fast go to navigator1. Some history 2. Different forms of what is commonly known as "techno" 3. What -is- "techno?" 4. Why isn`t "techno" regarded as "proper" music? 5. Links of interest |
--- Some history Unlike the beliefs of the common public, especially in the United States, techno is -not- the same as dance music a la 2 Unlimited, Aqua etc. This kind of music is what insiders refer to as "dance" or "eurodance," and which I will call "eurodance" from now on. Eurodance originated in (yes, you guessed right) Europe, and was a commercial alternative to the underground techno/rave scene. This scene had existed since the late 80`s, and had sprung out of the pop clubs playing 80`s synth music. It also incorporated some elements of disco, the 70`s gay (black) music which culminated when thousands of disco records were burned in the Kaminzky Park stadium of Chicago. Techno was usually regarded by the black disco crowd as "White boy`s music," especially in the United States, where the rave scene has never been as big as in the UK. In the US, techno wasn`t known until eurodance got popular, and because of this eurodance catched a lot of the crowd that might have gotten into techno given the proper circumstances. Another element which made techno sound negative in the ears of most americans was drugs. The rumor that all ravers was high (on different chemical substances) when on parties, made the rave scene even smaller, even though this rumor was very exaggerated, at least when it started. However, drug addicts of various kinds heard this rumor, and started frequenting the raves. Thus the rumor had effectively made itself true. This caused the eventual collapse of what could have been a big US techno scene, and today only few good parties are held. These are also often frequented by "wannabe" innovators, so the underground scene has never gotten a chance to evolve in the US. All these reasons combine to give techno a negative meaning in the US, and most people there see techno as music to dance to, and nothing more. What these people don`t know, is that there is a bustling techno scene over in Europe, and that there are also hundreds of thousands of people who enjoy techno as music to -listen- to, not only dance to(that includes me). --- Different forms of what is commonly known as "techno" There are hundreds of categories of what is commonly reffered to as "techno." Some bigger categories are: techno, house, trance, jungle/drum'n'bass, acid, big beat, techrock, rave, tribal, ambient, breakbeat and a few more. But the sub-categories are almost limitless: (in no particular order) hardstep, techstep, dreamhouse, funky house, discohouse, acidhouse, acidtrance, amylhouse, detroit minimal, shuffled beats, tech-house, french funk, garage, speed garage, triphop, dub, tribaltrance, jazzy house, jazztech, acid jazz, tech-hop - the list goes forever on, and I`m sure there are hundreds I`ve forgotten. What does this show? It shows that the techno music scene, especially the one in Europe, is still innovative. Though we are probably not the cutting edge in ten years, I bet we aren`t like rock is now, either. The techno scene will probably, as far as I can tell, follow a path somewhere between jazz, rock and disco, sometime in the future. --- What -is- "techno?" That is a question probably best left unanswered. A short explanation could be something like: music that usually incorporates a synthetic bassdrum and hihat sound, usually arranged in a 4/4 beat pattern, and which often uses synths exclusively, but not always. What I want to grab hold of here is that last paragraph. "Which often uses synths exclusively, but not always." The thing that makes many people think of techno as not "real" music, is the belief that techno uses synthetic sounds only. That is -very- wrong. Though synth-only "techno" is very usual at raves and clubs, "techno" incorporating live instruments is very common among todays innovative techno artists. An example exists here in my own country, Norway, where a guy named Hallgrim Berg plays the jew`s-harp(a common Norwegian folk instrument) togheter with a techno band, at a big rave held annually in Oslo(Norway`s capital). This sound could best be described as very 'acidic,' though it is really undescribable. Another interesting fact is that Hallgrim Berg represents the conservative party in the Norwegian senate equivalent. That would be like a representative of the republican party playing at your local rave... Quite unimaginable, I bet. I think that provides a pretty good picture on the different status of techno on these two continents... --- Why isn`t "techno" regarded as "proper" music? That is the formulation of my last question. And why isn`t it? Sweep through the internet looking for sites relating to techno music, and you`ll find most techno people to be quite alright, quite talented and quite gifted. You`ll also find most to be far more open than the common american native, and also far more interesting. You`ll see that "techno" has a lot of potential, and that it has yet to be recognized as probably one of the more important musical innovations of the last 50 years. No other musical artform can be combined with so many different styles, no other musical artform can express so many different feelings, no other musical artform can be as fast, but not as slow either. There are enough types of "techno" to suit everyone`s taste. I urge you to check out the techno scene, and if you don`t enjoy it, I feel sorrow for you. You positively need a life if you cannot enjoy any aspect of this scene, and I mean that, believe me. With regards, misterbla. --- Links of interest 1. Mah Music - misterbla`s own mod group 2. Tokyo Dawn - a mod group concentrating on jungle/d'n'b 3. mono - a triphop/techno mod group 4. Smokin' Beats - a real life speed garage label 5. 20:20 vision - a techno/house label 6. thunderdome - hardcore/gabber music 7. Paper Rec. - techno label 8. Dorado/Filter - labels, exquisite website design 9. Daft Punk - excellent french-funk guys |