Techstep

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Techstep
Stylistic origins

Techstep is a dark subgenre of drum and bass that was created in the mid-1990s.[1]

Style

It is characterized by a dark,

synthesised or sampled sound sources, 2-step kicks and snares[3] and influences from industrial and techno music, what some writers have described as a "clinical" sound.[4] Although described as having a "techy" feel, techstep's relationship with techno should not be overstated. It shares the technique of creating a high-energy collage from abstract, synthetic noises, including samples, bleeps and squelches: it rarely uses instruments that have not been processed by effects. Similarly, quantized drum-machine kit and percussion sounds are favored over naturalistic human breakbeats. However, it usually adheres to drum and bass norms in other regards, especially in terms of musical structure, with the emphasis on the "drop". Techstep saw jungle music's obsession with bass change, from aiming for low and deep to exploring timbre, artists aiming to outdo each other with ever more distorted
and "twisted" bass sounds.

History

Techstep developed from

Belgian techno.[7] Techstep was a reaction to the appearance of more pop and virtuosic musical elements on jungle and drum 'n' bass tracks, which were seen as an adulteration of "true" or "original" jungle.[8] Instead the genre was infused with a simpler, colder sound that stripped away most R&B elements, and replaced them with a more hardcore sound,[9] and ideological influences like dystopian films like Blade Runner and RoboCop.[10]
One of the first incarnations of the techstep sound is DJ Trace's remix of T-Power's "Mutant Jazz" which appeared on S.O.U.R. Recordings in 1995. This remix, co-produced by Ed Rush and Nico, features the trademark stepping beats and distorted Reese bassline
which would become symbolic of the techstep genre. The Torque compilation (No U Turn), the Techsteppin' compilation (Emotif), Breakage LP (Penny Black 1997), and Platinum Breakz 1, 2, and MDZ 01 (Metalheadz) feature some selections of techstep tracks.

Some of the original techstep producers eventually developed the

Optical. Artists such as Teebee and Noisia further developed the Neurofunk sound. Moving Shadow and Metalheadz
were important labels in the development of the style.

See also

References

  1. Village Voice
    . Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  2. ISBN 0-9685721-0-3
    .
  3. ^ "Over two hours of prime techstep from DJ Mark N." Darkfloor.
  4. ISBN 1-85828-433-3
    .
  5. ISBN 0-634-01788-8
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-415-30710-9
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-59376-407-4
    . The term (Techstep) was coined by DJ–producers Ed Rush and Trace, who shaped the sound in tandem with engineer Nico of the No U Turn label. The 'tech' stood not for Detroit techno, dreamy and elegant, but for the brutalist Belgian hardcore of the early nineties. Paying homage to R & S classics like 'Dominator' and 'Mentasm', to artists like T99 and Frank de Wulf (...)., p. 357.
  8. ISBN 0-415-16199-1
    .
  9. ISBN 0-8195-6502-4
    .
  10. ISBN 0-415-92373-5
    .
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