Techno vs House

Aug. 23, 2006

Electronic/techno and house music has an international following. While the mainstream media has had difficulty getting their heads around it, top artists in the genre are multi-millionaires and in some cases have sold more music and are larger attractions than several mainstream American pop stars.
The roots of techno go back to the late 1960s when European bands such as Kraftwerk (Organisation) and Tangerine Dream began experimenting with electronic music.
While the roots are European, Detroit is often referenced as the birthplace of techno due to the efforts of electronic innovators who created an underground scene. Certainly by the 1990s, Detroit was the Techno Music Capital of the world. While the techno scene was evolving in Detroit, “Jackmaster” and others were developing the roots of “house” music in Chicago. Soon the Midwest was a mecca for the electronic scene with the address of 1486-1492 Gratiot in Detroit becoming know as “Techno Boulevard” and the heartbeat of the world’s techno/electronic music and dance scene.
 
WHAT IT IS
So exactly what is techno/electronic music?
Industry definitions are broad with the music being mostly instrumental, danceable and using repetitive beats and samples from existing songs. Using digital technology, “mixes” are created and recorded using rhythm machines, synthesizers and computers. When the music takes the stage the DJ “manipulates” it often combines various mixes to create danceable beats.
At the recent CloveR press conference in Traverse City, music director Adriel Thornton said that techno music grew out of Detroit’s electronic music subculture of 20 years ago, while house music was developed around the same time in Chicago by musicians who fused disco with electronica.
Today, Detroit, Chicago and virtually every large city in the world offers huge dance clubs where techno and house music rule. Some of the clubs pack hundreds of dancers virtually every night of the week.
“This music is still very young and continues to evolve as artists find new ways to expand the boundaries. What I like about it and I think what its appeal to many is that it is multi media,” said CloveR Festival founder Carol Marvin. “There are visual aspects of this art as well. It is very intelligent music and it challenges the mind. You don’t need to play an instrument to create this type of music. The beats are naturally uplifting.”