j3ff

"Developed in Detroit in the mid-1980s, the term 'techno' derives from the word 'technology', and is a direct reference to the electronic instruments and devices that are used to create this particular strain of electronic music. Along with influences from western Europe and Japan from the late 1970s, techno is influenced by Chicago house, new wave and electro. Techno is sometimes mistakenly used as a general term to describe electronic music, but it is only one genre of electronic music. It is widely accepted that techno was primarily developed by three college students from Detroit, known as the 'Belleville Three', Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. It emerged around the same time as Chicago house music and was initially conceived as party music. Techno features a large number of percussive synthetic electronic sounds, and usually has a defined 4/4 beat (a prominent kick drum every quarter note of a bar) with a tempo of between 127 and 140 beats per minute (BPM). Techno is mainly instrumental and is produced with the intent of being included in DJ sets. Because it is mainly instrumental it is very DJ friendly. It is sequencer driven, and created mainly with electronic machines and samplers. Following the success of Detroit techno, the music spread globally, and there are now a number of techno sub-genres including minimal, acid and tech house. Recently techno has experienced a renaissance thanks to a surge in popularity for minimal techno, particularly for the music emanating from Berlin, Germany." -beatport.com