does techno have to be percursive to be good techno?

[MangaFish]

the idea of this thread was taken from a comment in a diff thread:


.....just a side note though: imo alot of the best techno tracks written havent been that percursive

i disagre with that,the key to virtually all the best techno is excellent percusssion in them in my view.


whats your thoughts?

[ncw]

Of course not. Techno can be anything.
Unless you are a deluded generic music worshipper.
In which case, your opinion doesn't count. :twisted:

[basslinejunkie]

i didnt mean that the best techno is percussive techno,what i meant was that all the best techno has really excellent percussion in the background.others may disagree,but this is my personal opinion/taste :cool:

do others think this aswell???

[MangaFish]

i didnt mean that the best techno is percussive techno,what i meant was that all the best techno has really excellent percussion in the background.others may disagree,but this is my personal opinion/taste :cool:

do others think this aswell???

thats cool mate. i wasnt directing the thread at a me vs u style debate. just used the quote as i'm lazy and couldnt be bothered to type out the topic :oops:

this is more a general descussion about the (imo) over emphasis on percussion in techno (i'm just as guilty of this though i must admit)

[basslinejunkie]

nah its ok mate i knew you wasnt causing a debate between me an u,its my own fault for being lazy and not explaining myself properly :doh: :lol:

[dan the acid man]

i didnt mean that the best techno is percussive techno,what i meant was that all the best techno has really excellent percussion in the background.others may disagree,but this is my personal opinion/taste :cool:

do others think this aswell???

i have to admit, alot of my favourite releases have alot of percussion in them.

[MangaFish]

nah its ok mate i knew you wasnt causing a debate between me an u,its my own fault for being lazy and not explaining myself properly :doh: :lol:

:lol:

what a bunch of lazy gits we are

[jonnyspeed]

i didnt mean that the best techno is percussive techno,what i meant was that all the best techno has really excellent percussion in the background.others may disagree,but this is my personal opinion/taste :cool:

do others think this aswell???

grassed up, mate lol

No I agree. To me personally, if it hasn't got good percussion its more likely to be ambiant electronica - which whilst its parts of the techno-family its only a small part so can therefore only provide a small contribution to what could be clasified as excellent. Though its all about personal tatste. To me mashed up wonk and bang bang analogue make up top 40 = all very percussion based.

peace :cool:

[Col]

silly topic.

[Adverse]

yeah this one is going to distance i can tell already lol

[dirty_bass]

Not all techno needs percussion.
But techno that is intended for dancing rather than chin scratching needs good percussion.
Dance music is all about the beat.

[miss bass]

Some techno i play hardly has any percussion.

But i do have a thing with drums / offbeat rhythms, and percussion really can do a good job.

[scotttechfunk]

Yeah I think some tunes can stand out without it, though I have this tune somewhere on "monoid" and it has the most evil percussion on it and it sounds fantastic... so I suppose it can be good with, good without, that's the beauty of techno.

[The Divide]

Techno doesn’t have to be percussive. The whole mix could be built around synths and not have a single percussive element within it.

Rhythm is the key when it comes to dance floor techno. In other more experimental styles it could be based on something else.

I don’t see the point in the question tbh

Surely you can decide if it’s good or not? It depends on what you like as an individual

[miss bass]

RHYTHM is the thing!!!!!!

Couldnt make anything without it. The idea of minimalism (phillip Glass/ Stockhousen) etc does not usually have percussion but repetitve sounds/ synths / orchestra at different rhythms.

[miss bass]

oh and i dont think rhythm is the key for dancefloor techno!!!!!

By far!!!

Dance floor techno can be straight rhythms! The more creative the more complex in grove / rhythm or just wierd. Ace

[jonnyspeed]

nice one. Have you'd listened to Stockhausen's Kontate? (http://www.sonicenvelope.com/webradio/y2play/mf-kontacte.ram)

[miss bass]

erm no, il have a listen. Some stuff is mental.

I studied minimalism a bit at school in music. Some great stuff out there.

[The Divide]

RHYTHM is the thing!!!!!!

Couldnt make anything without it. The idea of minimalism (phillip Glass/ Stockhousen) etc does not usually have percussion but repetitve sounds/ synths / orchestra at different rhythms.

You could look at Steve Riech's 'come out' which was basically 2 tape machines playing a looped vocal. With one tape machine traveling at a slightly slower speed. He was experimenting with phase/flange. Over the 6 min track it becomes more and more out of synch. :lol:

It was all about the repetition of the vocal rhythm and a new(ish) type of effect. No percussion :lol:

If you took the rhythm out of a stockhousen piece it would become something bassed on random key progression, would confuse the shit out of people. :lol:

Kinda loosing the topic a little tho :roll:

[miss bass]

oh yeh i remember him now, need to buy some of his stuff. Havnt listened to much bar the odd bit at college for ages.

[The Divide]

nice one. Have you'd listened to Stockhausen's Kontate? (http://www.sonicenvelope.com/webradio/y2play/mf-kontacte.ram)

I saw this 15 min video he did the sound for. Its pretty twisted and all very dark. I think it was called In Absentia. Check it out

[miss bass]

I tell you what, when that thunder was going off the other night, and rain hammering down!! My god, could have done some major recordings

[The Divide]

:lol:

Beware of electrocution

[miss bass]

:lol:

Beware of electrocution

well i know!! But i was thinking up some great things when it was. Shame i didnt have a mic, id of been out in the rain proper! :lol:

[MangaFish]

silly topic.

cair to elaberate a little rather than just sit and critasize? :roll:

[MangaFish]

i think some producers get a little lazy and fall back on percussion to provide the energy and rhythem rather than having an interesting structure or interacting samples that provide the groove.

i usually think of percussion as an after thought to pad a track out a little, rather than the essence of the tune. i sometimes get the impression that some techno producers would be unable to write anything if they didnt have access to basic percursive samples

[Col]

silly topic.

cair to elaberate a little rather than just sit and critasize? :roll:

well probably 99% of techno has some form of percussion, so you could say the question has already being answered for you. then to say non-percussive techno doesnt work is just pure ridiculous, its a bit like saying does coffee need 2 sugars to make it taste good?

[dirty_bass]

think some producers get a little lazy and fall back on percussion to provide the energy and rhythem rather than having an interesting structure or interacting samples that provide the groove.

i usually think of percussion as an after thought to pad a track out a little, rather than the essence of the tune. i sometimes get the impression that some techno producers would be unable to write anything if they didnt have access to basic percursive samples

Ummm

Percussion. n striking of one thing against another.
Percussion Instrument, musical instrument played by being struck, such as drum or cymbals.

Percussion as an afterthought.

Umm, no percussion, no kickdrums, no hi-hats, no punch to the rhythm.

Percussion is the heartbeat to the body of techno.

(Well, what most of us call techno, ie techno for dancing)

[professor]

all dance music needs some percussion...as does all tribal...celtic...whathaveyou.
To me techno needs good percussion, but i personally love the synths. The synth lines are what makes a good track to me. from bass to lead to stabs...it's all about the synths.

[audioinjection]

not all techno has to have great percussion, i mean look at the kanzleramt stuff (diego, kowalski), all those great synth melodies are phat.

[Evil G]

personally, i really like both heavily percussive/rhythmic techno and synthy/melodic techno, but i've run into people who insist that if it has too many melodic components it can't be techno and must really be trance. their loss, i guess.

[The Overfiend]

their loss, i guess.
:clap:

[tioneb]

depends on what u call percussions

if u call abssdrums, hi hats , toms snares, clap etc etc percussions (i'd rather call them drums if u feel the difference) then of course mot of techno has some. so by definition techno is percussive.

of course there are many exception to this rule (steve reich is a good quote though i hardly can call what he does techno)

if u mean by percussions the drums like congo bongo etc ... well i dont think its necessary to make a god techno track at all. example : jeff mills - the bells

[MangaFish]

i was thinking more along the lines of snares/hi-hats/cymbols/etc

[wrong]

Dan Bell / Todd Sines some of the best techno ever... it's not about having loads of percussion, imo if you fill up all the gaps, you lose the funk. It's about where you put it, making the most out of what you've got

[The Overfiend]

not all techno has to have great percussion, i mean look at the kanzleramt stuff (diego, kowalski), all those great synth melodies are phat.
Diego is one of the best percussion users there is, improper engrish but you get my point.