What is techno, exactly?

[DannyBlack]

Techno to me is something I love, something I can have fun with. The soundrack to my life.

[The_Laughing_Man]

In terms of shifts and movements there's stuff still happening, but its more subtle I suppose. I love the really polished carl craig sound, and the mix of melodic elements that falls somewhere between house and techno. That sound is new and different, even if it isn't exactly groundbreaking of innovative. It does show evolution though, and experimentation on the part of the artists. People aren't making music which conforms rigidly to a set of rules, in order for it to sound like "techno" and not something else. Well, thats my take on it anyway.

Hopping from hard techno to minimal is the exact opposite of experimentation though. It`s just following a trend.
Since when is doing that innovative?

Experimentation on the behalf of the individual artist is almost irrelevant, and can apply to any genre.
For all you know everyone within every set of dance music is doing something "THEY" haven`t done before with each new release.
That isn`t to say though, that what they are doing is anything of a different take on the genre they are working within.


I think people are making techno that does conform rigidly to a set of rules so that it doesn`t get called anything else BUT techno.

Exactly that in fact.

And melodic techno being new and different, are you kidding? that sound has been around on and of since the detroit beginnings. Not to say it isn`t good, but hardly a speck of innovation there. That kind of music that sat between techno and house was coming out in greater numbers in the early 000`s.

I spend loads of time looking for techno that has a different edge for Singularity Recordings, and its not easy to find stuff that isn`t an emulation or continuation of a very old sub style.

I love techno, but experimentation within the genre seems to have bottomed out.

[Jay Pace]

At the same time, things are being done differently now though. The hard techno people switching to a different sound brought new things to that sound. A lot more energy for starters, different structures being used, different types of sounds. Something different did get created, although its obvious which artists were influential in defining that sound.

Melodic techno, sure, nothing new there but there's great music being made with a different approach by artists with different backgrounds. Babicz stuff these days bears little relation to mentalist rob acid tracks from a decade back, but thats not to say he isn't bringing something new and special to the sound.

It's the old adage that there are no truly new ideas, only new combinations of old ideas. I think lots of producers are trying new things, and whilst that maybe only be "new for them" instead of "never been heard by human ears" it still means that you get a fair amount of variety within techno. I really like the fact that techno seems to try out new things, even if trying new things out means borrowing from other genres or trying on different hats at least it shows a desire to experiment, instead of a commitment to staying put.

[The_Laughing_Man]

And nothing you say isn`t happening in any other genre though.

House has many variations and guises, most of the major dance genres are the same in fact.

So I still say techno is no more experimental or no less predicable than any other dance genre once you investigate.

[Technologic]

At the same time, things are being done differently now though. The hard techno people switching to a different sound brought new things to that sound. A lot more energy for starters, different structures being used, different types of sounds. Something different did get created, although its obvious which artists were influential in defining that sound.

Melodic techno, sure, nothing new there but there's great music being made with a different approach by artists with different backgrounds. Babicz stuff these days bears little relation to mentalist rob acid tracks from a decade back, but thats not to say he isn't bringing something new and special to the sound.

It's the old adage that there are no truly new ideas, only new combinations of old ideas. I think lots of producers are trying new things, and whilst that maybe only be "new for them" instead of "never been heard by human ears" it still means that you get a fair amount of variety within techno. I really like the fact that techno seems to try out new things, even if trying new things out means borrowing from other genres or trying on different hats at least it shows a desire to experiment, instead of a commitment to staying put.

From what i've gathered, techno ranges from the down right filthy dirty to the complete and utter pretentious, and then goes through just about anything a producer might take influence from, all whilst engineering new sounds with new technology. It is music for everyone really and fits into our class system at all levels, it's just a shame that not everyone sees it like this, then again, maybe not...

[Jay Pace]

So I still say techno is no more experimental or no less predicable than any other dance genre once you investigate.

Maybe. I've been a fanboy of various genres at different stages though. Hardcore, Prog House, Trance, Breaks, D&B. All of them ended up boring me because they didnt really go anywhere or do anything different. Never been the case with techno, so thats always been part of the appeal for me, and part of what makes it special. But thats what makes it a personal definition as well...

@technologic

Loving that summary.

[Technologic]

And nothing you say isn`t happening in any other genre though.

House has many variations and guises, most of the major dance genres are the same in fact.

So I still say techno is no more experimental or no less predicable than any other dance genre once you investigate.

If techno was experimental it'd be called experimental and not techno. Although a lot of techno derived from experimental so i guess that's where the confusion lies.

[The_Laughing_Man]

Maybe. I've been a fanboy of various genres at different stages though. Hardcore, Prog House, Trance, Breaks, D&B. All of them ended up boring me because they didnt really go anywhere or do anything different. Never been the case with techno, so thats always been part of the appeal for me, and part of what makes it special. But thats what makes it a personal definition as well...

@technologic

Loving that summary.

So in a roundabout way you are agreeing.
Techno is great, its my fave dance music, but it`s no more experimental than any other genre.

[The Overfiend]

I always wonder if anyone still likes dancing, hearing a bad ass beat and being like hells yeah and head nodding or boogie-in

[The_Laughing_Man]

I think that`s a given.
Had a good boogie myself at the weekend.

[Igneous]

Techno is human emotion fed into a computer or other technology to produce music. The techno genre usually covers more emotions than other genres thats all. Thats the only real difference I can see from other genres & thats why I like it the best.

I agree with The Laughing Man that techno isn't as experimental as it used to be, especially with other genres emerging that are bassed round experimentation like IDM, Breakcore, etc. IMO this is why techno has taken a slightly backward step with minimal, stripping the sound down. But there is still a lot of veriety though which I think is more important.

Sometimes, when a style of music is defined then it is no longer experimental, its run of the mill, thats the problem with peigon holing music.

I think the next stage of true experimention in music will be through looking at the science of sound, how to move air particals. My money would be on it happening in the techno genre.

[The_Laughing_Man]

I think the next stage of true experimention in music will be through looking at the science of sound, how to move air particals. My money would be on it happening in the techno genre.

Already happening, not in techno, but in contemporary composition.
The evolution of what was begun with Stockhausen, Xanakis and to an extent, Cage.

[Igneous]

Already happening, not in techno, but in contemporary composition.
The evolution of what was begun with Stockhausen, Xanakis and to an extent, Cage.

I was thinking more the use of 5.1 Surround sound systems in clubs & new speakers that channel sound into small areas.

There are speakers being developed that work kind like torches, where you can dirrect a sound 20 feet away at someone with out anyone in the room hearing the sound. Once they become standard, musicicains can look at ways of manipulating then

One of the most intersting things I've heared recently was at a small festival where they had a powerfull 5.1 system in a woods. They weren't playing music, just firing signal noises around the area. It had a stangley hypnotic effect.

I think there is probley a bit more scope at looking at how sound frequencys can effect the human body though large soundsystems.

[tonyc2002]

I was thinking more the use of 5.1 Surround sound systems in clubs & new speakers that channel sound into small areas.

There are speakers being developed that work kind like torches, where you can dirrect a sound 20 feet away at someone with out anyone in the room hearing the sound. Once they become standard, musicicains can look at ways of manipulating then

Hyper Cardioid speakers or 'shotgun speakers'! there ****ing well weird. One of the lecturers at my old college actually helped to develop it.

[clubsynthetic]

techno is a recursive beat that evolves into more recursive beats through subtle (or not subtle) changes in it's dynamic.

[The_Laughing_Man]

I was thinking more the use of 5.1 Surround sound systems in clubs & new speakers that channel sound into small areas.

There are speakers being developed that work kind like torches, where you can dirrect a sound 20 feet away at someone with out anyone in the room hearing the sound. Once they become standard, musicicains can look at ways of manipulating then

One of the most intersting things I've heared recently was at a small festival where they had a powerfull 5.1 system in a woods. They weren't playing music, just firing signal noises around the area. It had a stangley hypnotic effect.

I think there is probley a bit more scope at looking at how sound frequencys can effect the human body though large soundsystems.

Pretty much all psychosomatic and physical effect research in sound has been done already and most is available on the net.
I got a few papers from the net about infra and ultra-sound and the various moods related to certain frequencies, but most of these frequencies are out of the range of conventional soundsystems. The stuff I found that could be used I put into my last PA ,Facing Choronzon, which was an experiment with psychosomatics, audio sigils, occult techniques and nlp. When I wasplaying it live I did notice some of the intended effects working, but you are heavily reliant on running through a properly set up sound system for this kind of stuff to be effective.

As for surround sound in clubs, we barely have clubs set up properly for stereo, let alone 5.1.

I`m not sure Audio spotlighting has much of an application musically outside of the art gallery (except for advertising) but it is pretty interesting tech.

There`s a lot of this kind of experimentation going on in contemporary composition and "art" music, but not techno.

[The_Laughing_Man]

Audio spotlight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wJ5Eff7hx0

[Technologic]

I was thinking more the use of 5.1 Surround sound systems in clubs & new speakers that channel sound into small areas.

There are speakers being developed that work kind like torches, where you can dirrect a sound 20 feet away at someone with out anyone in the room hearing the sound. Once they become standard, musicicains can look at ways of manipulating then

One of the most intersting things I've heared recently was at a small festival where they had a powerfull 5.1 system in a woods. They weren't playing music, just firing signal noises around the area. It had a stangley hypnotic effect.

I think there is probley a bit more scope at looking at how sound frequencys can effect the human body though large soundsystems.

5:1?

Why not 7:1 or 9:1?

Anyway, lol at subsonic bass causing involuntry bowel movements and Howard Stern using bass to get a girl to orgasm.

[The Overfiend]

I think that`s a given.
Had a good boogie myself at the weekend.

I wasn't talking about the Olivia Newton John cd I let you borrow.

[The_Laughing_Man]

I use that as an ash tray.
I spent the night dancing to Burt Bacharach numbers