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Example of Acid techno sound

Acid techno is the term used to describe a style of techno that developed out of late 1980s Chicago Acid house.^[1] Acid house was essentially house music made with a specific sound, obtained by using very distinctive instruments created mainly by Roland, such as the TB-303 for bass and lead sounds, and the TR-909 and TR-808 for percussion. Acid specifically refers to the use of the Roland TB-303, or any other synthesizer designed to emulate it's unique sound.^[2] While modern electronic instruments have memory banks of different sounds or patches, these machines had to be manually set by adjusting control knobs. The acid sound was obtained by either setting these controls to extreme parameters, or manipulating these controls in real-time as the track was being recorded, something record producers would call tweaking. Acid techno is created in the same exact way Acid house is, the difference being that House music has a specific format that includes melody and the potential for vocals and traditional western popular music structuring, where as Techno music requires no melody or harmony and focuses more on rhythm and texture, which is why it is most commonly viewed as having less commercial potential.

[edit] History

Acid techno evolved in the midwestern United States and Europe in the early 1990s from the industrial music scene, and offered something completely different than the disco-influenced house music that was often heard at nightclubs. One of the first acid techno records ever recorded is Circuit Breaker: Experiments in Sound, produced by Richie Hawtin, on Probe Records, a sub-label of Plus-8 records. Some examples of other North American acid techno labels would include Communique ^{[disambiguation needed]}, Drop Bass Network, Direct Drive, Analog Records USA, EXperimental, Cheshire Records, and very early Dance Mania. Acid Techno was popular throughout the early 1990s in the London squat party scene.^{[citation needed]} Many DJs mixed Acid Techno and later producers such as Divine Soma Experiment started to experiment with more complex arrangements and techniques combining freestyle breakbeats and psychedelic (acid) techno.

In Europe, acid techno was very popular throughout the 1990s. Most notably, Holland's Djax-Up-Beats was a very successful international record label releasing well known American producers alongside European producers such as Acid Junkies, Cologne. Germany had one of the most famous acid techno scenes in the mid 1990s, featuring a collective of artists who recorded and performed together such as Mike Ink, Walker ^{[disambiguation needed]}, and Jammin Unit, on labels like Force Inc and DJ.Ungle Fever.

The term "Acid" music derives from the record "Acid Tracks" by group Phuture (Trax Records, Chicago, 1987)^{[citation needed]}.

In London, acid techno is considered a less repetitive sound than many other forms of techno (early influences included the German acid trance scene) and an irreverent, often-political attitude seen in the titles and samples used in many of its tracks; many of that scene's originators had originally been part of the punk scene. Early labels included SUF, Smitten, Routemaster, Boscaland, Choci's Chewns and VCF, and more recently in the U.K., acid techno has developed away from a predominantly 303-based sound into a broader sub-genre of techno that still retains its dancefloor-friendly ethos, and 'London' sound. Labels such as Infected, Hydraulix, Cluster, 4x4, RAW and Powertools reflect this newer sound.^{[citation needed]}.

Acid techno continues to be mainly a fairly underground form of music.

[edit] Notable Producers

• Aphex Twin^[3][4]
• Plastikman^[1]
• Dave Clarke^[1]
• Luke Vibert^[5]
• Woody McBride
• Freddie Fresh
• Jimmy Crash
• Adam X
• DJ Zyx
• Paul Birken
• Martin Damm
• Thomas P. Heckmann
• Mike Ink
• Ingmar Koch
• Rob Acid
• Brixton
• Hardfloor
• Jammin Unit
• Can Oral
• Random XS
• Like A Tim
• Acid Junkies
• Affie Yusuf
• Jon the Dentist
• Steve Smitten
• Choci
• Octodred
• D.A.V.E. the Drummer
• Chris Liberator^[6]
• Julian Liberator
• Aaron Liberator
• Guy “Geezer” McAffer
• Pete Skank
• Henry Cullen
• Dave Lalouche
• Rowland The Bastard
• Lawrie Immersion
• Ant
• Ege Bam Yasi
• Spiral Tribe
• Emmanuel Top
• Kai Tracid

[edit] See also

• Acid breaks
• Big beat

[edit] References