Dub techno

Last updated

Dub techno is a subgenre of techno that combines the style with elements of dub music, including its sparse, delay-heavy production and prominent bass.

Contents

Characteristics and history

In the early 1990s, producers Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus formed Basic Channel, a duo credited for defining dub techno. [1] [2] In addition to making the presence of minimalism commonplace in the techno scene, they also incorporated delay effects that were recurrent in dub music. [3] They then formed the label Chain Reaction; while still releasing the same type of dub-infused techno that Basic Channel created, such as the track "Cyan I" by Monolake, the label also distributed techno without dub elements, such as Continuous Mode's "Direct Out / Direct Drive". [3] Regardless, what Thump writer Josh Baines described as a "thawing of ice as a sonic aesthetic" that was present in Basic Channel's works before Chain Reaction still remained in all recordings issued under the label. [3]

Another label, Rhythm & Sound, was started by Oswald and Ernestus, and focused strictly on dub reggae and dub techno unlike Chain Reaction. The works of Rhythm & Sound featured representations of the sound system culture of Jamaica, the country where dub was formed, as well as authentic elements of the roots of dub. [3] According to Baines, this type of dub techno was "the kind of smoked out dub that's an approximate aural recreation of the effect that incredibly potent mairjuana [sic] has on the brain" and "a haunting, haunted, tripped out site of memorial exploration" where "Everything sounds half-remembered, half-there, half-real." [3]

The "clicks and cuts movement" in the 1990s formed by Mille Plateaux, is labeled by Baines as also characterizing dub techno's sound; the label's releases focused on making the same type of dub techno that Basic Channel and their imprints recorded and issued, only much more melodic. [3] The exposure of dub techno was then brought over to the United States by Rod Modell with his project Deepchord. [3]

Analysis

Baines compared dub techno to ambient music, in that music of both genres acts as "background music" on purpose; it never tries to adventure into new and unique territory, because its only purpose is to be "placid, unquestioning" and "deeply soothing." [3] He analyzed that the best tracks in the dub techno style do what little it does amazingly, in that "every element in the mix is given breathing space and, accordingly, takes on a sense of the organic." [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambient music</span> Music genre

Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.

Goa trance is an electronic dance music style that originated in the early 1990s in the Indian state of Goa. Goa trance often has drone-like basslines, similar to the techno minimalism of 21st century psychedelic trance (psytrance). Psychedelic trance developed from Goa trance. The typically long songs built on progressive beat changes are said to put the listener in a “trance”.

Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings.Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, the Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Biosphere.

Microhouse, buftech or sometimes just minimal, is a subgenre of house music strongly influenced by minimalism and 1990s techno.

Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term tech house developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno, such as "rugged basslines" and "steely beats", with the harmonies and grooves of progressive house. The music originally had a clean and minimal production style that was associated with techno from Detroit and the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladislav Delay</span> Finnish musician

Vladislav Delay is the most frequently used pseudonym of Sasu Ripatti, a Finnish electronic musician. He has also recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Uusitalo,Conoco, and Ripatti, working in styles such as minimal techno, glitch, and house.

Breakcore is a style and microgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high tempos.

Downtempo is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may be played in relaxation clubs or as "warm-up or cool-down" music during a DJ set. Examples of downtempo subgenres include trip hop, ambient house, chillwave, psybient and lofi hip hop.

Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of North American and European house music of the late 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basic Channel</span> German music duo

Basic Channel is a German music duo and record label, composed of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin in 1993. The duo have also worked under other names, including Rhythm & Sound and Maurizio, and have founded offshoot label imprints such as Chain Reaction and Main Street. Their releases in the 1990s are regarded as pioneering examples of the minimal and dub techno subgenres.

Minimal techno is a subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit-based producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell.

Tribal house is a subgenre of house music combined with world music rhythms. It is broadly characterized by elements of indigenous musical percussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moritz von Oswald</span> German musician

Moritz von Oswald is a German record producer and percussionist from Hamburg and based in Berlin. He is a co-founder of the production duo and record label Basic Channel. He has collaborated with Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Nils Petter Molvær. He also leads the Moritz von Oswald Trio, which has featured musicians such as Vladislav Delay, Tony Allen, and Laurel Halo. The Stranger called him "one of the master architects of dub techno".

Founded by Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus of Rhythm and Sound, Basic Replay is an imprint in the Basic Channel record label family, focusing primarily on reissues of reggae albums and singles. Related to the Wackies reissue campaign, though not restricted to product from one label, Basic Replay releases are packaged to reflect the artwork associated with the originals, with 7" and 12" vinyl singles and LPs typically bearing the artwork, logos, and fonts found on the out-of-print releases. As much of the material has never before been available on compact disc, the CD reissues often recreate the aesthetics of the original packaging with minimal cosmetic changes.

Chain Reaction was a German record label founded in 1995 by Basic Channel members Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus. The label's output consisted of the extended friends and family of the Basic Channel duo, which centered on the Hard Wax record store in Berlin.

Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range of 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluxion (electronic musician)</span> Musical artist

Fluxion is a pseudonym of Konstantinos Soublis, a musician and producer of electronic music from Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Len Faki</span> Musical artist

Levent Faki, better known by his stage name Len Faki, is a producer and DJ in the field of electronic dance music. Faki is of Turkish descent and is also known under the pseudonym La Monde.

References

  1. ↑ "The Strange and Frightening World of... Basic Channel". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "The History of Dub Techno in 17 Minutes". YouTube. Dub Monitor. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Baines, Josh (October 15, 2015). "A Bullshitter's Guide to Dub Techno". THUMP. Vice Media. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.