Is "House" music different than "Techno" music? I sought thought it was the same, but maybe there is a difference.

Techno is more of an umbrella term, than a working genre definition. Actually house music is more removed from the base styles of techno than many others. Techno doesn't even have to be dance music necessarily, altough most of the time it obviously is.

I'm not sure if anybody would confess to listening to "techno" anymore, it has had far too many negative associations over the years. Europe was basically raped by something also called "Techno" in the early 1990s - here it became a synonym for bad, exploitative pop music with a 4/4 beat and an airy chorus sung by a female vocalist. Those years were a nightmare to many.

Techno is alive and well in Detroit, where it was born. (all of the pioneers, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson are natives) We didn't call it that then. it had to go to Europe and be re-imported back to the states as "techno", which is when it mutated into all that it has and lost its "credibility" but just like "break dancing", it just retreated to its underground roots and the true fans still appreciate and know where to find the good stuff.

good differentiation in the definition. i'd add that House's origins are more tied to Chicago and is said to be more "organic" or "warm" than techno; which can be more minimalist, and experimental. these are generalizations though

missfee said:

House (Chicago, French, British, etc.) picks it up where american disco left off as far as dance music is concern, with the average tempo around 120-125 BPM. Electronic instruments like drum machines (especially Roland TR-808 & TR-909) and keyboard synths are involve, as well as organic instruments like grand pianos, electric pianos (especially Fender Rhodes), organs, rhythm guitars, and bass. Also, most house tracks have vocalists singing close to the traditions of disco.

Techno (Detroit, Canada, Germany, Japan, British, etc.) has almost no connection with disco whatsoever. THIS genre is all futuristic, with only drum machines (mostly the Roland TR-909) and synths as the primany instruments. The tempo can range from 120-140 BPM (sometimes a little higher). In an iconic twist, when Juan Atkin (the godfather of Detroit Techno) invented the genre, it sound EXACTLY like electro (one of the earliest styles of hip-hop well popular in the dance scenes of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami). However, techno would progress in later years into a genre that is no longer connected to electro or house for that matter. As for the genre's name, Techno was coined by Derrick May (one of the genre's main forefathers) which is short for "technology".

Wikipedia has an interest essay about electronic dance music [EDM], including house & techno: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ance_music
[Edited 3/18/07 4:38am]

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What they said up there.

missfee said:

House is a direct descendant of Disco music and incorporates many of its styles: large churchy black vocals (although in recent years this has fallen out of fashion in some circles), four on the floor beats, and may incorporate organs, synths or pianos depending on the style.

There's original 'House' music (which originated in Chicago in the late '70s and took its name from the "Warehouse" dance club where this type of music was played). It's much more esoteric and there's emphasis on dancing. It tends to be either feel-good, uplifting and/or has a spiritual element. There is darker house music such as "progressive" or "tribal" which takes some cues from Electronica and Techno, but emphasis is still on the Body.

Techno originated in Detroit and it reflects the landscape and mood of that city. It's stark, post-industrial and post-modern -- it sounds like decay or loss. If you listen to Cybotron's "Enter"/"Clear" album that's a very good example of what is Techno. To keep it in modern terms, Missy Elliott's "Lose Control" directly samples Cybotron's "Clear" -- basically Missy sampled a Techno song. Techno can be linked more to early Kraftwerk not Chic, Gloria Gaynor. It's more muscular.

Techno is a cousin of House, but it is a movement which was evolving on its own. You can dance to a lot of Techno, but emphasis is more on production and experimentation -- and that ties in a lot with the mind and being out-of-body. So much so, in fact that with a lot of techno you don't even dance to it. It's more about the crafting of a sound and can get downtempo or chilled out in ways House music simply can't. Both genres really aren't the same, it's just that people who don't follow the music lump all of it together.

Today Techno is still being made, but as a genre it's very niche and is still very underground. It was extremely influential, though, and most of its offshoot is now being called "Electronic/a" whereas House music's offshoot is now being called just "Dance."

House is the ONE.....Chicago style.

TonyVanDam said:

wow, thanks for the source

Mara said:

thanks for the knowledge