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13.09.2006 20:48 - A Brief History of Techno

Автор: copycattt Категория: Други

Прочетен: 3843 Коментари: 20 Гласове:

Any given moment, countless people are listening to techno. It’s hard to believe that a mere ten years ago electronic dance music was considered an underground movement. Techno has grown from virtual obscurity to a genre embraced by millions of listeners and musicians worldwide.

Why is techno so successful? Perhaps its 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.

In the early eighties a trio of pioneers in Detroit began merging the sounds of synthpop and Italo-disco with funk. Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson were high school friends who went to dance parties where the music ranged from Kraftwerk to Parliament. They listened to an influential radio DJ, The Electrifying Mojo, who played European imports alongside Prince and the B-52’s. In 1983 Atkins and Richard Davies, aka 3070, released the hit “Clear” under the name Cybotron. 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 distinctive 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.

In Chicago, house music was taking a similar path. Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, and other DJs were playing a mixture of synthesizer-driven dance music and NYC disco. Hardy in particular would edit loops of the instrumental parts of tracks. Before long, local radio caught on with the Hot Mix 5 on WBMX, and locals began creating their own tracks to play.

Techno, electro, and house 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 and house tracks. 1981’s Roland TB-303 mini-keyboard was used to create squelchy basslines once people discovered the weird sounds that 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 fact, the term was popularized by Virgin Records’ seminal UK compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit.

Around 1990 raves began to appear near London. Most organizers of these large, illegal parties made their money dodging British licensing laws. The locations of many raves remained secret until the night of the event. Attendees had to call a special phone number or rendezvous at various meeting spots to learn the actual location. Hundreds 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 created tracks with drug-addled dancers in mind. Unrelenting bass and fast beats accompanied chipmunky vocals and jingly pop-hooks. 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, electronic 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 tracks involve subtle changes in repetitive, syncopated percussion. Other important figures in this second wave are Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, and Underground Resistance.

Where is techno headed? It’s difficult to say. More and more electronic music is being released, and genres are becoming increasingly specialized. Styles like ambient and drum and bass are branching into new types of music that defy classification.

Techno has become the soundtrack for the wired world. Some of its original creators are approaching their forties, 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 humans control the machines, 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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