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What is Techno? -A Brief History Of Techno
Ten years ago techno music was considered an underground movement. Techno has moved from virtual obscurity to a genre embraced by millions of listeners and created by amateur musicians worldwide.
It's recent popularity is due to the growing number of people who are accepting computer technology as an integral part of their lives. Because techno is
created almost entirely with electronics, much of it has become an expression of the interface between
humans and machines. This relationship developed quite recently.
Techno as we know it started with the German band
Kraftwerk. In 1970, Kraftwerk, Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter began to
churn out innovative electronic pop hits. In the United States Kraftwerk
did not go unnoticed.
In the early eighties a trio of pioneers in Detroit began merging the
sounds of Kraftwerk with funk. Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin
Saunderson combined synthesizer beats with basslines inspired by
Parliament, George Clinton, and Funkadelic. In 1981 Juan Atkins and
Richard Davies, A.K.A. 3070, started the group Cybotron. In 1983 they
churned out the hit "Techno City," a track inspired by Detroit's
industrial decay. "Techno" was born.
Around the same time, the infant hip hop community picked up elements
of Kraftwerk's music, thanks to DJs like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster
Flash, and created electro. Electro relied heavily on synthesized beats
and computery vocoder voices. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa took the melody
from Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express," combined it with the
chunky beat from Kraftwerk's "Numbers," and composed the anthem
"Planet Rock." Electro spawned the idea of the funky computer.
MCs rapped over its beats, and breakdancers formed a new culture in the
cities where electro reigned.
Techno and electro were made possible by new, inexpensive technology.
The Roland TR-808, a programmable drum machine released in late 1980,
formed the distinctive sound for the entire electro genre, and was used in
countless early techno tracks. 1981's Roland TB-303 mini-keyboard was used
to create squelchy basslines for house and techno, once someone discovered
the weird sounds which emerged from a little knob twiddling. Samplers and
sequencers also became commonplace.
In the early nineties, something odd happened. Techno, which had failed
to gain mainstream success in the United States, became a huge phenomenon
in Europe--especially in Great Britain. In the United States, electro died
as hip hop absorbed it. While eighties techno was created almost entirely
by drug-free African American musicians, early nineties techno was
predominately created by acid-loving white Europeans.
Around 1990 enormous raves began to appear all over England. Organizers
of these huge, illegal parties made lots of money by dodging British
licensing laws. The locations of raves usually remained secret until the
night of the event. Rave flyers and tickets were sold beforehand,
containing a phone number for more information. At the information number,
a message recorded the night of the party directed ravers to a meeting
place. Thousands of people descended on raves simultaneously, making them
difficult to break up.
At these raves, a happy, simple style of techno called
"hardcore" was born. DJs began creating tracks with dancers in
mind. Unrelenting bass and fast beats accompanied chipmunky vocals and
piano with jingly pop-hooks. Many of these tracks were filled with
copyright violations, and were distributed on bootleg records called
"white labels." By 1992 hardcore was mainstream in England and
The Prodigy's "Charly" hit Number 3 on the pop charts. When the
record industry realized techno could sell, the genre became much more
commercialized.
Today the increased interest in techno allows more acts to see the
light of day. A variety of record labels are cropping up with a new
generation of artists. Currently, techno musicians with names like
Autechre (Sean Booth and Rob Brown), Aphex Twin (Richard D. James), µ-ziq
(Mike Paradinas), and Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson), are creating alien
atmospheres which push the boundaries of musical conventions.
A small group of minimalists keep Detroit-style techno alive. Richie
Hawtin, an English-born Canadian who DJed in Detroit in the eighties,
produces music under the name "Plastikman." Hawtin's hypnotic
music involves subtle changes in repetitive, syncopated percussion.
Where is techno headed? It's difficult to say. More and more electronic
music is being released, and the genres are becoming increasingly
specialized. Styles like ambient and drum 'n' bass are branching into new
types of music that defy classification. In the United States, thanks to a
huge push from record labels, techno seems to be catching on, under the
newly coined name "electronica".
Techno has become the soundtrack for the wired world. Some of its
original creators are approaching their 40s, but many of its current
listeners are in their twenties and early thirties--people who grew up
with computers.
There is a certain sense of detachment that occasionally comes with
encountering new technologies, but techno reminds us that machines reflect
humans, and electronics can be used to express funk and soul. Techno is as
much a philosophy as a genre. It's about Postmodern sampling and pushing
the boundaries of technology. Techno fills the space between humans and
their computer monitors.
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