(essay)

“I am not so rock and roll. I am techno!”
(Raf Simons)

Techno is a form of dance music produced with electronic instruments. This style appeared in the mid-1980s and got its name only in 1988.

All techno music is characterized by repetitive rhythms with a frequency of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty beats per minute. For creation, digital stations, synthesizers, and drum machines are used. There are currently several subgenres of Techno.

The emergence of the Techno style was preceded by a number of famous musicians. Most famous are Atkins, Kraftwerk, May and Saunderson. Giorgio Moroder and the Yellow Magic Orchestra also played a role. Despite the rapid development of Techno in the United States, this style remained isolated for a long time. For the first time on the world stage, it broke through only in 1987. This credit goes to Derrick May, who created a piece called ‘Strings of Life,’ which has become one of the most popular dance compositions in Britain. Subsequently, the Techno genre began to spread across the European continent, penetrating from Britain to Germany, Belgium and a number of other countries, in which it acquired specific features. In Britain, the techno genre developed along with the acidic house. Due to the wary attitude of the authorities, it became part of the underground.

Throughout the 1990s, the original sound, which was retained in the 1980s, was corrected and supplemented with a variety of stylistic innovations. During that period, Techno included both pop-oriented and anti-commercial performers. For this reason, both Moby and Underground Resistance belonged to this musical direction.

Musicians from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain had a certain influence on the sound. In the USA, the techno style also developed rapidly, which was reflected in the emergence of its second wave with the participation of Kenny Larkin, Jeff Mills, Karl Craig and others. After a while, the Techno style went beyond the specialized clubs and began to sound at festivals.

In the early 1990s, a more complex sound called Tekkno started spreading in Germany. The warped name was used to denote a heavier sound. Later, it faded into the background, and new subgenres popped in that got popular with connoisseurs of dance music, including Minimal Techno, Ambient Techno, EBM, Jungle, Industrial.

So, I have nothing to add. Just only the words of Jonathan Nolan, “I am big, big, big techno dork!”