Music Definitions

Techno : styles

Early days:

In the early 1990s, adventurous techno producers experimented with the style, spawning new genres that have taken on a life of their own. The most prominent of these techno offshoots are:

Detroit techno : music in the style of early techno from Detroit, not necessarily of that geographical origin. Trance, which now has many subgenres, all of which differ from modern techno in that they tend to have emphasize synthesized, melodic or harmonic figures in the lower midrange frequencies, and often use build-ups and crescendos, among other differences;
a short-lived subgenre called hardcore that evolved into jungle, based mainly on complex arrangements of sampled percussion, often at very high BPMs (180+), and often featuring loud, dub-influenced bass lines played at half time;

Gabba (Gabber) : very loud, aggressive techno that was born in Rotterdam. The essence of the gabber sound is, for example, a distorted RolandTR-909 bass drum, overdriven to the point where it becomes a square wave and makes a recognizably melodic tone. The typical gabber track is from 160 to 220 BPM (beats per minute).

IDM : representing techno's "avant-garde", a genre often influenced by and crossing over into ambient and experimental music, usually features complex, asymmetrical beat patterns that render it more for listening than dancing;
tech house, a fusion that often combines techno with a prominent bass line and other elements of house, at a slightly lower tempo;

Acid techno : Chicago inspired and UK-based style of techno that originally featured the sound of the RolandTB-303 synthesizer; and

Ghettotech : which combines some of the aesthetics of techno with hip-hop, house music, and Miami bass.

Other sub-genres:

Bouncy techno : originating in Scotland in 1993 and influenced by Detroit techno and Gabba genres. Much of its characteristics have been used in the developing Happy hardcore scene since 1995.

Schranz : one of many names for European hard techno: percussive, bass heavy techno with a generally simple, repetitive structure. The name is heavily associated with Chris Liebing as giving rise to its popular usage since at his local record store the owner used to place aside certain records for his visits in a pile which was called the 'Schranz' pile.

Swechno : A name arising to describe the percussive sound arising from the Swedish techno scene, generally Swechno is accepted to be something which the prolific Adam Beyer gave rise to with labels such as his Drumcode defining the style.

Tartan techno : originating in Scotland in 1991 and influenced by European techno, using vocals and piano melody hooks.

Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass : a short lived, localised northern English scene in the early 1990s.

Wonky techno : the birth of the term wonky techno can be traced back to London DJ Jerome Hill's record shop where a section had been setup proclaiming to be full of "Wonky" tracks. The tunes which make up this sub-genre take the name from how they sound, tunes often have harsh industrial type sounds as well as harsh beats, often messing with the beat structure to create breaks. Neil Landstrumm, Cristian Vogel, Dave Tarrida and Subhead are often to be considered excellent examples of this sound at work.

Occasionally some well-funded pop music producers will formulate a radio or club-friendly variant of techno. The music of Technotronic, 2 Unlimited, and Lords Of Acid were early examples of this phenomenon. Established pop stars also sometimes get techno makeovers, such as when William Orbit produced Madonna's "Ray Of Light".

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