Big Fitz
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- Nov 23, 2009
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Okay, as a connoisseur of synthesizer music, I must quibble with the definition of Techno. Electronic music actually has many different gradients, and are best lumped, if they must, under Electronica. But for those who have not been collecting lots of this type of music since the early 1980's and going back for stuff published in the early 70's they may not know.
New Age: This used to be the classification from everyone who worked with synths that did not abide by the standard use of a drum or percussion to keep a beat as a regular instrument. This covered artists like Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Tomita, Stephen Roach, Mychael Danna and dozens of others. Today you can also see this called Atmospheric and Space music thanks to the PRI show "Hearts of Space".
Electronica/Electronic: This used a percussive beat to set the tunes, but was too experimental to be labeled really anything else. It was often without lyrics as well. Artists like John Tesh's early work before he went Christian and composed for NBC Sports, Jean Michel Jarre, early Kraftwerk, early Art of Noise, Synergy Jan Hammer and later Tangerine Dream could be considered this.
Techno: This is the messed up child of Disco and New Age. Club music essentially. You have to be able to dance to it, and has a heavy dominating beat. There are varients to this such as Dance, Progressive, Jungle, Tribal, Happy Hardcore and others. This form started back with M/A/R/R/S "Pump Up the Volume". Other artists are so common to mention now, but consist of Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, 2 Unlimited, KLF, Robert Miles. This may or may not have lyrics to it, and often does a lot of sampling.
Trance: Otherwise can be viewed as "soft" or "slow" techno. It's slower, the beat isn't as heavy and tends to be more artsy fartsy at times. Also called Chill Out, Lounge Trip Hop and often mistaken for 'world' music. The best example of this music popular would be Enigma, later Art of Noise, Massive Attack (at times),
So anyway, that's my minor quibble with Techno. It's too bad that some of these styles of electronic music have fallen out of favor. It's interesting to consider that many of Tangerine Dream's early works, like Brian Eno were experiments with brain alpha wave stimulation and other wierd psychological science. Phaedra, Stratosphere, Green Desert, Exit, Cyclone and a few others were based on this before they started finding a more commercial sound.
Synergy I find it interesting was used to do sound checks for Peter Gabriel concerts in the 1970's because Larry fast programmed Gabriel's synths for the shows, and he made the songs to get the most out of the sound system.
What hath Moog wrought?
New Age: This used to be the classification from everyone who worked with synths that did not abide by the standard use of a drum or percussion to keep a beat as a regular instrument. This covered artists like Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Tomita, Stephen Roach, Mychael Danna and dozens of others. Today you can also see this called Atmospheric and Space music thanks to the PRI show "Hearts of Space".
Electronica/Electronic: This used a percussive beat to set the tunes, but was too experimental to be labeled really anything else. It was often without lyrics as well. Artists like John Tesh's early work before he went Christian and composed for NBC Sports, Jean Michel Jarre, early Kraftwerk, early Art of Noise, Synergy Jan Hammer and later Tangerine Dream could be considered this.
Techno: This is the messed up child of Disco and New Age. Club music essentially. You have to be able to dance to it, and has a heavy dominating beat. There are varients to this such as Dance, Progressive, Jungle, Tribal, Happy Hardcore and others. This form started back with M/A/R/R/S "Pump Up the Volume". Other artists are so common to mention now, but consist of Paul Oakenfold, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, 2 Unlimited, KLF, Robert Miles. This may or may not have lyrics to it, and often does a lot of sampling.
Trance: Otherwise can be viewed as "soft" or "slow" techno. It's slower, the beat isn't as heavy and tends to be more artsy fartsy at times. Also called Chill Out, Lounge Trip Hop and often mistaken for 'world' music. The best example of this music popular would be Enigma, later Art of Noise, Massive Attack (at times),
So anyway, that's my minor quibble with Techno. It's too bad that some of these styles of electronic music have fallen out of favor. It's interesting to consider that many of Tangerine Dream's early works, like Brian Eno were experiments with brain alpha wave stimulation and other wierd psychological science. Phaedra, Stratosphere, Green Desert, Exit, Cyclone and a few others were based on this before they started finding a more commercial sound.
Synergy I find it interesting was used to do sound checks for Peter Gabriel concerts in the 1970's because Larry fast programmed Gabriel's synths for the shows, and he made the songs to get the most out of the sound system.
What hath Moog wrought?
