techy music

[Guest]

i must admit i'm looking forward to hearing his responce more than anyone elses as i (usually) agree with him

[James]

he had a great response - i just cant remember it all ! doh

[Ian Cashman]

QUOTE (Chris Hutchinson @ Apr 21 2004, 00:15)

to me, 'Techy' tracks are percussion lead tracks.....

[ChrisT]

QUOTE (Jimmy @ Apr 20 2004, 23:36)

QUOTE (Mr_Happy @ Apr 20 2004, 22:58) QUOTE (ChrisT @ Apr 20 2004, 22:49) Mark Tyler - London lets 'ave ya = Techy Hard house imo not heard that but i love his other stuff its not techy at all imo a techno/hard house crossover tune to me says 'techy' hard house

[Lisa]

To me it is a hardhouse tune with a techy percussion base line

[LiquidEyes]

My two cents on "techy"...

 

When I describe a tune (be it house, trance, whatever) as techy, I mean it has inherited the "looped groove" feel of techno. Minimal techno is all about the less is more ethos, stripping a track back to its essential groove, and dispensing with the fluff.

 

A good techy groove has a real relentless roll to it - you can put it on loop and it doesn't seem to have a start or an end - it just flows. A really good loop speaks for itself ... you know when you've made a good one ... you can listen to it for a minute or two and it still doesn't get boring.

 

A lot of people over-use the term just to mean "minimal" / "repetitive" / "looped". I mean, artists have been using loops since the dawn of house music, but that doesn't mean it was all techy!

 

I don't think there is a rule that says it has to be strictly "percussive" (some techy house/trance sounds quite tuneful to me), but techno is all about rhythm and texture, whereas other styles of music (e.g. trance, progressive) place more importance on form and/or melody and/or elaborate layering of sounds.

 

Some of the stuff that people pass off as "techy", I just think is minimal and/or percussive. For example, whoever said hard house couldn't be minimal and percussion-orientated? A given tune doesn't magically become "techy" just because you substituted the cheesy hoover/horn stabs for dirtier percussion sounds. Neither does a techy house tune stop being techy because you make it a bit more "tuneful". Techy is all about the feel of the music, not just the actual sounds.

 

For me, very little hard house sounds techy, because the "stomping" kick/bassline doesn't feel like part of the loop. A lot of supposedly "techy" stuff just sounds like a vanilla hard house beat with a loop stuck on top. Whereas "proper" techy music sounds like the loop is the very core of the tune... everything else is just peripheral. You dance to the loop itself, not some underlying "stomp".

Edited April 21, 2004 by LiquidEyes

[Chris Hutchinson]

QUOTE (LiquidEyes @ Apr 21 2004, 10:30)

For me, very little hard house sounds techy, because the "stomping" kick/bassline doesn't feel like part of the loop. A lot of supposedly "techy" stuff just sounds like a vanilla hard house beat with a loop stuck on top. Whereas "proper" techy music sounds like the loop is the very core of the tune... everything else is just peripheral. You dance to the loop itself, not some underlying "stomp".

true, but your only relating it to the current styles of 'hard dance'.... the original hardhouse sound was minimal, progressive and about 140bpm - it wasnt based around raw energy, or high tempo's, but around well worked grooves....

 

So in that aspect, and going on your points on what 'techy' is, I guess hardhouse CAN be techy, without being techno....

[LiquidEyes]

Agreed Chris ... I totally agree that hard house can be techy. I just haven't heard much that is.

 

(Indeed I did like hard house a few years ago before it went in a "harder faster cornier" direction... one of the few genres that actually became more "narrow" in its definition rather than broadening!)

Edited April 21, 2004 by LiquidEyes

[Chris Hutchinson]

QUOTE (LiquidEyes @ Apr 21 2004, 12:40)

(Indeed I did like hard house a few years ago before it went in a "harder faster cornier" direction... one of the few genres that actually became more "narrow" in its definition rather than broadening!)

yeah - it kinda pidgeon-holed itself to the point where it HAS to change after the bounce-era....

 

Just thinking back to some of the tracks on tdv's essential mix... I suppose a lot of them were just house music, but harder... the stuff around at the moment is so far removed from house music (with the exception of track-structure), that its just hard?

 

I guess when the hardcore elements took over from the house elements, it completely diversified (is that a word?) - 'slowcore' is probably a better descripton now??

[LiquidEyes]

QUOTE (Chris Hutchinson @ Apr 21 2004, 12:50)

Just thinking back to some of the tracks on tdv's essential mix... I suppose a lot of them were just house music, but harder... the stuff around at the moment is so far removed from house music (with the exception of track-structure), that its just hard?

^ agreed.

 

I like a whole range of music from "deep-funky" to "tougher-darker" to "uplifting", but I prefer all my tunes to have a healthy ingredient of house and/or techno. Otherwise dance music can sound very "flat" and "soulless" to me.

[Stu]

definitely rolling.

[Phil rr]

QUOTE

A really good loop speaks for itself ... you know when you've made a good one ... you can listen to it for a minute or two and it still doesn't get boring.

 

the 1.5-second chord loop in "lil louis - french kiss" sort of springs to mind?

 

QUOTE

For example, whoever said hard house couldn't be minimal and percussion-orientated

 

the intro to "i dont care" sort of springs to mind?

 

2 cents - agree with u, techno doesn't have the sharp breakdowns ior buildups, it rolls continously, you can drift into the music and just "cruise" along to it for minutes and minutes and minutes on end.

 

borrows some from progressive? progressive=relaxed, rolling and continuous?

[Guest]

QUOTE (Phil rr @ Apr 21 2004, 18:41)

borrows some from progressive? progressive=relaxed, rolling and continuous?

technos been around much longer than prog has

[Phil rr]

QUOTE (Mr_Happy @ Apr 21 2004, 19:06)

QUOTE (Phil rr @ Apr 21 2004, 18:41) borrows some from progressive? progressive=relaxed, rolling and continuous? technos been around much longer than prog has never said it hadn't.

[Guest]

not sure what you meen from 'borrows some' then