Question: How would you take techno forward?

[MARKEG]

As you might have realised I've been away from the board for a good few weeks now. Basically Chrissi and I have locked ourselves away in the studio and I have to say, we really think we are hitting on some interesting new techniques that will totally improve our productions.

I thought it would be nice to start this topic cause it's all we've been talking about in the studio - how to introduce new things into the sound and take things in a new direction. Anyone can bang out the same old shit but can you go forward? What do you need to do to go forward? These are all really interesting questions that need to be answered in my book.

To those that don't produce - what do you think techno is needing at the moment in it's content. Don't say the same old obvious shit like no breakdowns or less formulas. Is there something you think when you hear a hard techno track and think - if only it has 'this' in it?

To the producers on the board - what do you think is limiting your sound? Why do you let it limit you? What ideas have you got that you think could spark a whole new generation of techno ppl? If you're not thinking you need to take things forward then why not?

Here's to the beginning of an interesting conversation ;)

[DJZeMig_L]

I think that the ovr use of fast bpm and exagerated distortion is limiting a bit ...

not in my particular case but I find this more and more...

The look 4 a certain sound is also limiting, play around and ask yerself how it sound 2 ya...


I think u should try and embrace more sub-genre into techno ... myself i luv mixing it all up, the minimal, the getho, etc...

Don't really think is anything new but is something I feel right now!

Z

[Ritzi Lee]

Yesterday i been to the recordshop to check out some new records.
I discovered a lot of broken beats technotracks. I also discovered Cari Lekebush with some improved sounds. I also like the stuff Echoplex is making these days....

It's not a matter of trying to make a new sound. I think new sounds are dependent on the evolution of technology... Just put out some creative producers and the newest studio equipment in 1 room and let them freak out.

And ofcourse if you really want to think creative,
listen to other kind of music. Not only techno / dance.
Most inspiration / original things exist from a totaly different genre of music.

Evolvement / improvement is something universal.
If you try to see it more locally, you are eventualy out of options.

[jonnyspeed]

I've always had the opinion that techno just needs to expand outwards to provide more and more choice. The good thing about techno is that it is such a massive genre that you can go with what you like and you'll be damn sure that hundreds of other people will like it too :)

The only thing I would like is for more music that makes me smile and think... "tune!". deep phat analague basslines and repetitive spacious beats, please. And you know me, Mark, lots of rave horns!

peace.

[The Overfiend]

To bring the genre forward.

One. A collective mentality may help.
If the clickish kind of behavior would stop new blood could come in and give a new excitement about this music we call techno.

Two. I totally agree with Ze Mig L, The saturation of records coming out with the distorted sound is killing the substandard of production for the next generation. You have slew of people just making noise over a beat and the more this is accepted it's almost having a mutant like child, that no one wants around but you have to accept as part of the whole.

Three. Some people with some real business sense, if these distributors were run with a serious business mind with the artist and the consumer in mind the genre wouldn't be going under so to speak.

Also pingeonholing producers is also a big part of why this music is going under, people are expecting a certain sound from most producers and the second something different is tried they are slagged.

As far as me myself trying to contribute to the greater whole. I am trying to make music with the dance floor in mind. Most people now are forgetting all that hard stuff and some breakbeat stuff can really clear a dance floor and isnt really fair to the uneducated listener. I think techno came into my life on the dancefloor and that is where i will return the favor, I'm also aspiring a few other plans which my close associates are only in the kno about but, a lot of "big names" have guided me in the right direction production wise, music, and career wise, so I hope when I am in a better position musically I can return the favor to the next generations up and coming. As long as there is talent there of course, not some 13 year kid making music to annoy his parents. ;)

[dirty_bass]

Well as Summer of Sam said.
Less cliquey-ness and more unity can only be a good thing. The sharing of knowledge and talent in the right environment can only strengthen the whole.

I personally am trying to take things forward by trying not to refer to techno at all. I am listening to everything but techno, and am trying to bring back what the dance scene lost in it`s domination of the musical "zeitgeist". And that is the "song" structure. I am trying to bring a vocal element, and eventually an instrumental element, without getting too cheesy. I don`t know if this is a good way to go, but it`s all about taking risks isn`t it.

I love the experimental side of techno, but it is really niche stuff, and not really too dancefloor friendly, so I think honing and crafting some of the techniques of the more experimental side of things, could be a way to go as well. Never forget the punter on the dancefloor.

Also the epic nature of some of the really dark techno can be used to greater advantage. Some of this music has real emotional power, and too many producers make cold music, but it is music that causes an emotional response that is the most memorable. Some more emotional usage of the dark side of techno would have real potential to bring tears to the eye of the listener.

Well, that`s my ten pence worth anyway.

[Orange]

make music with the dance floor in mind

:clap:

Never forget the punter on the dancefloor.

:clap:

More 4 the FLOOR

[The Divide]

My 2 cents...

I am bored of tracks been built purely on tribal style drum sections. I would like to hear more sound manipulationand feeling expressed through sounds. At the end of the day its all about the rhythm but it doesnt mean we have to use the same old dry sounds. I don’t think you have to reach for the nearest machine sample cd, however some futuristic sounds/synths would be good imo.

I see Migz point with the fast bmp over distorted sound but that’s not the techno I hear when I am out at a club so it doesn’t bother me. I just see it as another sub-genre. Although I can understand this because there’s a lot of this stuff in the record shops

For me I would like to hear more sound synthesis, tunes with more emotion and identity thro the sounds. I also think that new structures and ways of making the techno change in its 6 min duration wouldn’t do any harm. I don’t mean to sound old fashioned but why not have a record with a beginning middle and end section, instead of the same groove.

I would like techno to feel more like that equipment is speaking to you. When its looping its great but I would like to jump out of the loop and into more programmed sections within it.

With my tracks I find what limiting my sound is, having to think ahead for the dj, it sometimes feels like I have to do certain things within the tracks otherwise the labels won’t take it or the dj's wont play it. This can make my sound more formulated. I’m actually trying to think of a way around this. I also feel limited because of the lack of hardware and would love to try a different approach within the studio. Perhaps an external midi sequencer and more devices hooked into each other. I like the analogue sound much more. I dont think you have to go non 4/4 but i do think that genre itself has a big future in techno right now.

[The Divide]

Ohhhh and deffinatly more of your own recorded sounds. Always worth trying for some inspiration man ;)

[DJZeMig_L]

Sorry by reading this I just remeber one of the most important things 2 make things move,.. respect yerself, do what u feel is good... and not what other say is good or label/ punters/ what ever...

I am a firm believer in giving back both 2 the comunity and 2 the dance floor. but if I feel like making a track out of a fart I do .. later I'll worrie about releases and the all bla bla bla.... even if it ...errr... stinks...


PS - B different because u r and not because u wanna b! ;)

Z

[dan the acid man]

the most important thing i love to hear is people's passion coming out in the music they make, this should be enough to develop techno further as not everyone's passion's are the exact same, do what you feel is right and believe in yourself.

as a punter iv'e really loved some of the more vocal tracks like cluster 50 release mosquito's tweeter and another iv'e just got patterns 14.

[DROID]

move techno forward? sit in it in the passenger seat of ur mini van drive to 60 mph then crash head on at full speed into a brick wall and watch techno "MOVE FORWARD" thru the windshield :clap:

[mindgame]

To those that don't produce - what do you think techno is needing at the moment in it's content. Don't say the same old obvious shit like no breakdowns or less formulas. Is there something you think when you hear a hard techno track and think - if only it has 'this' in it?

less focus on bass - deep bass is good - it drives techno - but i find alot of techno now a days is all bass oriented and there iusent too much going on outside of that...especially int eh nu skool acid techno - you have some small patterns going on somewhere behind teh scene-
bass adn atmosphere is a good start..but how about more patterns - more sounds - bleeps and twists with the techno...techno in itself is a dj tool...give more sounds for the dj's to work with a use -

i mean no offense to anyone on this board but i feel sometimes tracks are way over produced (which is ok if a producer really wants to get into his production) but that there is so much going on that there is no real need to MIX - all they have to do is blend because the track takes care of it for them - it allows for too many cracker jack box djs -
it saddened me on another thread to find that most people are more concerned and will pay and promote djs simply because they have good track selection (it is important..no one wants to dance to crap) but too many people are not concerned with a dj's skills - and they dont have to be because teh mixes are taken care of cuz they are built into the track -

id like to see more production that will force djs to do something - (even though they shouldent have to be forced) -

[dirty_bass]

feel sometimes tracks are way over produced (which is ok if a producer really wants to get into his production) but that there is so much going on that there is no real need to MIX - all they have to do is blend because the track takes care of it for them - it allows for too many cracker jack box djs -
it saddened me on another thread to find that most people are more concerned and will pay and promote djs simply because they have good track selection (it is important..no one wants to dance to crap) but too many people are not concerned with a dj's skills - and they dont have to be because teh mixes are taken care of cuz they are built into the track -

id like to see more production that will force djs to do something - (even though they shouldent have to be forced) -

I think DJ`s are self important enough without pandering to the limelight luvvin, human jukeboxes ;)
If a tune is so good it sounds like it`s being mixed, then what`s wrong with that? It`s the tunes that are important, without em a DJ is just a geezer with fidgety hands, and a crick in his neck.

More Live P.A`s, that`s another thing that could push it.

Less DJ`s and more live P.A`s, yeah, that`ll put a spanner in the works

[Ritzi Lee]

OK but now we all agree techno is inspired by other musicgenres?
At some point in time there was a kind of development that techno suddenly was inpired by other technosounds. And a lot of producers began to apply this formula....

Doesn't this give a kind of recursive effect? Isn't this exactly what Mark is trying to explain?

[scienceofuse]

Techno itself was inspired by other music genres! I agree with you that some techno producers began looking for inspiration inside the techno scene itself, which isn't a bad thing by itself, but I generally prefer producers with some sort of different musical background. It seems that people, who were into different genres of music before getting into the whole "techno" thing aren't affected by the "techno purist" way of thinking, so their productions aren't as formulaic... I could think of a few producers who would make good examples, but I think everyone knows what I'm talking about and taste in music (even techno) is always subjective anyway, so...

Opinions?

[jonnyspeed]

the most important thing i love to hear is people's passion coming out in the music they make, this should be enough to develop techno further as not everyone's passion's are the exact same, do what you feel is right and believe in yourself.

as a punter iv'e really loved some of the more vocal tracks like cluster 50 release mosquito's tweeter and another iv'e just got patterns 14.

word :clap:

[massplanck]

As you might have realised I've been away from the board for a good few weeks now. Basically Chrissi and I have locked ourselves away in the studio and I have to say, we really think we are hitting on some interesting new techniques that will totally improve our productions.

I thought it would be nice to start this topic cause it's all we've been talking about in the studio - how to introduce new things into the sound and take things in a new direction. Anyone can bang out the same old shit but can you go forward? What do you need to do to go forward? These are all really interesting questions that need to be answered in my book.

To those that don't produce - what do you think techno is needing at the moment in it's content. Don't say the same old obvious shit like no breakdowns or less formulas. Is there something you think when you hear a hard techno track and think - if only it has 'this' in it?

To the producers on the board - what do you think is limiting your sound? Why do you let it limit you? What ideas have you got that you think could spark a whole new generation of techno ppl? If you're not thinking you need to take things forward then why not?

Here's to the beginning of an interesting conversation ;)

Its simple Mark.

More NOTES. Less Loops.

[DJ Tomi]

When i make techno i like to make it with a really trance-style breakdown, nice and long with a big big build up, with most techno tunes ive heard the "breakdown" is only about 4 - 8 bars, wen im makin tunes im looking to make technmo kind of euphoric to a certain degree

:)

[Dustin Zahn]

I really think the 142+ schranz techno is killing it for us all. No offense intended to the people here who write or DJ this stuff. I encourage everyone to do what they love.

These days I just don't understand why you want to take one hard as nails record and mix into the next hard as nails record. For instance, if you're mixing in a heavy G.Wilson track, and then mix in another track by him or a like-minded artist...you're making it even more heavy and harder during the mix. After the mix is completed you still have a heavy as **** mix. It's boring and easy to do. Lately I've been buying up a lot of old, stripped down minimal records and throwing them on 3 decks. I find that with a little work and creativity you can still make it a hard beatin' set but it's not as monotonous.

I enjoy taking some really old P.Rhythm or Cari tracks, placing the odd Mills track over it, and working in something really weird or mental on the top. The result is three tracks creating one major head **** track that is still beatin' and somewhat thought provoking.

In my personal production lately, I've been trying to find ways to leave out more of the drums and concentrate on stripping it down and getting really crazy with the synths.

I think when techno started moving into the clubs the sound changed with it. It got more poppy and commercial with catchy hooks and easy-to-please rhythms. I remember the reason I got into techno was because of hearing these really insane, mental tracks like Spastik or some other cari lekebusch stuff. Don't get me wrong I love the clubby techno, but these days 95% of techno is either hard, fast garbage made for the sake of being hard, or poppy techno made for the sake of DJs like Cox or Fergie to play it. Sorry if I rambled.