Techno Music, an important genre of electronic dance music, developed in Detroit in the mid-1980s but commercially successful throughout the world.
Techno music began with three friends—Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson—who met at Belleville High School in Detroit in 1984. They created synthesized music that reflected both the post-industrial decay of Detroit, and the growing importance of computer technology. It was Atkins who first used the word “techno” to describe his experiments with analogue and digital synthesizers, and the term has since been applied to a bewildering variety of styles of dance music. Under the influence of European electronic pop (particularly the German band Kraftwerk, who were the first pop band to use purely synthesized sounds to make music) and the psychedelic funk of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, Detroit techno created futuristic soundscapes supported by dance rhythms. While Chicago “house” music (a hybrid of disco, soul, and funk) relied on heavy basslines and a relentless up- or mid-tempo ¹ beat, early techno experimented with different areas of sound to generate a variety of moods and rhythms.
In the United States, where rave culture is less widespread than in Europe, techno has been largely overshadowed by hip hop (the basis of rap music). In Europe, however, techno is a pervasive influence on both commercial and underground dance music, and has mutated into innumerable forms since the mid-1980s.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Techno music began with three friends—Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson—who met at Belleville High School in Detroit in 1984. They created synthesized music that reflected both the post-industrial decay of Detroit, and the growing importance of computer technology. It was Atkins who first used the word “techno” to describe his experiments with analogue and digital synthesizers, and the term has since been applied to a bewildering variety of styles of dance music. Under the influence of European electronic pop (particularly the German band Kraftwerk, who were the first pop band to use purely synthesized sounds to make music) and the psychedelic funk of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, Detroit techno created futuristic soundscapes supported by dance rhythms. While Chicago “house” music (a hybrid of disco, soul, and funk) relied on heavy basslines and a relentless up- or mid-tempo ¹ beat, early techno experimented with different areas of sound to generate a variety of moods and rhythms.
In the United States, where rave culture is less widespread than in Europe, techno has been largely overshadowed by hip hop (the basis of rap music). In Europe, however, techno is a pervasive influence on both commercial and underground dance music, and has mutated into innumerable forms since the mid-1980s.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
