Detroit techno is an early style of electronic music beginning in 1980s. Detroit has been cited as the birthplace of
techno music.
[1][2] Prominent Detroit Techno artists include
Juan Atkins,
Derrick May, and
Kevin Saunderson. A distinguishing trait of Detroit techno is the use of
analog synthesizers and early
drum machines, particularly the
Roland TR-909, or, in later releases, the use of digital emulation to create the characteristic sounds of those machines.
Detroit techno music was originally thought of as a subset to Chicago's early style of house.[3] However, some critics believe that the Detroit techno movement was an adjunct to house music,[4] named for the new style of music played at a Chicago nightclub called "The Warehouse". Although producers in both cities used the same hardware and even collaborated on projects and remixes together, Detroiters traded the choir-friendly vocals of House with metallic clicks, robotic voices and repetitive hooks reminiscent of an automotive assembly line. Many of the early techno tracks had futuristic or robotic themes, although a notable exception to this trend was a single by Derrick May under his pseudonym Rhythim Is Rhythim, called Strings of Life. This vibrant dancefloor anthem was filled with rich synthetic string arrangements and took the underground music scene by storm in May 1987. With subtle differences between the genres, clubs in both cities included Detroit techno and Chicago house tracks in their playlists without objection from patrons (or much notice by non-audiophiles).
The three individuals most closely associated with the birth of Detroit techno as a genre are Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, also known as the "Belleville Three". These three high school friends from the Detroit suburb would soon find their basement tracks in dancefloor demand, thanks in part to seminal Detroit radio personality The Electrifying Mojo. Ironically, Derrick May once described Detroit techno music as being a "complete mistake...like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator, with only a sequencer to keep them company."[5]
Kevin Saunderson was born in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of nine he moved to Michigan, where he attended Belleville High School in Belleville, a town some 30 miles from Detroit.[6] In school he befriended Derrick May and Juan Atkins, both of whom had been born in Detroit but later moved to rural Belleville. At the time, the three were among the few black students in their high school.
