Techno: What, How and Why

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Alume
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Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Alume »

So as we all know there are loads of creative and wise individuals on this forum,
who all share an ideology towards music, electronic music in particular. I have
been busy with electronic music for almost 2 years now and have always been
interested in the forces that drive people to make music, is it to become famous,
to gig all over the world or to define yourself as a statement of its own?

In this topic I'd like to hear what makes music so special to you, how you got in
to it, what drives you and if serves a certain purpose or goal.

I'll start:

Personally, I always hated electronic music. It didnt seem right to me, I thought that
people should play an instrument and not let a machine do it for you. Though I got
into it eventually. As most of us propably did at the age of 18 I started taking drugs
next to my dayly weed dosages, the parties followed soon afterwards. At that time I
listened to this shitty tech house kind of stuff, Dominik Eulberg, Max Cooper and later
Adam Sellout and such folk. As I started to go to more parties and I quickly noticed
that it was as if someone hit the repeat button. Line-ups, promotion, crowd, locations,
fuck.. it was all the same to me. At that time my girlfriend broke up with me, and I
started a new study in a new city and got back with the friends I had before my
girlfriend. One of those friends fucked around on ableton once a while(!), besides that,
he was in the electronic dance scene for half his life. I can say that I owe him everything
in terms of techno, he introduced me to Svreca, Shifted, Lucy, Sigha, and Adam X
(and so much more). At first I couldnt believe my ears, it literary was as if these guys
could tune in on, well me basically. A track of 7 minutes wasnt just a track, it was a piece
of time itself that gave me the possibility to think, or maybe to not think at all. I remember
these bedroom vinyl session we use to have, he on the deks and me on his carpet(I was
homeless at the time, that was my bed). He would spin records untill 3 am, while I
eventually fell a sleep on tracks from labels like, avian, prologue, do not resist the beat
and sonic groove. In the morning I would go to the university without a breakfast, shower
or whatever to comeback and listen techno when I came back.
Anyway... after that I started creating my own platform, following labels on soundcloud,
buying records, cracking ableton and getting my crappy ass vinyl dj set I still use today.
I started getting decent monitors and gear and fuck, here I am today still loving it. I wake
up with techno(electronic music) and fall asleep with that shit. It is the only way I know
how to express accurately, and my goal is to sharpen this accuracy over the years. Since
that first encounter I have found something in life that is mine to keep, that I love, that
answers my nature for escapism.

So.. I guess I pulled a little Hades on you guys.

Now its your turn:)

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wapwap!
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by wapwap! »

my goal is to make good tracks, and express something without words.
i'm not interested by becoming famous, but a little recognition would be welcome haha.

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Mslwte »

I'm here for the bitches
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by ross-alexander »

haha james yes, and loads of beak.

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by ross-alexander »

big beards, techno and loads of beak, that's what gets the birds.

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by ross-alexander »

serious answer though I sort of discovered it myself and started making stuff as a creative outlet when I had quite a difficult time in my life to sort of connect back with happier times, and it grew from there. I make it primarily for myself and as times gone on have enjoyed the more social aspect of it all.
I do it purely for the love of it, and there's something about techno folks I like, although there is a little more of a pretentious side has emerged I have met loads of really nice people through music that have become good mates!
I'll keep doing it for the foreseeable, and try to set modest goals for it all amd see what happens :)

glad you have found it ;)

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Mslwte »

ross-alexander wrote:haha james yes, and loads of beak.
Haha
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Lost to the Void wrote:Fuck off, get some tequila down ya neck and make some noise you cunt....

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mainst09
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by mainst09 »

Alume wrote:So as we all know there are loads of creative and wise individuals on this forum,
who all share an ideology towards music, electronic music in particular. I have
been busy with electronic music for almost 2 years now and have always been
interested in the forces that drive people to make music, is it to become famous,
to gig all over the world or to define yourself as a statement of its own?

In this topic I'd like to hear what makes music so special to you, how you got in
to it, what drives you and if serves a certain purpose or goal.

I'll start:

Personally, I always hated electronic music. It didnt seem right to me, I thought that
people should play an instrument and not let a machine do it for you. Though I got
into it eventually. As most of us propably did at the age of 18 I started taking drugs
next to my dayly weed dosages, the parties followed soon afterwards. At that time I
listened to this shitty tech house kind of stuff, Dominik Eulberg, Max Cooper and later
Adam Sellout and such folk. As I started to go to more parties and I quickly noticed
that it was as if someone hit the repeat button. Line-ups, promotion, crowd, locations,
fuck.. it was all the same to me. At that time my girlfriend broke up with me, and I
started a new study in a new city and got back with the friends I had before my
girlfriend. One of those friends fucked around on ableton once a while(!), besides that,
he was in the electronic dance scene for half his life. I can say that I owe him everything
in terms of techno, he introduced me to Svreca, Shifted, Lucy, Sigha, and Adam X
(and so much more). At first I couldnt believe my ears, it literary was as if these guys
could tune in on, well me basically. A track of 7 minutes wasnt just a track, it was a piece
of time itself that gave me the possibility to think, or maybe to not think at all. I remember
these bedroom vinyl session we use to have, he on the deks and me on his carpet(I was
homeless at the time, that was my bed). He would spin records untill 3 am, while I
eventually fell a sleep on tracks from labels like, avian, prologue, do not resist the beat
and sonic groove. In the morning I would go to the university without a breakfast, shower
or whatever to comeback and listen techno when I came back.
Anyway... after that I started creating my own platform, following labels on soundcloud,
buying records, cracking ableton and getting my crappy ass vinyl dj set I still use today.
I started getting decent monitors and gear and fuck, here I am today still loving it. I wake
up with techno(electronic music) and fall asleep with that shit. It is the only way I know
how to express accurately, and my goal is to sharpen this accuracy over the years. Since
that first encounter I have found something in life that is mine to keep, that I love, that
answers my nature for escapism.

So.. I guess I pulled a little Hades on you guys.

Now its your turn:)

First,max cooper it's not tech house,it's max cooper you can't really define it,but i still love his tracks,he's a genius.

Then well me: I'm not sure about it,when i was a kid i was always listening to slipknot,limp bizkit,linkin park,Il Niño,Korn etc. then later on my brother started to listen to some shitty house from portugal and the time i got really stocked was when he showed me "Ame-Rej" i don't know if you guys know this track,but this track had and still has a big impact on me,how the track builds up,and the melody is so beautiful i just... still one of my favourite tracks ever.

When i moved to the 7th grade i got to know Ricardo Captain Ketamine,and uff i was really an addict,i was really a big fan always listening to those older tracks from him and after that came ITCHY Whoretits?/Plastikman,and you guys can imagine what would be the opinion of people about what i listened haha. After this i got really into minimal and i still love it,all those old minimal tracks from M_nus not the new ones i mean people often downgrade their tracks and artists but guys like gaiser,heartthrob,magda,marc houle at the time were doing really great tracks but now all they do is shit of course.

after this i really got into the shitty tech house scene together with the shitty techno scene(adam Sellout,joseph capriati,Sasha carassi) and at the time i was already producing,i started producing minimal,i got my first release ever when i was in 9th grade so i had like 14/15 years old LOL. and later on i got into dark techno and one of my tracks even got charted by sasha carassi haha you can imagine my reaction to that haha.

but even before that i got really into umek's shitty label 1605 and is fuckin great old tracks lol.

Then i started listening to some proper techno,i can't really tell when was just an evolution and then i got here. Now i almost don't listen to techno at home to be honest,techno right now is going through a bad phase and it's affecting me so i try to listen to metal,stoner,house,minimal house(Perlon guys mostly),90's hip hop,Punk Rock.

I mean i'm here just for the love of the music,this can sound a bit cliché but it's the truth i produce since 5,5/6 years ago,if it wasn't for the music i wouldn't be wasting time on this shit,i even stopped playing football because i wanted to produce more so. but at this time i don't have much time,i started 1st year of university in september,i've got tons of shit to do,tons of shit to read and i've got tons of shit to produce. but i'm happy with who i am,well not entirely happy but i'm happy doing what i love.


sorry for the big post guys.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Mslwte »

When I very first started to try and make music, I wanted to make some acid tracks. I can't remember why now but I do have a bit of a creative side in me I suppose.

Then it all became a challenge to make good enough music to be released because I didn't think I'd ever be good enough to do that.

I got into drugs through the music, not the other way around. I was always fascinated by all the wtf rave sounds that I heard when I was 11 years old and it all grew from there.

I want my music to be released properly and to be played by the biggest names in the (underground) scene. But I'm not interested in fame or fortune and would be quite happy if I was unrecognisable tbh.

But down to the bare bones of it all it's just a hobby that keeps me busy in my spare time. Otherwise I'd go mad. I'm not one for watching TV or reading books. I'm more practical.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by seanocean »

Alume wrote:
In this topic I'd like to hear what makes music so special to you, how you got in
to it, what drives you and if serves a certain purpose or goal.

Now its your turn:)
really techno's the only music that made me feel like i was me. in an era of seattle grunge, nobody liked it everyone hated it. it provided an identity, it made me, me. i resonated with techno because it was artistic and i really loved ambient, industrial, and had grown up with inadvertent influences from house and new wave.. but in a way techno was different from anyone else too so i bonded with such a strange and intelligent music.

also i was just a young freakish artist / dirty graffiti kid and techno was just this hypnotic music that helped the gears in my head turn. so with techno i found an artistic compliment to my painting and drawing which i was headlong into at the time.

after awhile i found myself at raves, i grew up in a house town and yearned for something harder.. that excited me because prog house and SF 'funky techno' was everywhere. i started collecting records before i had a turntable. i spent weekends at record stores listening to everything. an avalanche of mediocre house and the only good music there was techno, 9 times out of 9. i had collected other records and listened to other music but when i made the full swtch to techno 24/7 it consumed me whole. like my obsessive music focus got focused laser sharp for techno, i became a resource among my friends. that's sean, he's mr. techno.
even years later at parties. people are like, oh look, sean came out, that must mean there's some serious techno here. people would say jokingly.

i think i started DJing techno because i was more into the community, the idea that music brings people together and the small techno community i was involved in was closer than anything else. i wanted to be an artist in that culture, a culture in which ideas were more important than anything else. a scene which praised artistry, fierce individualism, even embraced some of the same ideas and principles of graffiti culture that i loved. in a lot of ways, djing techno also saved me from the eventual imprisonment, excessive fines and certain death that was happening to a lot of the graff kids i knew of.

i suppose with making techno, it's just another outlet for ideas. i could be doing anything but techno is what i know best and what i find challenging. there's a ton of things i've found that translate from visual art, so i really think that music is just an evolution of what i had already been doing.


there's a lot more reasons i'm all about techno, but 'because, TECHNO! -man..' would certainly be adequate. i'm sure we can all identify with each person's desires to turn to techno on this thread.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by seanocean »

ross-alexander wrote:serious answer though I sort of discovered it myself and started making stuff as a creative outlet when I had quite a difficult time in my life to sort of connect back with happier times
^this, this for sure. totally agree that techno is always the answer for what ills. techno to remember, techno to forget. works better than any drug i know.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Hades »

ow for fuck's sakes, I've just finished a far too long email to a long lost (female) friend of mine which I'm supposed to see back for the first time in 15 years on monday, and now you gotta start a topic you know I can't resist to reply on,
and I only have like half an hour before morning rush will start...

good thing I can type almost as fast as I can play piano... :mrgreen:

damn you though JJ ;)
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Hades »

I was never a man of few words I'm afraid... :oops:

ok, short history about introduction into electronical music, cause there would have never been a switch to techno if I wasn't into electronical music first.

an older boy from our neighbourhood fancied one of my older sisters, and thought it was a good idea to seduce her with a tape with Jarre's Equinox and Oxygène on.
Tremendous idea ! :lol: :lol: :lol:
So I ended up listening to that tape while playing with my lego's, I was about 8 at the time.

I did the whole classical piano traning from 7 to 16, till I was really fed up with Bach for life, and quit and bought my 1st synth (I kept playing piano though, never quit that), cause I really got into all kinds of synth music, and looking back now, there were always electronical elements in the other music I really liked as well. I was a big Cure fan, plus Sisters, and The Cure uses enough synths, and The Sisters use a drum computer (I never even realized this at the time).

So anyway, I messed around with my first gear for about 3 years, till I lost interest cause my gear sucked, there was no internet, and I was starting univ.
Then I restarted approx 12 years ago by accident cause I actually wanted to buy a real piano but lacked the room and cash so I wanted to buy a stage-piano and ended up with an XV-88, I discovered internet fora and sites like tweakheadz and started building my massive studio and learning sound design. (I finally bought a real piano last summer and fucking love playing again)

I have to mention I started DJ'ing at age 15 till I gradually stopped DJ'ing when I was around 25 years old.
I always played techno tracks in my set, plus I also had friends that were big trance lovers when we were 15 or 16. Back then Belgian trance was really dark, hypnotic, and pretty fucking excellent. So I also played that inbetween my mostly rock/pop whatever sets. It didn't matter to me that I would sometimes clear the floor if I played something that was too hard or too uknown, I just had to play it.
For example, one of the albums I listened to massively back then was Speed Jack's Surge.
And when I was in high school, Liam Hawlett was my hero with the music for a jilted generation album. Especially the lesser known tracks like "Claustrophobic Sting" kept dragging me back in.

So anyway, gradually I started listening to more and more electronical music in my univ years, untill my real turning point came when I heard Superpitcher's Dntel remix of "This is the dream of Evan and Chan". It was as if it all came together.
I was (and still am today) a HUGE fan of that track. So that one dragged me into minimal, and after I became sick of that, I finally got into techno fullblown about 5 years ago. Never looked back. Never regretted it.
I should have done that years ago, and it's a surprise it had taken me so long, but yeah...

So why do I love techno so much ? For me it's all about sound. I make far more clips than I ever make tracks, and I've made thousands of sounds from scratch on my synths.
Techno, to me at least, is the only genre that has such a massive sound pallette. Basically you can hear any kind of sound in a techno track, and if you love experimenting with sound (and what's not to love with the modern day gear we have at our disposal nowadays? ), then techno is where you end up.
Now of course people will say there's not enough forwards driven techno being made, and a lot of sounds keep coming back,
and sure enough I love a good old 303 or 101 at times, but there's nothing wrong with that, as long as the experimentation spirit is being kept alive, and if the track isn't "forward" or whatever, but it's a killer track, than fuck it, I don't care. :)


And why do I make it ?
Cause I've always been making music. For as long as I can remember I played my own tunes on the piano. I still do piano improvisations. I should really make house cause melody comes very natural to me while rhythm really doesn't.
But fuck it, house is too cheesy 90% of the times, and 99,99999% of all the lyrics of all kinds of music are just dead right stupid and retarded (and things certainly haven't improved on that part the last 15 years), so I also love techno for NOT having vocals most of the time. :lol:
I just make music cause I like creating music, it's taken me years to realize I'm really a musician, and I've seen the same thing with my sister ; she also never liked that label of "artist" on her (she was a painter). It's just a thing I do, and it's not like it's the only thing in my life that determines who I am, but it definitely determines a BIG part of who I am.

I don't care if no one ever listens or likes my tunes, I'll still be making them. In fact, I never actively make any publicity for my tracks, I don't see the point.
Perhaps some day, but I won't lose any sleep if that day never comes.

Music is music, it's what I do. And techno is damn good music.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Hades »

seanocean wrote: like my obsessive music focus got focused laser sharp for techno, i became a resource among my friends. that's sean, he's mr. techno.
even years later at parties. people are like, oh look, sean came out, that must mean there's some serious techno here. people would say jokingly.
for many years, everyone knew me as the guy that always walked around with a backpack that contained one of those small portable safes with lots of weed in (I used to be a big smoker back then), and approx 200 CD's in those CD-maps or whatever they're called in english.
Both these made me a popular guy, people would just invite me and knew I'd be putting on good music and we'd be rolling big joints in no time. :D

You can't imagine how happy I was with the invention of the mini iPods so that I could stop carrying around all those CD's. Even if stay a vinyl lover, MP3 players are soooo handy...
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Planar »

Another busy nightshift I see, Hades :lol:

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Hades »

first nightshift out of my 5 that was actually ok (after 1AM, mind you), you busy IT cunt :mrgreen:

all the others I was fighting with my new PC or having dead lines spam me every 3 minutes for the whole night.
Trust me, that really wrecks your nerves, those dead lines.
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Hades »

it's like 5AM in the UK, I'm guessing the reason you're up at this ungodly hour and behind a computer is that you are doing some completely unnecessary upgrade that will ruin the computers of all the users of the company you work for, correct? ;)
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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by Planar »

Nah. I don't do upgrade work and the day I do end user desktop support is the day I get another career ;). I'm up because my kid is ill and demanded to watch Peppa Pig at 4am, I've had less than 2hrs sleep in the last 48hrs. It's totally reminded me why I don't go out partying much these days. Suffice to say, I'm working from home today!

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by tdmusic »

Hades wrote:Superpitcher's Dntel remix of "This is the dream of Evan and Chan".
Excellent track. Superpitcher has done some great remixes - his one of M83 "Don't Save Us From The Flames" is one of my favourite tracks, and his remix of The MFA "The Difference It Makes" is also amazing

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Re: Techno: What, How and Why

Post by msl »

Gigs are nice, its great making a room move, so is travelling, hell so are free blow jobs and coke...

But honestly I just love making music, its my therapy, a form of meditation, connecting with the muses. The world can be falling apart around me as long as I'm making music that I'm happy with thats enough, it fills the void and gives purpose and meaning.


tdmusic wrote:
Hades wrote:Superpitcher has done some great remixes - his one of M83 "Don't Save Us From The Flames" is one of my favourite tracks
Agreed one my favourites.


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