Acid techno, sometimes known generally as "acid", is a genre of

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

that was derived from

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...

and developed in Europe in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It saw younger artists apply the "squelching" synthesizer sound of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

acid house to harder-edged techno material.

Acid Techno Acid techno, sometimes known generally as "acid", is a genre of techno that was derived from acid house and developed in Europe in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It saw younger artists apply the "squelching" synthesizer sound of Chicago acid ho ...

, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

'', Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 22 November 2009

Characteristics

The acid style was obtained largely through

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

instruments, most prominently the

TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

bass synthesizer. The term ''Acid'' specifically refers to the harsh "acidic" squelching sound of the Roland 303.Nash, Rob (2009)
Techno: Encyclopedia of Modern Music
, ''The Sunday Times Culture's Encyclopedia of Modern Music'', 1 February 2009, retrieved 22 November 2009 The acid sound is achieved by turning up the filter

resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscil ...

and turning down the

cutoff frequency In physics and electrical engineering, a cutoff frequency, corner frequency, or break frequency is a boundary in a system's frequency response at which energy flowing through the system begins to be reduced ( attenuated or reflected) rather tha ...

parameters of the synthesizer, along with programming the 303's accent, slide, and octave parameters; manipulating the filter in real-time as the track is being recorded is a technique known as ''tweaking''. In addition to acid records imported from the US, the style was influenced by sources such as

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, German

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

, and Belgian

rave music A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

History

Early exponents of the style included

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He beca ...

(aka Plastikman),

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...

, Dave Clarke,

Hardfloor Hardfloor is a German electronic music duo, consisting of Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Their most famous track is "Acperience 1" (often titled more simply as "Acperience" on many compilation albums) and chosen by Feargal Sharkey as one of ...

, solarquest, and Damon Wilde. Other mainstays included London acts such as Liberators, Henry Cullen (aka D.A.V.E. The Drummer), Guy McAffer (aka The Geezer), and DDR. In London, the acid techno scene developed via illegal network of parties; the 1997 compilation ''It's Not Intelligent…And It's Not From Detroit…But It's F**king 'Avin It'' was subtitled "The Sound of London's Acid Techno Underground" and helped to solidify the genre in the underground consciousness.

References

External links

Old School Acid Techno
Some Old School Acid Techno tracks
AcidTechno.co.uk
Acid Techno.co.uk
Acid Tekno
Acid Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Acid Techno 20th-century music genres Techno genres

Characteristics

History

See also

References

External links