techno production (2000-2004) compared to todays sound....

[Radic]

what are the main differences in your opinion between techno production from around 2000-2004 to today's techno?

I'm not talking about the style of music or anything like that, just the actual techniques used. I ask this cuz i own 2 or 3 hundred ep's from that era and whenever i pull them from their shelves for a mix each ep has a sound from that era that i find totally distinguishable from today's sound.

were more people making techno with mpc's from that era?
does tape have anything to do with it?
is it because so much of todays production incorporates so much digital?

so yeah the key factors. your opinions please
(maybe i should have posted this in the production forum, my apologies)

[DannyBlack]

Techno from 2000-2004 had balls. Todays doesn't.

[ritaheed]

People were still making music on machines with analogue desks etc - gives it more of a real raw sound compared to todays polished off digital stuff

Thats what ive noticed about some of todays techno peeps - the sound is too clean, to digitised if tht makes sense - techno shouldnt be clean, it should sound real n raw and in yer face

Just my opinion tho :)

[teknorich]

+1

[morbid]

I think some of it has to do with the mastering process

A lot of techno on big labels at the time (P. Rhythm, Compound, Punish etc etc was going through either Lawrie @ CurvePusher or Nilz @The Exchange

I think those 2 engineers and their equipment played a massive part in the sound your talking about

[ritaheed]

aye that Nilz @ the exchange was the business - im sure he done the stigmata serious - those releases were heavy

[Mattias_Fridell]

The music today doesn't contain the real raw intensive power the music from the 200-2004 era had, also today much is of course slower. I come from those early 2000 years with my first records and some people I meet asks me to go back and do that style again hehe, flattering but boring. I have tons of opinions about this subject and I really miss much of the attitude the music had before compared to now, but then again keeping up the old sound forever would be boring. One thing is sure, 2010 needs the raw feeling and classic attitude of Techno we had back then but not many is pushing it. Personally I like to dip my fingers into everything when it comes to Techno and sub-genres but Im really burning for getting older Techno into a new modern package.

[Jay Pace]

Different mastering, different production equipment, but mainly (I guess) a different type of techno.

Depends what genre you're talking about as well I guess. DE:9 closer to the edit came out in 2001. I don't here that much difference between that album and most of the similar minimal stuff thats coming out today.

[tekara]

Not enough substance to the stuff out there nowadays, but to put a whole blanket statement and say that the entire genre is boring now would be overdoing it. The fact is that there is some decent techno out there, just have to siff through more garbage in order to get there.

What I do find distinguishable between the stuff nowadays is that techno sounds more "progressive". I mean progressive as in more dance friendly formulaic production techniques (high pass filter sweeps, drum roll snares, etc). These things rarely happened in 2000-2004. It's not as loopy and pumping as it used to be.

It almost sounds like all the major players in the techno industry had a secret board meeting and all unanimously agreed to shift the techno 20 BPM lower, use less elements in a track, but drench every track in reverb.

Not to sound fussy or anything, but if I hear ONE MORE techno track that consists only of a drum kick with a reverberated bleep or blop, and the build up consists of him opening up a cut off filter for 32 bars and calling it a day, i'm gonna strangle myself.

[-LETHAL-ONE-]

Not to sound fussy or anything, but if I hear ONE MORE techno track that consists only of a drum kick with a reverberated bleep or blop, and the build up consists of him opening up a cut off filter for 32 bars and calling it a day, i'm gonna strangle myself.

You and me both pal....

[Radic]

but the thing is is that even the slower stuff of that era (130-134bpm) still had a similar sound to the faster stuff. The overall sound somewhere around 2004-06 just went BANG and all of a sudden a new sound emerged.

was the mpc 2000xl influential in the techno of the 2000-04 era?
was sampling old records more of a thing back then compared to todays sound?

[Jay Pace]

Not to sound fussy or anything, but if I hear ONE MORE techno track that consists only of a drum kick with a reverberated bleep or blop, and the build up consists of him opening up a cut off filter for 32 bars and calling it a day, i'm gonna strangle myself.

:lol:

Although, that being said - thats was pretty much Josh Wink's production formula for a while.

Get loop.
Apply reverb.
Take out loop, leave reverb
Filter reverb.
All back in again. Hands in the air, cry at the intensity of it all, hug a stranger, shit pants, cut wrists on monday morning.

[-LETHAL-ONE-]

yep.....

[-LETHAL-ONE-]

People were still making music on machines with analogue desks etc - gives it more of a real raw sound compared to todays polished off digital stuff

Thats what ive noticed about some of todays techno peeps - the sound is too clean, to digitised if tht makes sense - techno shouldnt be clean, it should sound real n raw and in yer face

Just my opinion tho :)

Im still using a Roland mv8800+mv8000 with a 32ch mixing desk along with 3 Nord, 1 Roland, and 1 Moog synth... F_ck it.... Call me old fashioned.....

[ritaheed]

Im still using a Roland mv8800+mv8000 with a 32ch mixing desk along with 3 Nord, 1 Roland, and 1 Moog synth... F_ck it.... Call me old fashioned.....

nice one man :) good to hear that - got a couple of dave smith synths, a doepfer synth and a few drum modules - they alll sound banging

want a big desk tho - no gna happen any time soon tho

[miss kosmix]

also the digital era has provided for a lot of crap out there, undermining the real quality releases, this didn't happen 10 years ago when tracks had to be of good quality to get released. Nowadays anyone can release any sh*t they like, it's free...

[Mattias_Fridell]

What Miss Kosmix said hold true.

[The Overfiend]

Loads of differences.
And I do agree that Lawrie and Nilz had a huge part in that.
Also I think the difference is that today there is more attention to detail in what is considered quality as compared to a throwaway track.
Mattias I am so guilty of asking you for the fast stuff, I admit it.
I just had this discussion with Glenn about tempo and energy.
Now the sound is clearer, and a good amount of producers are paying more attention to what is done behind the scenes sonically.
Ritahead is right that most people have turned their backs on the gritty-ness of it all and have gone for more refined and quality sounds.
I don't think I will snap out of the speed of 136-143 ish area.
But I can at least write at those speeds with higher production values.
I do miss the old days, but I do sense there is hope for us Hard Techno heads in the sense of not having to deal with the confusion with the s word anymore.

[The Overfiend]

YouTube - Green velvet - The Stalker (Laidback Luke Extended Mix)

1996 :)

[BloodStar]

there is much wider pallete of sounds and textures in today's techno sound. that is what i like,. also production values are now much higher that 5-10 years ago,. some of today's music sounds too digital, that is true. some people are releasing 3-5 eps a month, which is self-destroying, but on the other hand, if there is a target group, then fair play.

what i think, peoplegot tired of still the same loopy 4x4 bashing. this is really not that interesting to people anymore. bit sad, but true. new forms, more experiments, wider sound spectrum + real production values, that is what i want to hear in today's music.