Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TECKNO (Theorising EDM (Electronic Dance Music) Composition Knowledge)
Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2024-10-31
The problem being addressed by this project is the lack of research into the musical and production techniques that govern electronic popular music in general and techno specifically. Electronic dance music production is an activity pursued by both professional and amateur musicians and techno is a highly popular genre. Expert knowledge about electronic music production, including techno, has been historically difficult to find because the activities of professional techno producers typically did not include educating others or sharing their practices. The overall objectives are to explore a range of techniques that reflect the musical principles of a professional techno production, and map their hierarchical stratification; map the decision-making process, the creative strategies, that underlies the professional production of a techno track from a blank slate to final product; organise the various musical aspects of techno production in a comprehensive theoretical framework; and explore the affordances of extended temporality in techno production and performance.
Work performed includes a comprehensive literature review of research on electronic music production, electronic music analysis, rhythm in electronic dance music, and tempo modulation in popular music. The project yielded an analytical research framework for techno production structured in three categories: sounds, tracks, and kicks. These categories emerged through a grounded theory analysis of video content created by 24 professional techno producers for commercial online platforms such as Aulart, Echio, Home of Sound, and Seedj. Video courses were analysed by 24 different techno producers: Alarico & No.Name Alex Wilcox, Anetha, Anfisa Letyago, Arthur Robert, Blawan, Carl Craig, Chlär, Claudio PRC, D.Dan Âme, Hadone, Hannes Bieger, Joe Farr, Luke Slater, Manni Dee, Quelza, Regal, Rrose, Setaoc Mass, Stiv Hey, Temudo, and Vil & Cravo. The study further integrates an ethnographic component, whereby the author conducted interviews with professional techno artists Chris Liebing and DVS1 about their approaches to production and compared the responses to data collected from video analysis. The resultant techno production framework reveals a hierarchy of categories: sounds as a primary concern, tracks as form, and kick drums a key sonic feature. Techno production, reflecting techno music, is shown to be predicated on the repetition and iteration of idiomatic sounds, structures, and processes. Extended temporality is found to be effective in techno production and performance in the form of pivot mixing, a specific application of tempo modulation, and prime rhythm, a specific application of tuplets. A mixed-methods approach developed further understanding through inclusion of autoethnographic and practice-based components, whereby the author incorporated techniques acquired from the professional techno producer content and academic literature into his own productions. Practice-based outputs include the production of six extended plays (EPs) — EP1, EP2, EP3, Primal Extensions, Prime Funktion, and Sunday Summer. These EPs are released or scheduled for release through NovaMute, the techno sub-label of Mute Records, across 2024 and 2025. These records incorporate the findings on techno production from the previous stages of the project as well as findings on extended temporality. Findings on extended temporality are exploited in the form of Every Div, a hardware instrument prototype created in collaboration with dadamachines and Every Something and planned for release in 2025. A series of widely seen videos published on social media disseminates the project findings on extended temporality. Finally, three articles were produced, one scheduled for publication in the Cambridge Companion to Eletronic Dance Music and another two currently under peer review.
The analytical framework of techno production resulting from this project shows the level of detail and technical sophistication that goes into making techno music. Few such frameworks are available for popular music production of different forms, and the research methodology developed for this project provides a model approach that could be applied to other music genres, in order to inform a wider range of understanding of popular music. The introduction of pivot mixing and high level of engagement achieved by the project’s dissemination on social media, suggests a significant potential impact on electronic dance music performance and production whereby tempo modulation can more widely be understood and a multiplicity of tempi adopted. The practice-based outputs, included in the NovaMute catalogue and digitally distributed long-term, provides a permanent record and example of how the findings from the project can be put into techno production practice.