Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
User avatar
Dolorum
Poo Fingers
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:28 am
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Dolorum »

Hades wrote:btw mr dolorum,
did you ever see that documentary about the guy who inspired Todd Terje for this track ?
It's not that long, but it shows this guy who is in love with electronica music and who was always planning on leaving his shitty hometown at some point,
and then his dad got really sick, so he had to stay to take care of his dad,
and he changed his dad's bakery into a solarium.
Simple job, easy income, no brainer.

He also makes his own kind of home-made E, or whatever it is,
and you can see the guy making it (though enough blurred so you can't repeat that shit at home),
and getting totally high on his own product and dancing away like crazy.

It's a really tragi-comic documentary, tbh.
Shows how life can really fuck with your dreams.
And yet this guy is still trying to make the best out of his quite depressing circumstances... :P

Just found it on vimeo :

https://vimeo.com/58444378
I hadn't until now. Interesting, he seems not to give a shit really, which is something I can admire.

User avatar
Dust Layer
leper
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:41 am
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Dust Layer »

I'm not in "happy" tracks because like some said before most of time it's cheesy and boring.

One of the few great happy things i can think of is this but most of them are not "techno" :

youtu.be/MLsqs9mLyTQ

youtu.be/myVMI2YJaTw

youtu.be/GjPpoq1BUw8

youtu.be/s-t1tifeImw

youtu.be/IzMWEq9Vf-0

youtu.be/qmsbP13xu6k

hard to find more uplifting than this one :
youtu.be/XGOaXphpT7w

Well i'm not sure everyone will find all this happy but in my perception they are positive tracks.

Pelecaras
Lifer
Posts: 716
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:57 am
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Pelecaras »

Barfunkel wrote:I'm kinda bored with techno being so dark these days. Usually it's not really even that dark (like, say, black metal is), it's just faux dark. Kinda boring, hard to listen to the whole night in the clubs + the girls don't like it usually.

So I decided to write an albumful, 10 or so tracks, of positive, happy, fun techno. I don't want it to be cheesy or music for kids though. Fun for techno loving adults kinda thing.

So the concept is that. Positive techno.

The problem is the execution. The stuff I've written so far has ranged from really bad and/or cheesy to something half-decent that sounds more like sped up deep house rather than anything resembling techno.

Anyone here ever tried something similar? Or other have some useful insight into writing music that doesn't try to soundrack your wrist cutting?

Major chords instead of minor is one thing obviously, but major chords are damn hard to use IMO. I occasionally use a major 7th, but that's about it.

Anything else?

My two penneth worth....the thing I used to love about techno pre-2003 was the fact that even if a track was serious and dark it would still thrill me and therefore make me happy, then like you say it got dark for dark sake and became boring. I hate to bang on and on about tempo but the fact that techno has slowed down has added to the sense of boring (in my opinion) I mean if you take a track like Magneze it isn't a happy track but cos it pounds it gives a thrill that not a lot of modern tracks can. This is only my opinion of course and I certainly have heard a lot of great techno which is dark.
i think making techno that is happy is not possible cos it's inherently on the darker side of electronic music, but making techno that makes people happy is possible. I'm sure it has more to do with the 'hook' or 'groove' or use of sounds than whether they are minor or major chords.
a few examples I can think of....

youtu.be/VotISSj1GS4

youtu.be/lvythlWSHM0

youtu.be/CmWLW7dwZdg
FUCK-WIT

User avatar
1nfinitezer0
Tiesto
Posts: 280
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:04 pm
Location: canada
Contact:
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by 1nfinitezer0 »

I generally consider the 'funky techno' stuff from the mid noughties to be more on the positive side.
Cheese depends on the song and personal tastes. I just quickly went through some crates of 'summer techno' to get a variety.

youtu.be/rpITa9c9wvw

youtu.be/pCU7FnUtICo
Umek's old stuff was super fun. His newer stuff is less unique imho.

youtu.be/j4sldoLgUn4
More recent stuff. 02015

youtu.be/3PJ10JTGeVo
Creepy voice sample is the shark from family guy.

youtu.be/KzCttlfNKEI
There was also lots of spanish stuff for a while. Not a fan of the hyper disco loops with tribal drums though.

And a lot of Detroit-influenced stuff would be on the happy/fun side of things too.
In regards to the dark techno not pleasing to the ladies = very true. At least in a mixed crowd. If they're there specifically for techno proper then it's no worries, but festivals and the like can benefit from keeping the ladies around.

User avatar
Barfunkel
Smalahove
Posts: 2329
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:27 am
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Barfunkel »

Lost to the Void wrote: The problem is trying.
You shouldn't try, if you are feeling the need to express positivity then it will be genuine, if you simply try to write uplifting music because...... and there is no genuine emotion behind it, it will come out cheese.

Like anything in art, if it is disingenuous it will become plainly obvious.
I get your point, then again making music is also about knowing the correct techniques. You could be the happiest person on Earth, but if you've never practised music you're unable to express yourself and your emotions musically, with the possible exception of writing lyrics.

I've had my fair share of happy and sad during my 39 years on this planet, I got plenty of things to express. I've just never really tried to make really positive music, so I'm a bit lost with how to approach it, technique-wise. Both musical techniques as well as production techniques. The things I've tried so far seem to kinda lose the techno-esquesness of the music, it's basically just mostly fast house, with an occasional hint of 90's trance thrown into the mixture.
"I don't shower every day, but when I do, I do it after listening to some Barfunkel" - Anonymous

http://soundcloud.com/user4904810
http://www.mixcloud.com/Barfunkel/

Planar
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3883
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Leeds
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Planar »

This topic is a bit weird, Barfunkel. Your music isn't dark in the slightest.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Writing/producing positive, happy, fun techno?

Post by Lost to the Void »

Barfunkel wrote:
Lost to the Void wrote: The problem is trying.
You shouldn't try, if you are feeling the need to express positivity then it will be genuine, if you simply try to write uplifting music because...... and there is no genuine emotion behind it, it will come out cheese.

Like anything in art, if it is disingenuous it will become plainly obvious.
I get your point, then again making music is also about knowing the correct techniques. You could be the happiest person on Earth, but if you've never practised music you're unable to express yourself and your emotions musically, with the possible exception of writing lyrics.

I've had my fair share of happy and sad during my 39 years on this planet, I got plenty of things to express. I've just never really tried to make really positive music, so I'm a bit lost with how to approach it, technique-wise. Both musical techniques as well as production techniques. The things I've tried so far seem to kinda lose the techno-esquesness of the music, it's basically just mostly fast house, with an occasional hint of 90's trance thrown into the mixture.
Production techniques are same as any type of techno.

Musically, it just has to felt genuinely or it will come across cloying and fake.
By this I mean you can learn scales more associated with happy feelings (just copy any typical 4 chord pop tune such as C-G-Am-F which has been proven from here to eternity by pop music) or just use thd I-V-vi-IV progression... But if it is technique with no feeling, no intent, it will be obvious.

If you feel positive and feel like making positive music, go sit in front of the keyboard and hit the keys until you find a melody that suits your mood. Sequence that melody, off you go.
That can apply to basically any melodic music.
About the only thing to avoid to keep it techno is not bringing too much swing and funk to the equation, as it will become house. And avoid house instrumentation.

Feel it, make it.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.


Post Reply