Korean Job Discussion Forums

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

It would help to start with a definition, because there are some different ideas flying around. To the "non-heads" or lay-people "techno" is sometimes used as a catch all phrase for all electronically generated club dance music. In this case, its hard to talk about whether or not its music or whether its deep or not, because there is just so much of it. To the heads, there are several different kinds of dance music, house, techno, trance, drum`n`bass, and breakbeat being the big ones, but there are tons of sub genres and new developments happening all the time.

House is the grandaddy of dance music, coming out of Chicago in the late 70`s ( most people dont know the roots go back that far because the first genuine house hits didnt happen till the mid 80s ). House came from disco and funk, and retains an undeniably black musical flavour. But it was mixed up with pure electronic music coming out of Europe at the time, notably Karftwerk. House gets its heavy rhythmic sound from some now classic electronic music machines which you may have heard of, the Roland 909 drum machine and the 303 bassline machine ( it wasnt always used for bass, and is responsible for the classic flowing "acid lines" you hear in early dance music ). Originally house was made by sampling a few bars of soul, disco, or funk, and adding those heavy electronic drums and basslines. Filters were used to brighten and darken the music in a sweeping way to create interest and dynamics. This was needed because the music is inherently repetative. Later more of the music started to be created originally rather than being sampled, and there started to be diva vocals, this was the classic hey day of the house sound and the time when the big hits came,　like Steve "Silk" Hurley`s 1985 hit "Jack Your Body" and Jesse Saunder`s "Funk You Up" from the same year. House has always been funky, often jazzy, and generally more sophisticated musically than the other genres, also often incorporating real live instruments in the mix, especially real bass, sax, guitar, and strings. There is more of a focus on swing, and feel, and musicianly skills like improvised solo`ing. House has always been emotional, especially with the diva vocals, and uplifting euphoric fresh jazzy funky musicality.

Techno is related, but more entirely electronic. It`s more mechanical, stiffer, harder, more extreme, more repetative. It`s appeal lies in the incredibly high energy, the highly processed and artificial sounds, and the general futuristic bombastic attack of the music. It`s colder, less friendly and inviting than house. Normal people can dance to house, but usually techno is for the heads only. You either love it or hate it. And it helps to be on drugs.

Trance came out in the early nineties originating from Goa in India where long outdoor "raves" first started. It is highly associated with the psychedelic experience, thus the name trance. It`s more melodic, lighter, with a strong focus on virtuoso synthesiser manipulation, with melodic lines being processed and twisted beyond recognition, so that a simple melodic line can repeat througout a whole track, but appears to coninuously change and evolve because of programmed parameter changes on the synthesisers.

I wont go into Drum`n`Bass and Breakbeat. But what I really wanted to say is that it`s not really right to judge this music as not deep in comparison to pop or rock music. It really has a different purpose and function. This music is specifically designed for the club/dance experience and it fullfills this function. It`s primarily physical, sometimes emotional, but rarely intellectual, as that is not really the point when you want to totally let go and dissolve yourself into a sweaty crowd of revellers united by rhythm, dance, and release.

SPINOZA · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: $eoul

re:cursive · Joined: 04 Jan 2006

Of course "techno" is music.

Let's look at the definition of music according to google definitions:
-An artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner.
-Any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds; "he fell asleep to the music of the wind chimes"
-Musical activity (singing or whistling etc.); "his music was his central interest"
-(Music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds)
-Punishment for one's actions; "you have to face the music"; "take your medicine"

I think "techno" lives up to all 5 of these definitions.

Personally I love it in nearly all of it's manifestations. Tonight I spent 2 hours listening to samples of "techno", "dub-techno" and "minimal/tech" records online, right now I'm listening to a set by Ricardo Villalobos from the 10 days off festival and depending on my mood I may fire up Logic later to fiddle around with some repetitive beats. I hated "techno" when I was a young rock/indie kid and lumped all electronica into the "crap techno" category. It took a long time for me to start understanding the language. Now it is a huge part of my life.

Musicians make "techno". If you ever get the chance, go watch a "techno" virtuoso make music...it's quite astonishing.

To anyone who says "techno" doesn't trigger emotions beyond a base level I say, "you probably just haven't heard much of what is out there".

A lot of this conversation depends on your definition of "techno". Are we talking purist "straight up techno" or the umbrella definition of "techno" which pretty much covers most machine music?

SPINOZA · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: $eoul

The folks that make me chuckle are the folks that hate techno yet claim to listen to "real music" - an album of real music that has taken 9 months to prepare in a recording studio using all the latest technology, real music (like Metal) that utilizes every synth effect under the sun. Bizarre thinking.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

If you want to hear some electronic music that isn't repetitive, and some people would kill you for calling shallow, try to find some mixes by Goa Gil.

Doesn't bring back memories? There are several albums I can't even listen to now because they put me in such a reflective state that I'd never get anything done.

An all-time favorite of mine is Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure Vol. 1 east coast edition. That's a solid album from start to finish. Just listening to the opening clip from a British documentary with a creek bubbling in the background and chilly wind chimes brings back a lot of memories. (The rest in the series are gold, too.)

Ron Stevens · Joined: 10 Feb 2006

try this at home THIS is HOUSE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC4DvPgy-vk

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

re:cursive · Joined: 04 Jan 2006

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

re:cursive · Joined: 04 Jan 2006

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

re:cursive · Joined: 04 Jan 2006

djsmnc · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Dave's ESL Cafe

Another question that could be posed is:

"Is music techno, and do you like it?"

When we consider the fact that just about any and every song is, has been, or is able to be remixed into the electronic medium, and the fact that there are also a number of DJ's that will throw in popular, rock, hip hop, disco, classical, etc. tunes into their mixes, we end up with the conclusion that music is music, including "techno" and everything else. Music contains melodies and/or rhythm, or in some cases, an amalgamation of sounds put together with the intention of being heard.

Electronic devices have been used to create music since at least the 1940's. The difference between what is labeled as "techno" or "EDM" by most is that these forms are typically based on a repetitive digital rhythm or sequence.

Since the inception of disco, detractors of the style have held the misconception that the beauty of the musical craft is cheapened by the use of electronics, and that all of the music is created by computers. They have a hard time realizing that electronic devices are also instruments that can be used to create an amalgamation of sounds with the intention of being heard.

"Techno" is music, though some might disagree. Rock is music, though many older people may disagree. Jazz is music, though a number of racist classical musicians disagreed. Country is music, though I disagree. Bong-jak is music, though many foreigners disagree.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

i really like techno.. at a club.

not too crazy about sitting around the house listening to it.