Minimal techno

<h2 id="origins">Origins</h2>

Minimal techno first emerged in the early 1990s. The development of the style is often attributed to a so-called "second wave" of American producers associated with <a href="/facts/Detroit_techno/rMU2bdXP">Detroit techno</a>. According to <a href="/facts/Derrick_May_(musician)/SnmlRrwj">Derrick May</a>, "while the first-wave artists were enjoying their early global success, techno also inspired many up-and-coming DJs and bedroom producers in Detroit".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> This younger generation included producers such as <a href="/facts/Richie_Hawtin/9JdcpQjo">Richie Hawtin</a>, <a href="/facts/Daniel_Bell_(musician)/TAlzCVAg">Daniel Bell</a>, <a href="/facts/Robert_Hood/dAlhTNCz">Robert Hood</a>, <a href="/facts/Jeff_Mills/uPUK0oSs">Jeff Mills</a>, <a href="/facts/Carl_Craig/3hzBqzQG">Carl Craig</a>, <a href="/facts/Kenny_Larkin/PEUbgyBf">Kenny Larkin</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mike_Banks_(musician)/1JAQzpph">Mike Banks</a>. The work of several of these artists evolved to become focused on minimalism.
Robert Hood describes the situation in the early 1990s as one where techno had become too "<a href="/facts/Rave/1cBwPCEJ">ravey</a>", with increasing tempos leading to the emergence of <a href="/facts/Gabber/DXyP8Seo">gabber</a>. Such trends saw the demise of the <a href="/facts/Soul_music/y68RPFIa">soul</a>-infused techno that typified the original Detroit sound. Robert Hood has noted that he and Daniel Bell both realized something was missing from techno in the post-rave era, and saw that an important feature of the original techno sound had been lost. Hood states that "it sounded great from a production standpoint, but there was a 'jack' element in the old structure. People would complain that there's no funk, no feeling in techno anymore, and the easy escape is to put a vocalist and some piano on top to fill the emotional gap. I thought it was time for a return to the original underground."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>
The minimal techno sound that emerged at this time has been defined by Robert Hood as "a basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky <a href="/facts/Groove_(music)/Arh0e7WE">grooves</a> and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move. I started to look at it as a science, the art of making people move their butts, speaking to their heart, mind and soul. It's a heart-felt rhythmic techno sound."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> Daniel Bell has commented that he had a dislike for minimalism in the artistic sense of the word, finding it too "arty".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

In Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music (2004), music journalist <a href="/facts/Philip_Sherburne/yUBT8clv">Philip Sherburne</a> states that, like most contemporary electronic dance music, minimal techno has its roots in the landmark works of pioneers such as <a href="/facts/Kraftwerk/rCfmar40">Kraftwerk</a> and <a href="/facts/Detroit_techno/rMU2bdXP">Detroit techno</a>'s <a href="/facts/Derrick_May_(musician)/SnmlRrwj">Derrick May</a> and <a href="/facts/Juan_Atkins/xKXeCzRM">Juan Atkins</a>. Minimal techno focuses on "rhythm and repetition instead of melody and <a href="/facts/Linear_progression/JN02S7cn">linear progression</a>", much like classical <a href="/facts/Minimalist_music/5c01jljF">minimalist music</a> and the <a href="/facts/Polyrhythm/l9mf37ah">polyrhythmic</a> <a href="/facts/Music_of_Africa/K3fBxlW8">African musical tradition</a> that helped to inspire it.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> By 1994, according to Sherburne, the term "minimal" was in use to describe "any stripped-down, Acidic derivative of classic Detroit style".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
<a href="/facts/Los_Angeles/pyXpYEX9">Los Angeles</a>-based writer Daniel Chamberlin attributes the origin of minimal techno to the German producers <a href="/facts/Basic_Channel/8VpWomB2">Basic Channel</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a> Chamberlin draws parallels between the productions by Richie Hawtin, <a href="/facts/Wolfgang_Voigt/Iy0D71pK">Wolfgang Voigt</a>, and <a href="/facts/Surgeon_(musician)/SnXpe3NP">Surgeon</a> with <a href="/facts/Phase_music/Pw8kUnbh">phase music</a> techniques used by American minimalist composer <a href="/facts/Steve_Reich/D8zYTljV">Steve Reich</a>. Chamberlin also sees the use of <a href="/facts/Sine_wave/mD1CB09M">sine tone</a> <a href="/facts/Drone_(music)/kFLTvxqa">drones</a> by minimalist composer <a href="/facts/La_Monte_Young/2e1t3m5X">La Monte Young</a> and the repetitive patterns of "<a href="/facts/In_C/x3mu2ygL">In C</a>" by minimalist composer <a href="/facts/Terry_Riley/k1IL09Cs">Terry Riley</a> as other influences.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a> Sherburne has suggested that the noted similarities between minimal forms of dance music and <a href="/facts/Minimalist_music/5c01jljF">American minimalism</a> could easily be accidental. He also notes that much of the music technology used in <a href="/facts/Electronic_dance_music/5KDaMNG8">electronic dance music</a> was traditionally designed to suit <a href="/facts/Loop_(music)/qaCpmaep">loop</a>-based compositional methods, which may explain why certain stylistic features of minimal techno sound similar to those in works by Reich that employ loops and pattern-phasing techniques.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a>

<h2 id="style">Style</h2>
<a href="/facts/Philip_Sherburne/yUBT8clv">Philip Sherburne</a> proposes that minimal techno uses two specific stylistic approaches: skeletalism and massification.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a> According to Sherburne, in skeletal minimal techno, only the core elements are included with embellishments used only for the sake of variation within the song. In contrast, massification is a style of minimalism in which many sounds are layered over time, but with little variation in sonic elements. Today the influence of minimal styles of house music and techno is not only to be found in <a href="/facts/Club_music/5KDaMNG8">club music</a>, but is becoming increasingly heard in popular music.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a> Regardless of the style, he writes, "minimal Techno corkscrews into the very heart of repetition so cerebrally as to often inspire descriptions like 'spartan', 'clinical', 'mathematical', and 'scientific'".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a>
The average tempo of a minimal techno track is between 125 and 130 <a href="/facts/Tempo/P5PfkpTb">beats per minute</a>. <a href="/facts/Richie_Hawtin/9JdcpQjo">Richie Hawtin</a> suggests 128 bpm as the perfect tempo. In the early minimal techno scene, most tracks were constructed around a <a href="/facts/Roland_TR-808/5dSMxNdg">Roland TR-808</a> or <a href="/facts/Roland_TR-909/cVXjY5JQ">Roland TR-909</a> <a href="/facts/Drum_machine/ltR2xFt3">drum machine</a>. Both are still often used on today's minimal techno tracks. In contrast to <a href="/facts/Microhouse/bNosAcPo">minimal house</a>, minimal techno is less afrocentric and focuses more on middle frequencies rather than deep basses.

<h2 id="development">Development</h2>
Many projects in other locations, such as those of <a href="/facts/Regis_(musician)/IAFFDS2N">Regis</a> in the UK, <a href="/facts/Basic_Channel/8VpWomB2">Basic Channel</a> in Berlin and <a href="/facts/Mika_Vainio/emes7j4y">Mika Vainio</a> in Finland, have also made significant contributions to minimal techno.
In recent years[when?], the genre has been heavily influenced by the <a href="/facts/Microhouse/bNosAcPo">microhouse</a> genre, to the point of merging with it. It has also fragmented into a great number of difficult to categorize subgenres, equally claimed by the minimal techno and microhouse tags.
Minimal techno has found mainstream club popularity since 2004 in such places as Romania,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a> Germany,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a> Portugal, Japan, France, Belgium, South Africa, The Netherlands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Italy, Ireland and the UK, with DJs from a wide variety of genres incorporating differing elements of its tones. In 2003, minimal techno received widespread commercial attention when <a href="/facts/Kylie_Minogue/K43Sojwx">Kylie Minogue</a> employed the sound on her number-one hit "<a href="/facts/Slow_(Kylie_Minogue_song)/Wtcgrv7k">Slow</a>", while in years to come the work of M.A.N.D.Y. and <a href="/facts/Booka_Shade/4xrNt5uC">Booka Shade</a> would be sampled by <a href="/facts/Will.i.am/D0z1u6uB">will.i.am</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a>
<a href="/facts/Record_label/rcrpGvM4">Record labels</a> specializing in minimal techno are [a:rpia:r], <a href="/facts/Traum_Schallplatten/PJwbm6Wm">Traum Schallplatten</a>, <a href="/facts/BPitch_Control/QezWXmTq">BPitch Control</a>, <a href="/facts/Cocoon_Recordings/dP4xSzW1">Cocoon Recordings</a>, <a href="/facts/Kompakt/nRdpEeHT">Kompakt</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a> <a href="/facts/Perlon/jSE1Hkf0">Perlon</a>, Clink, <a href="/facts/Plus_8/81rfwfdX">Plus 8</a>, and <a href="/facts/S%25C3%25A4hk%25C3%25B6_Recordings/3HFYoT06">Sähkö Recordings</a>, among others.
The Dutch DJ duo <a href="/facts/Jewelz_%2526_Sparks/7YILoIvk">Jewelz & Sparks</a> is the best example of minimal techno in the EDM scene, because the duo is known for their minimalistic and robotic drops, and their experiments with the basslines and the rhythms.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Microhouse/bNosAcPo">Microhouse</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Electronic_music/zfGNfUvR">Electronic music</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://31337records.com">31337 Records</a> – a minimal label from Berlin, Germany.</li>
<li><a href="http://stereofortwo.com">Stereo For Two</a> – a minimal label from Antwerp, Belgium.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Nor-tec rifa!: electronic dance music from Tijuana to the world - Page 8 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Wartofsky, Alona, "All the Rave", The Washington Post, August 22, 1997 Pg D01 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Mike Banks interview, The Wire, Issue #285 (November '07) <a href="http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/271/" target="_blank">http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/271/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, Billboard Books, 1999, (pp. 199–200). <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">May, B 2007, 'Techno', in Burnim, MV & Maultsby, PK (eds.), African American Music, New York: Routledge, (p. 340). <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, Billboard Books, 1999, (pp. 199–200). <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Robert Hood interview hosted at spannered.org <a href="http://www.spannered.org/music/802/" target="_blank">http://www.spannered.org/music/802/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, Billboard Books, 1999, (pp. 199–200). <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Sherburne, P., "Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno," inAudio Culture, New York: Continuum, 2006, (pp. 321–322). <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Sherburne, Philip. "Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno," in Audio Culture, New York: Continuum, 2006,(p.321). <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Sicko, D., Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk, Billboard Books, 1999, (pp. 174–175) <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Chamberlin, Daniel. "Party Arty: Minimal techno producers live up to their avant-garde heritage and turn the party out, brainiac-style" The Miami New Times, September 18, 2003, Music section. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150403112528/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/party-arty-6346689" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20150403112528/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/party-arty-6346689</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Sherburne, Philip. "Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno," in Audio Culture, New York: Continuum, 2006, (p.322). <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Cox C. & Warner D. ed.(2004), Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd, London. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Sherburne, Philip. "Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno," in Audio Culture, New York: Continuum, 2006, (pp. 324–325). <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Sherburne, Philip. "Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno," in Audio Culture, New York: Continuum, 2006, (p.322). <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">"The History of Ro-Minimal" <a href="https://playedby.club/thehistoryofrominimal" target="_blank">https://playedby.club/thehistoryofrominimal</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Nye, Sean, "Minimal Understandings: The Berlin Decade, The Minimal Continuum, and Debates on the Legacy of German Techno," Journal of Popular Music Studies 25, no. 2(2013): 154-84. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/3813069/Minimal_Understandings_The_Berlin_Decade_The_Minimal_Continuum_and_Debates_on_the_Legacy_of_German_Techno" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/3813069/Minimal_Understandings_The_Berlin_Decade_The_Minimal_Continuum_and_Debates_on_the_Legacy_of_German_Techno</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">Macpherson, Alex (26 November 2007). "Space exploration". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2021. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/sep/28/electronicmusic" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/sep/28/electronicmusic</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">Nye, Sean, "Minimal Understandings: The Berlin Decade, The Minimal Continuum, and Debates on the Legacy of German Techno," Journal of Popular Music Studies 25, no. 2(2013): 154-84. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/3813069/Minimal_Understandings_The_Berlin_Decade_The_Minimal_Continuum_and_Debates_on_the_Legacy_of_German_Techno" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/3813069/Minimal_Understandings_The_Berlin_Decade_The_Minimal_Continuum_and_Debates_on_the_Legacy_of_German_Techno</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Minimal techno open-in-new

Minimal techno