Techno Music

Techno music is one of the most innovative music styles created. It can best be described as electronic dance music. The source of the word Techno was pioneered by the German group Kraftwerk, who used a style of synthetic computer generated music in the 1970s. The history of techno is very difficult to define, as it varies depending whether you follow the history back to Germany, the United States or the United Kingdom. However, most state that techno's lineage can be traced back to Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and George Clinton. Techno came to prominence as fully fledged dance music with the advent of the Roland TB303 rhythm generator and the subsequent emergence of the 'Acid House' or 'rave' scene. The speed of the music, which is indicated in beats per minute (BPM) was continuously increasing, and in early 1990, the house beat was combined with the electro sound and techno house was born.

Techno in the United States

Techno as we know it was born in the United States- Detroit specifically. The early 1980s Detroit electro movement developed from 1970s disco and funk combined with the rhythms and sounds of Kraftwerk and British synthpop. One of the more well known exponents of this style was Cybotron, featuring Juan Atkins. Atkins went on to form one third of the Detroit techno ensemble 'the Belleville Three' in 1985 with Kevin Saunderson (of Inner City) and Derrick May (of Mayday and Rhythm is Rhythm). Other chief promoters of this new form of music were Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin and Josh Wink. Meanwhile in Canada, Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva were experimenting with minimalist techno and acid house (a variant of the Chicago based House movement using distorted pulses made by the Roland TB303 to simulate psychedelic sound effects). These two formed the influential Plus8 label with some European artists such as Speedy J getting their first breaks on the label. Ritchie Hawtin later resurfaced as Plastikman. Soon the west coast started to get in on the act, and by the early 90s, techno had arrived. However the American concept of techno differs sharply from that of their English counterparts. The American scene was, and still is, more influenced by funk and house than the British.