Electronic music is notorious for its endless lists of genres, sub-genres, and classifications. If you don’t believe me, just check out this Wikipedia list!
Still, genres and sub-genres can be an incredibly useful way to categorize and understand music, when used tastefully. In the world of electronic music, sub-genres are a very helpful way of distinguishing how each style came into being.
In this article, we will look at the origins of techno music, and several key sub-genres that came after.
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A Tale of Two Cities: The Origins of Techno
Of all electronic music genres, techno is one of the most important. It was the first completely electronic dance style, and it laid the foundations for countless musical acts to follow.
It’s always helpful to have a historical context behind everything you learn; so, before learning about sub-genres proper, let’s get the basics out of the way.
The techno we know today began in Detroit in the late 1980s. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the influence of the music coming out of Berlin. In fact, the Detroit-natives themselves would be remiss as well.
As early as the 1970s, Berlin was an epicenter for German musicians experimenting with newfangled music technology. Most important among them was Kraftwerk, a legendary quartet that met while studying classical music in Dusseldorf.
Touted as the “pioneers of electronic music,” Kraftwerk experimented with dozens of techniques on synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers. At the same time, groups like Tangerine Dream were inventing compositional conventions specific to electronic instruments.
Across the Atlantic, Detroit was in a miserable state. In the 1940s it was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, thanks to its factories and large-scale companies. Unfortunately, everything changed after World War II.
Racial tensions and changing business models caused the city to collapse into economic decline and crime. By the 1980s, it was ridden with crime, gentrification, and poverty.
However, as history has proven again and again, difficulties can produce profound human resilience – often in the form of music. In spite of its struggles, Detroit became a center for excellent music. First came punk. Then funk and disco. Then hip-hop. Then finally, techno.
The creation of techno traces back to three African American friends from Belleville High School: Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson. Inspired by their love of funk danceability and Kraftwerk’s mechanical sound, they started making beats and melodies on second hand synths, turntables, and sequencers.
While they enjoyed the entertainment value of their newly-formed music, the Belleville Three (as they were called), had other ambitions too. They wanted to form a dance club community around their music, inspired by equality, respect, and fun.
Interestingly, Detroit’s techno found its way to Berlin, where it found a second home. I’m sure the Belleville Three are very proud of that. Amusingly, Detroit punk also inspired Kraftwerk as early as the seventies. Clearly, both sides shared the love.
The Elements of Techno
Now that we’ve got an understanding of where techno came from, we can outline its defining elements.
Inspired by their hip-hop and disco predecessors, Detroit DJs wanted strong, danceable grooves. These were established with propulsive, four-to-the-floor grooves programmed on drum machines. They were intentionally mechanical and meticulous, yet still fun.
DJs used Roland TR-808s and 909s. Roland famously gave up on these products, finding them cheesy and ridiculous. However, in one of history’s ironic twists, budget DJs found an exciting sonic frontier in their synthetic sounds.
Next, DJs added a funky bassline to give their tunes character. Using various sequencers and synths, they could create various timbres and textures. Put together, the drum beats and basslines create an intentionally repetitive groove, ripe for subtle changes and experimentation.
But we’re not done yet! Using various sequencers and synthesizers, DJs could add melodic and harmonic spice atop their grooves. By layering pattern over pattern, they could create an endlessly complex tune that could be subtly altered over time.
8 Techno Sub-genres
By the late 1980s, thanks to nightly radio programs and Detroit’s music community, techno had gained a lot of popularity.
Inevitably, other parties started borrowing techno’s style and morphing it with their own ideas. Let’s check out eight sub-genres of techno, and learn about the fascinating stories behind each of them!
Tech House
One of the first techno sub-genres to emerge was tech house, which was destined to happen anyway – and we’re glad it did! At the exact same time techno was developing in Detroit, house music was being invented in Chicago.
Given their common social and economic backgrounds, Chicago and Detroit DJs were bound to start talking. Soon, they were trying something new; something that was as tricky as it was exciting.
Both used four-to-the-floor drum machine beats, but differed in their overall “vibes.” House was built on soulful jazz samples, whereas techno idolized a rigid robotic sound.
Tech house DJs wanted to pair the soulful vibe of house with the mechanical dancing of techno. At the same time, they didn’t want either “vibe” to overpower the other. Instead, they wanted a unique blend of robotic beats and human warmth.
Most often, tech house DJs achieved this by crafting minimalistic drum beats before layering dense samples over them. By suggesting the powerful drum beats with as little “sonic room” as possible, they were able to find a perfect balance with the nuanced jazz they sampled and syncopation they incorporated.
Acid Techno
Acid techno is a personal favorite of mine, mostly due to its fascinating and quirky origins. While its sonic trademarks are easy to pick out, it’s the hardware that’s at the heart of acid’s style.
Just like Roland hated their 808 and 909 drum machines, they also hated their TB-303 bass synthesizer. Originally, they had designed them to be cheap, automated alternatives to live bass players.
As it turns out, the 303 sounded nothing like a real bass guitar. To most professionals, it sounded painfully synthetic. As a result, Roland simply trashed them and discontinued them.
Soon, pawn shops and second-hand music stops were filling up with used 303s. Just like the 808s elsewhere, broke musicians started buying them and experimenting.
There are six knobs across the top of the 303. Two of them are the filter and resonance. Without getting too technical, the filter adjusts brightness and overtones. The resonance emphasizes the high frequencies wherever the filter cuts off.
When you toy with the filter and resonance knobs, you get a wonky, off-kilter, siren-like squelch. Even cooler, you can make it whistle notes!
DJs were quick to discover this, and soon they were improvising chaotic, squeaking basslines. Someone somewhere decided this sounded like “acid,” and the name was born.
By pairing the 303 bassline with signature techno conventions, DJs invented a sub-genre that continues to fascinate people today.
Berlin Techno
“Berlin techno” might not be a clearly defined sub-genre per se, since it’s extremely similar to Detroit techno. However, as mentioned earlier, Berlin is home to the world’s largest techno-loving community.
Many people define Berlin techno by its vibrant musical community, filled with both talented artists and passionate fans. For many of them, techno isn’t just entertainment; it’s an integral part of their city’s culture and history.
That history is fascinating in its own right. When techno was developed in Detroit, it coincided perfectly with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Despite the joys of German reunification, much of Berlin’s infrastructure was still in shambles in the Iron Curtain’s aftermath.
So, what did the happy, techno-loving Germans do? They organized epic, loud, and illegal techno parties in abandoned buildings, of course! Soon, clubs were popping up everywhere. Iconic ones included Der Bunker, Tresor, and E-Werk.
There was also the Love Parade that started a year earlier. It became one of the world’s most iconic electronic music festivals. Sadly, it was discontinued after a crowd crush disaster in 2010.
This history explains why many famous techno and EDM artists are from Germany, or nearby countries.
Ambient Techno
Just like tech house, ambient techno aims to combine two seemingly irreconcilable qualities; techno’s beat-driven pulses with ambient music’s ethereal vagueness. Despite your initial thoughts, ambient techno has certainly achieved this goal!
In its most basic form, ambient techno tries to explore the timbral beauty of ambient music while complimenting it with subdued drum beats. The techno beats are still there – they’re just understated, hiding under the subtly changing pads.
In order to achieve rich-sounding pads, DJs will use a healthy dose of delay and reverb. This results in washes of layered, aquatic sounds that are always changing. This is anchored by complex beats, which in themselves are always changing too.
It takes more concentration to appreciate ambient techno than straightforward techno, since everything is always changing. Some people lump it into a broader category of IDM – “intelligent dance music” – but many of the artists themselves find this pretentious and overboard.
If you want to check it out, try Aphex Twin’s classic Selected Ambient Works 85-92.
Dub Techno
So, we’ve got Detroit and Berlin on the map, what do we need next? Kingston, Jamaica, of course!
If you didn’t already know, Jamaican music has far-reaching influences on much of today’s popular music. In fact, without Jamaica, we might not have hip-hop! Given that fact, it makes sense that Jamaica would edge its way into the techno scene somehow.
Jamaican “dub” music was the first music style to rely heavily on remixing. Dub producers would take reggae songs that already existed and would apply studio wizardry to make them quirky instrumentals.
Often, dub DJs would use reverb, echoes, and fading to mix up their tunes of choice. The result is an ambient, “boomy” tune that’s bass-heavy and echoey.
Acts like Basic Channel and Underworld brought these booming, echoey sounds to the techno beat-scape. Unlike ambient techno, which sought to underplay the beat, dub techno tries to emphasize it using the same effects.
Industrial Techno
Industrial techno is a reckless mix of industrial dystopia and techno danceability. Industrial music has always been controversial due to its dark subject matter. Many industrial techno artists incorporate its dark themes into their songs, while others just cop its dark sounds.
Industrial music started in the 1970s as a genre meant to shock and scandalize society. While focusing on taboo subjects, they filled their music with noisy, abrasive, and harsh sounds. Famous examples include Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails.
I like to say that it sounds like you’re trapped in a madman’s underground bunker, listening to chainsaws echoing in the metallic darkness.
Creepy lyrics aren’t your thing? No worries – as I mentioned, many industrial techno DJs emulate its bleak soundscape without making you lose sleep.
Minimal Techno
Minimal techno is just what it sounds like – it’s techno music stripped down to the bare basics. But techno music is already composed much like the classical minimalism of Philip Glass and Steve Reich already. So how do you make an already minimalist genre, well … more minimal?
Minimalist techno DJs use two approaches.
First, there’s “skeletalism,” which only uses two elements; a drum beat and bassline. To create tension and interest, they make small tweaks here and there, which end up popping out of the overall soundscape.
Second, there’s “massification,” which uses many layers stacked on top of each other. Because they don’t want to overcomplicate things, they’ll often leave variations out and stick with straightforward ideas.
Most experts agree that minimal techno was really the second wave of Detroit techno. Personally, I think it was a way for the original founders to adapt to a new swath of techno sub-genres by reinventing themselves.
Hardcore Techno
For our last sub-genre, we find ourselves in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Influenced by their German neighbors, Dutch DJs tried to outdo each other in how aggressive their techno could sound.
Not content to make simple dance tunes, hardcore techno DJs wanted to make their music loud, fast, and aggressive. They wanted the intensity of industrial techno without its darkness.
To achieve this, most hardcore techno clocks in at 160-200 bpm, which is a big jump from techno’s 130-140 bpm. They distort a lot of their sounds, and use a sawtooth waveform for their basslines, which makes them cut through the already-brash sound.
Closing Thoughts
Techno remains as interesting and important as it was thirty years ago. With the availability of electronic instruments and DAWs, our modern world makes it as easy as possible for anyone to influence the next generation of DJs.
What I love most about techno is the fact that, although it spans multiple cultures and sub-genres, it has been built on love and unity from day one. It has truly broken barriers and made connections where they didn’t exist before.
I mean, think about it: who would have thought that German conservatory students would influence high schoolers in the inner city of Detroit. Then, several years later, German teenagers are clubbing to Detroit-based music in the middle of abandoned factories!
The more diverse techno got, the more unified the world and its communities became.
I think Atkins summed it up perfectly in 2009 when he said, “I hate that things have to be separated and dissected [by race] … to me it shouldn’t be White or Black music, it should just be music.” Detroit and Berlin understood that music shouldn’t be about what separates us, and they’ve helped make the world a better place because of it. Perhaps we can too.
