HOUSE & TECHNO MASTERCLASS

From inner-city USA to the sunny terraces of Ibiza via the fields of rural England, house and techno culture has been the lifeblood of underground dance music since wannabe musicians began bashing away on old step sequencers and discarded drum machines.

In terms of structure, content and tempo, house and techno share many similarities – specifically four-to-the-floor kick drums, drum machine-driven rhythms, groovy basslines, processed vocals and simple melodics. Broadly speaking, house can be generalised as more ‘accessible’ to the casual listener, whereas techno adheres to more of a dystopian, ‘machine-made’ aesthetic.

However, the line between house and techno has become more and more blurred as electronic music has evolved. Sure, you’ll never mistake the glittery grooves of Defected with the warehouse rumblings of Drumcode, but anyone even remotely familiar with these genres and their myriad sub-factions understands the cross-pollination at play. DJs play techno tunes, techno selectors spin house records, and production techniques have spilled across genres.

When it comes to the production tools involved, there are interesting parallels between the late-80s dance music explosion and today’s software revolution. Just as producers acquired cheap gear to make fresh and interesting new songs back in the day, today’s electronic musician has access to high-quality samples and virtual instruments that won’t break the bank. Yet although it’s easy to lay down a basic house or techno tune, it’s far tougher to make something that rivals today’s most cutting-edge tracks – which is where we come in! In this feature, we’ll break down the techniques and tricks used by the genres’