Techno

Putting The Science Into Music

Techno emerged in Detroit during the early 1980s, developed by African American artists working with synthesisers, drum machines and sequencers. Its mechanical rhythms and futuristic character drew on electronic music, funk, electro, disco and the industrial character of the Motor City.

Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson met as students in Belleville, Michigan, and became known as the Belleville Three. Atkins explored early electronic ideas through Cybotron and Model 500, while May and Saunderson founded labels and productions that helped define the Detroit sound.

Detroit radio presenter The Electrifying Mojo exposed local audiences to an unusually wide mix of funk, electronic, new wave and European music, including Kraftwerk, Parliament-Funkadelic and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Detroit producers took these reference points and built something rooted firmly in their own city and culture.

The genre found an international audience in the late 1980s through British and European clubs, record shops and compilation releases. Berlin became a second major centre after the fall of the Berlin Wall, where clubs and producers pushed techno toward harder, darker and more minimal territory.

Later generations split techno into acid techno, minimal techno, dub techno, industrial techno, hard techno and melodic techno. Its many regional variations stay tied to Detroit's Black musical heritage, independent record labels and forward-looking approach to production.

At Scientific Sound Asia, techno is a defining feature of Esta La Musica, with further appearances on Electronic Roots and Floating Beats.