techno isnt about the past, its about the future

[steevio]

everything you said Tony sums the situation up, the question is how to move forward.
dubstep sounded like the future to me in 2003, now it sounds tired and cliche'd, and has been plundered and right royally shafted by the mainstream - its inevitable.

theres been at least 4 or 5 occasions when i almost gave up on techno, and everytime its because it wasnt moving forward or i didnt like the direction it was being taking at the time, to the point that when in the late 1990s it turned into one big half bar loop of sampled percussion, with virtually no new musical ideas, i decided to stop calling my music techno.

i'm happy to call it techno again now, because i've been revived by the kit i'm using, i'm going back to where i was in my head in 1990, but with a totally new approach.
so much is about the equipment. give anyone a TB303, show them how to program it, and they'll come up with all the classic acid lines within a few days, its unavoidable.

my belief was that when software became good enough and computers fast enough, we'd get an amazing new wave of talented young producers doing things we couldnt imagine, and i think dubstep is as close to that as we've come, but for techno and house, it hasnt really happened in any big way, apart from a few isolated bursts of energy like when Akufen came along and shook things up a bit.

i think the availability, relative cheapness, and rapid development of eurorack modular will spawn a new wave of interesting music that cannot be done any other way, and i also think that software will keep getting better, and more importantly more imaginative, and once interfaces become more 'modular' instead of being trigger pads for Ableton loops, we might see some forward motion, because people will come up with more interesting ways to join things up, rather than being pushed into doing it the way software designers think you want to do it.

i still believe in techno, or should i say hypnotic machine music, i had a party at my house at the weekend, and i heard some of the freshest and most accomplished live music ive heard in ages from some of the most talented producers around today, i cant help but be encouraged.

ive always been out on a limb doing my own thing, i've never followed trends, i believe every style of music has its own unique mathematics, thats what defines it, and because the mathematics of techno is on the surface very simple, its too easy to fall into the trap of not pushing the envelope, and just repeat the mathematics of the past, this is what makes it stale, you have to look for new patterns, you're not going to find them in the old chords and basslines.

[mizzdirekt]

You are just coming of age man...that's all it is. We have all gone through it. You are starting to recognize that it only takes one voice to be musical...if you know how to play it. When those guys used to reference "the future" in their concepts and music it wasn't about technology. The future was a positive look forward. To a world without mental chains. It was a concept of hope. The technology of the time fit nicely into this concept. What is so hard to explain to the younger generation is that there was NO SUCH THING as computers as we know them now. Synthesizers were state of the art machines. You guys were born with computers in your hands. You were sold on them from day one. You drank the electric cool aid. Computers are very useful in production and in music...in moderation, like everything else. It has it's place. Those guys had no idea computers would become so mundane and such a hindrance to living a healthy life. We all go through what you are experiencing as musicians...it's just growing up man. You spent all this time learning sound synthesis... a good thing...but now you are ready to learn how to make music. Most young aspiring musicians drop off the map when this time comes. They go into production, or mastering, or marketing work (what they are used to). Learning music is the most difficult and rewarding part of all this. That's why it takes decades to become a good musician.

[tone-def]

i thought a lot of the minimal techno & house this decade was futuristic. but as soon as Mixmag caught onto it things started to change. they covered a bunch of ibiza DJ's nobody knew about and most of the relevant stuff got ignored. the scene got saturated by "i produce because i want to DJ" types and it all went horribly wrong.

i can why the 90's revival happened. the more mainstream clubs are still pushing that minimal sound with a bit of bongo house. but most of the people like us got tired of it and went in a different direction, back to the old school and back underground. i always thought of it as a step back to go forward but i would have thought something new would have started by now. actually something new has caught my ear but people aren't calling it techno. it sounds like techno to me but because it's got different kick and snare patterns it's considered dubstep.

@ mizzdirekt i think your right, i have matured as a musician. i think i was making a lot of crap music this year. since the beginning of summer i took a step back from making music and did a lot of critical thinking and just enjoyed listening to all kinds of music. it's been good actually and now i have a vision of what i want to make.

[steevio]

actually something new has caught my ear but people aren't calling it techno. it sounds like techno to me but because it's got different kick and snare patterns it's considered dubstep.

dont worry about what its called bruv, there's always been a 2 step form of techno, people like Damon Wilde have been doing it for years, techno has roots in electro anyway.
my stuff was sold as dubstep in 2003 by Phonica, because they didnt know how to categorise it because alot of it was 2 step, and at the time i hadnt even heard of dubstep, it was still underground. so i checked it out and couldnt see the similarity, to me what i was doing was 2 step techno.

[oblioblioblio]

in my opinion. techno was pretty unique in 80s/90s, it was the first time that musicians had properly combined deep focussed rhythmic patterns with the new technology of the time. I think that a lot of the early guys were fascninated with futuristic concepts, and this, combined with this fresh style, and the venues and the drugs. It was the future.

Dubstep was interesting. Most of those guys were just using simple software and using ideas that were around... the wasteland of garage, and a lot of other culture, music or otherwise that was valuable to them. It was definitely innovative musically, but I don't think it hit on the same futuristic chords with it's style and culture (although that didn't make it any less deep)

I think technology definitely plays a part. I'm stuck between 2 views on that... with my own music modular has really taken over and it's totally invgorated me. But at the same time, a lot of my favourite music was fresh and filled with the sound of infinity, but was using basic tools of the time. I tried to convince my mate about modular but he's happy with his "retro" machines (x0xb0x, 202, 606), his music sounds fresh and unique to me, cos he's doing it in his own way.

I'd like to see more people using modular, cos I think it does have the same freshness of technology that those Roland machines have, but i'm on the fence about how popular it will become.

[steevio]

but i'm on the fence about how popular it will become.

it isn't going to become popular, its relatively too expensive, and requires alot of learning and time.
but that doesnt mean it wont have an affect on the coming music, because the relative expense compared to software isnt going to stop either the established guys who are making money or the dedicated underground producers who want a new way to make music.

[tone-def]

actually something new has caught my ear but people aren't calling it techno. it sounds like techno to me but because it's got different kick and snare patterns it's considered dubstep.

dont worry about what its called bruv, there's always been a 2 step form of techno, people like Damon Wilde have been doing it for years, techno has roots in electro anyway.
my stuff was sold as dubstep in 2003 by Phonica, because they didnt know how to categorise it because alot of it was 2 step, and at the time i hadnt even heard of dubstep, it was still underground. so i checked it out and couldnt see the similarity, to me what i was doing was 2 step techno.

yeah, i'm just going to have fun making it. i feel more inspired than i ever have before, like a whole new world of possibilities has opened up. it's just a matter of converting thoughts into sound.

[Android]

go read Neuromancer while listening to Dylan Ettinger's New Age Outlaw