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-- Someone please define "techno" for me.
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Someone please define "techno" for me.

People (DJ's, TA's, EDM whores in general) seem to describe "techno" music in drastically different terms.

I don't get it. What is "techno?"

Unfortunately no one can be told what "Techno" is, you have to hear it for yourself

oon-tish

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/18...3109712?ie=UTF8

All you're gonna need for a quick intro to the genre. There's also tons of stuff to read via Wiki that'll help you out if you cba.

One of the oldest contempory dance music genres. Created in Detroit in the early 1980s. Evolved from electro. It's now a very wide and varied tree of sub-genres, just like house. Techno is generally described as cold, rhythmic and inhuman, with lots of obviously artificial sounds, lots of percussion and little melody. Despite that, there is a lot of melodic techno and soft techno. Some techno sounds a lot like classic trance (which originally came from German techno) and some sounds a lot like the less funky house genres. It can be four on the floor or breakbeat and some breakbeat techno can sound a lot like hip-hop derived breaks.

As with all genres, the best way to know something is techno is to listen to a lot of techno and you'll pick up on the general feel of it which words can't describe.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery oon-tish

Oddly enough Nik, I think that's probably the best definition anyone has given me yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/18...3109712?ie=UTF8 All you're gonna need for a quick intro to the genre. There's also tons of stuff to read via Wiki that'll help you out if you cba.

Right on - I always like a good read about music, but I guess my question was a bit more ambiguous than I had intended.

I hear people who claim to be "techno" DJ's who spin the kind of techy/minimal "slow" techno, and then other DJ's who spin bangin', 140+ BPM "techno," and neither side seems to agree that the other is actual "techno."

I don't know if that makes any sense what-so-ever, I guess I just found it odd that "techno" music could differ so much in the eye of the beholder... It's not necessarily something I've experienced with Trance DJ's, House DJ's, etc.

Edit:

@ SYSTEM-J: Odds are that's the one I'm going to have to go with... Thanks m8.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J As with all genres, the best way to know something is techno is to listen to a lot of techno and you'll pick up on the general feel of it which words can't describe.

i agree 100%.
and which becomes the source of most debate in here.

The Adam Beyer type stuff is techno to me. Basically more repetitive than house/tech house and maybe a little harder.

Early on, the term "techno" was used in the same manner as we would use "EDM" today, which might explain the dilemma that arises when a genre encompasses everything from Marc Acardipane to Basic Channel.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper Early on, the term "techno" was used in the same manner as we would use "EDM" today, which might explain the dilemma that arises when a genre encompasses everything from Marc Acardipane to Basic Channel.

Exactly.

The problems that arrise for me come from when DJ's or Producers label themselves as "Techno" DJ's/producers. It's essentially become a meaningless term to me, as whenever I read about someone's new "techno" mix or track it could mean anything from Minimal or Tech House to bangin' Tech Trance.

It just confuses me.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT Exactly. The problems that arrise for me come from when DJ's or Producers label themselves as "Techno" DJ's/producers. It's essentially become a meaningless term to me, as whenever I read about someone's new "techno" mix or track it could mean anything from Minimal or Tech House to bangin' Tech Trance. It just confuses me.

You can easily say the same about the recent "electro" trend. Or for that matter, the problem that was around 4-5 years ago, when techno automatically meant banging out 20-30 loop/tool techno tracks in an hour. Today, the problem is the same, only the loop/tool techno tracks are replaced by "minimal". And "minimal" (a la Gabriel Ananda or Dominik Eulberg) has close to nothing in common with the original idea of minimal shaped by people like Robert Hood etc. etc.

It's an endless list of dilemmas really, but as long as you listen to enough and get that "feel" of things, you'll realize how to keep track of things after a while.

quote:

Originally posted by Sand Leaper You can easily say the same about the recent "electro" trend. Or for that matter, the problem that was around 4-5 years ago, when techno automatically meant banging out 20-30 loop/tool techno tracks in an hour. Today, the problem is the same, only the loop/tool techno tracks are replaced by "minimal". And "minimal" (a la Gabriel Ananda or Dominik Eulberg) has close to nothing in common with the original idea of minimal shaped by people like Robert Hood etc. etc. It's an endless list of dilemmas really, but as long as you listen to enough and get that "feel" of things, you'll realize how to keep track of things after a while.

You make a great point, because honestly, if I tell a lot of people I play "house" music, and then they hear me play, I'll get all sorts of responses that run the gamut of:

"This isn't House! It's Techno (or minimal)!"

to

"This isn't House! It's Trance!"

I guess because I have my own set definitions of what "house," "trance," "electro," etc. are to me, I don't see the dilemmas as readily, but with the word "Techno" I just immediately feel lost.

It's rare when a thread on TA actually makes me think about the music in a different way, thanks for the well thought out responses Leaper!

Slow or fast (depending on the type) mechanical sounding music that tends to be rhythmic. It doesn't rely on melody as much as trance does, and it is more about the technology and the beat. Theres hard techno, which tends to be the fastest, such as Chris Liebing or Jeff Mills. There is minimal, ambient and "intelligent" techno (aka IDM), which tends to be the slowest, such as Richie Hawtin/Plastikman, Robert Hood, Aphex Twin, Oval, Pan Sonic, Autechre, or FSOL during their "Lifeforms" stage and some of Carl Craig's and Josh Wink's stuff. Then there's Detroit techno, which seems to be not as fast as hard techno, nor as slow as minimal/ambient/IDM. Seems to be the most melodic of the techno forms. Such guys as Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Stacey Pullen, Carl Craig and Kevin Saunderson.

Then there's the european and funky stuff, like stuff Carl Cox plays. This is a fusion of tech-house and acid house, hard and tech-trance, progressive and tribal house and hard and detroit techno. I guess there's influences all over with european techno, and not all of them are from europe, but are inspired by it (UK, Belgium, Swedish, German). I guess some example would be Smith & Selway, Funk D'Void, Joey Beltram, Michel De Hey, Oxia, Ian Void, Chris Anderson, Filterheadz, as well as innovators like Oliver Lieb and Svan Vath etc, who have influenced both european techno and trance. Haha this is my best way to describe techno...hope I got it right.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J One of the oldest contempory dance music genres. Created in Detroit in the early 1980s. Evolved from electro.

Yes the early techno productions were influenced by electro, but it did not evolve from it. Techno came from house music brought to you by the following house/techno legends: Derrick May, Juan Atkins & Kevin Saunderson otherwise known as the Belleville Three. It was dubbed "Detroit's relatively high-tech, mechanical brand of house music."

Here's an excellent site: http://www2.abc.net.au/arts/soundsl...ult.asp#Scene_1

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery oon-tish

indeed

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT You make a great point, because honestly, if I tell a lot of people I play "house" music, and then they hear me play, I'll get all sorts of responses that run the gamut of: "This isn't House! It's Techno (or minimal)!" to "This isn't House! It's Trance!"

You're probably playing progressive house, because that's not really house, techno, or trance, but somewhere in the middle of the three.

At least in my experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Spirit5 Theres hard techno, which tends to be the fastest, such as Chris Liebing or Jeff Mills.

There's a step or three beyond Mills and Liebing when it comes to hard techno, though.

I've always found 'techno' ridiculously hard to describe, even more so to people that do not really listen to EDM. Most of the time, I'll just let em listen to some stuff I like.

quote:

Originally posted by basd There's a step or three beyond Mills and Liebing when it comes to hard techno, though. I've always found 'techno' ridiculously hard to describe, even more so to people that do not really listen to EDM. Most of the time, I'll just let em listen to some stuff I like.

so true. You could take about 10 different people, and they can all like 'techno' but different kinds, making it so hard to describe. I personally love techno, but the artists/dj's I love differ from this guy here, and again from sand leaper, and again from so many others. There is a feeling amongst some people (it's a very elitist genre) that some of it doesn't deserve the term, but the vast majority is called for imo.

My favourite artists

Valentino Kanzyani
Preach
Joris Voorn
Alexander Kowalski
oliver lieb (check his solieb alias for newish techno releases)
Hertz
Hardcell
Par Gridnvik
Adam Beyer
Chris Liebing

but there are some things which are easy to tell. There's schranz which is mainly just beats, bass & noise. Check Robert Natus or Sven Wittekind if you dare venture that way. I found that the more cross-genre tunes between techno & trance helped me appreciate techno before i delved further. With so many tracks, over so many years, it's impossible to know it all...

Also SystemJ's first post is some good advice

quote:

Originally posted by basd I've always found 'techno' ridiculously hard to describe, even more so to people that do not really listen to EDM. Most of the time, I'll just let em listen to some stuff I like.

+1, ppl not interested in edm seem to categorize most electronic music as being "techno music"...i must admit that back in high school i equated techno with: darude - sandstorm, randy katana - play it louder type stuff...


then i heard sven vath. for me he was the first one who really made me go...thats techno?!?!

i think people all too often assume "techno" sounds like this...

click me



when techno really goes WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY beyond that. i don't like this style at all...but i still like techno...because techno is really diverse


besides some of the names already mentioned in this thread i'd suggest artists like...but a lot of techno producers float around different genres...

Bryan Zentz
Kenny Larkin
Smith & Selway
Hakan Lidbo

clips from different styles of modern techno
from funky tech house to schranz to hard techno to electro techno-somthing (not it that particular order)

http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno01.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno02.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno03.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno04.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno05.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno06.mp3
http://www.whirloop.se/other/techno07.mp3

I agree with System-J and Spirit5 and I'll add:
Techno is technical tricking with machines (beats and sounds) with soul.

I think of Frankie Bones when I think of techno.

quote:

Originally posted by stevieboy32808 Yes the early techno productions were influenced by electro, but it did not evolve from it. Techno came from house music brought to you by the following house/techno legends: Derrick May, Juan Atkins & Kevin Saunderson otherwise known as the Belleville Three. It was dubbed "Detroit's relatively high-tech, mechanical brand of house music."

I don't think so.

Well, thanks for all the thoughtful replies guys. I've just been bothered recently by some local, and intarweb, DJ's who seem to have this exceptionally narrow view of just exactly what "techno" is. They seem to think that what they listen to/spin is the definition of "techno" and ONLY that definition can encompass exactly what "techno" is.

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