronic Frontier - Pyramids of London Films; Released 2004; Director: Michael Andrawis; Length: 62 minutes
• Universal Techno - 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; A film by Maren Sextro & Holger Wick.

[edit] See also

• Detroit Electronic Music Archive
• Freetekno

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sounds Like Techno – an online documentary exploring techno music, from its roots and early influences in the USA to its place in Australian music today.an exhibit at Detroit Historical Museum (Jan 2003 – Jun 2004)
• Techno Music Style – Guide to techno music style; includes reviews of techno music and links to techno-related websites
• Korg EMX Summer in Detroit - A video example of Detroit techno being performed live
• photophunk.com - club 'n' dance photo archive with hundreds of djs, liveacts and bands

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