Detroit techno

History and character

The original techno, born in Detroit between 1985 and 1988. Juan Atkins (Cybotron with Rick Davis: “Alleys of Your Mind”, 1981, “Clear”; then Model 500 on his Metroplex label from 1985, “No UFO's”), Derrick May (Rhythim Is Rhythim, “Strings of Life”, 1987, on Transmat) and Kevin Saunderson (Inner City, “Good Life”, 1988, KMS) — the “Belleville Three” — combined European electronics (Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, synth-pop), Parliament's funk and the futuristic, Afrofuturist imagery of a declining industrial city; The Electrifying Mojo's radio programs were a fundamental influence. The name “techno” was fixed by the British compilation “Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit” (1988).

The second wave (the '90s) brought Underground Resistance (Mike Banks, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood: militancy, anonymity, “Knights of the Jaguar” as The Aztec Mystic, 1999), Carl Craig (Planet E), Blake Baxter, Octave One, Stacey Pullen, Kenny Larkin, Drexciya (electro); Hood's minimal and Mills's techno also start from here.

Aesthetic: emotion inside the machine — “as if Kraftwerk and George Clinton were stuck in an elevator” (a quote attributed to May, paraphrased); soul chords and synthetic strings, funky groove, futurism and urban melancholy.

Scales and keys

Convention: Roman numerals refer to the major scale on the same tonic (uppercase = major, lowercase = minor, ° diminished, ø half-diminished, + augmented; b/# = degree lowered/raised relative to the major: in A minor F = bVI, G = bVII). Notes and chords below are calculated exactly from the formula.

Dorian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 — steps: T S T T T S T
• On C: C D Eb F G A Bb
• Diatonic triads: Cm i · Dm ii · Eb bIII · F IV · Gm v · Adim vi° · Bb bVII
• Seventh chords: Cm7 i7 · Dm7 ii7 · Ebmaj7 bIIImaj7 · F7 IV7 · Gm7 v7 · Am7b5 viø7 · Bbmaj7 bVIImaj7
• Characteristic note: the major sixth (A): major IV (F9), a soulful, hopeful color.
• Use: i9–IV9 pads and stabs, synthetic strings, funky basslines with a passing note on the 6.
• Example of use: the string and chord aesthetic of Derrick May and Carl Craig.
• Common mistakes: Ab in the pads over the F9.

Aeolian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 — steps: T S T T S T T
• On F: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb
• Diatonic triads: Fm i · Gdim ii° · Ab bIII · Bbm iv · Cm v · Db bVI · Eb bVII
• Seventh chords: Fm7 i7 · Gm7b5 iiø7 · Abmaj7 bIIImaj7 · Bbm7 iv7 · Cm7 v7 · Dbmaj7 bVImaj7 · Eb7 bVII7
• Characteristic note: the b6 (Db): urban melancholy.
• Use: i9–bVImaj7–iv9 chords and cadences with a minor v; string riffs.
• Common mistakes: closing on the tonic with a V7: Detroit prefers suspensions.

Minor pentatonic

• Formula: 1 b3 4 5 b7 — steps: T+S T T T+S T
• On C: C Eb F G Bb
• Characteristic note: funk without semitones.
• Use: funky basslines, Cybotron-style synth riffs.
• Common mistakes: rigid lines without syncopation.

Ionian with sevenths (Detroit chords)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — steps: T T S T T T S
• On Eb: Eb F G Ab Bb C D
• Diatonic triads: Eb I · Fm ii · Gm iii · Ab IV · Bb V · Cm vi · Ddim vii°
• Seventh chords: Ebmaj7 Imaj7 · Fm7 ii7 · Gm7 iii7 · Abmaj7 IVmaj7 · Bb7 V7 · Cm7 vi7 · Dm7b5 viiø7
• Characteristic note: maj7 and 9: bright chords in the pads (Abmaj9, Ebmaj7) alternating with minors.
• Use: planing of maj7/m7 chords and “spacey” progressions.
• Common mistakes: triads without extensions.

How to choose between scales

Dorian for soul (major IV), Aeolian for melancholy, pentatonic for funk basslines and riffs; always seventh and ninth chords. A typical feature is planing: the same m7 or m9 voicing shifted onto notes even outside the scale, which takes the track out of the mode and creates the “futuristic” effect.

Harmony

Function

More harmonic than European techno: loops of 2–4 chords with extensions (m9, m11, maj7, 9sus4), synthetic strings, melodic responses. Suspended cadences.

Techniques

• Planing / chord memory (parallel m7 chords shifted by minor thirds, whole tones, etc.).
• Dorian vamp i9–IV9.
• Descents i9–bVImaj7–iv9–V7sus4.
• Strings in octaves and chords that open up with the filter.

Harmonic rhythm

1 chord every 1–2 bars; often syncopated stabs.

Examples

• Cm9–F9 (i9–IV9).
• Cm7–Ebm7–Fm7–Abm7 (planing).
• Fm9–Dbmaj7–Bbm9–C7sus4.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

• Feel: funky, syncopated groove, light or medium swing (54–58% MPC); more “human” than Berlin techno.
• Accents: kick on every quarter note, clap on 2 and 4, hats in sixteenth notes with accents; syncopated percussion; electro influence in the sometimes broken kick patterns.
• Programming: TR-909 and TR-808 with shuffle; 1–2 bar patterns.

Drums

Kick

On every quarter note (909 or 808), less distorted than European techno; in more electro tracks, broken patterns (1, 7, 11).

Clap and snare

909 clap on 2 and 4, 909 snare rolls in the transitions.

Hi-hat and ride

Closed hats in sixteenth notes with accents and shuffle; open hat on the offbeat; ride in eighth notes.

Percussion

808 cowbell and claves, 727 congas, 909 toms; funk syncopation.

Dynamics and ghost notes

Drum machine accents; real-time mutes and unmutes.

Interaction with bass and vocals

Syncopated funky bass that answers the kick; strings and stabs on the offbeats.

Sections

Drum intro, bass enters, strings or stabs, break with pads and strings, re-entry with everything.

Fills and transitions

909 rolls, tom fills, stops.

Sound choice

Original 909/808, 707/727, little processing.

Typical mistakes

Drums too hard and distorted (it turns into Berlin techno); no shuffle.

Bass

• Sound: analog synth bass (SH-101, Juno, Minimoog, MC-202) or FM (DX100), often saw or square with a half-open filter.
• Register: C1–C3.
• With the kick: funk syncopations between the kicks; light sidechain or none.
• Notes: tonic, octave, b7, b3, Dorian 6; 1–2 bar phrases.
• Rhythm: syncopated sixteenth notes.

Harmonic instruments

• Synthetic strings (Strings of Life): chords and riffs in octaves.
• Juno/Jupiter pads, m9/maj7 chords.
• Synth stabs and sampled piano.
• Yamaha DX, Ensoniq, Korg polyphonic synths.

Melody and vocals

• Melodies: synth or string riffs, sampled piano lines; often short and repeated.
• Vocals: rare: vocoder, robotic voices (Cybotron), spoken samples; soul vocals in Inner City.
• Effects: delay, digital reverb, chorus.

Instruments

Roland TR-909, TR-808, TR-707/727, TB-303, SH-101, MC-202, Juno-60/106, Jupiter-8, Yamaha DX7/DX100, Ensoniq Mirage, Korg Poly-800, Akai/E-mu samplers, Korg MS-20, sequencers.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Jup-8 V — Strings and pads: Synthetic strings: 2 detuned saw VCOs, 24 dB filter at 50%, 50–200 ms attack; for stabs, 300 ms filter decay.
• Jun-6 V — Soul stabs and pads: Stabs with chord memory (or fixed shifted voicings) and Chorus I.
• SEM V — Bassline: 12 dB filter for round, funky basses.
• DX7 V — FM basses, bells and piano: Short FM basses, bells and electric pianos typical of late-'80s digital synths.
• Mini V — Funk bass: Fat bass with short glide for funky lines.
• Vocoder V — Robotic voices: Vocoder for Cybotron/Model 500-style voices.

Song structure

5–7 minutes; arrangement by mutes and unmutes like a drum machine jam.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Warm, funky and “vintage-futuristic”: full but undistorted kick, readable syncopated bass, enveloping strings and pads, little hyper-processing. References: Rhythim Is Rhythim — Strings of Life, Inner City — Good Life, Carl Craig — At Les.

Kick

HP 30 Hz; +2 dB 55–65 Hz; −3 dB 300 Hz; +1 dB 3 kHz; light compression; tape; mono.

Clap and snare

HP 200 Hz; +2 dB 1 kHz; plate/digital reverb 1–1.5 s; centered.

Hi-hat and percussion

HP 400 Hz; LP 14 kHz; panning hats 15%, perc 30–50%; short room.

Bass

HP 30 Hz; +2 dB 80–120 Hz; +2 dB 600 Hz–1 kHz; LP 4 kHz; opto 3:1 GR 3 dB; mono; sidechain 2–3 dB.

Strings, pads, stabs

HP 150–200 Hz; −2 dB 300–500 Hz; +1 dB 3 kHz on the strings; hall 2–3 s; dotted 1/8 delay on the stabs; wide; chorus; sidechain 2–4 dB; cutoff automation.

Vocals / vocoder

HP 150 Hz; compression 4 dB; chorus and delay; centered.

FX

Few: mixer reverbs and delays, filter sweeps.

Buses and groups

Drum bus with light glue and tape; music bus with tape.

Sidechain

Light (2–4 dB) on pad and bass.

Master

EQ (HP 25 Hz) → tape → compressor 1–2 dB → limiter. Target −9/−8 LUFS integrated, true peak −1 dBTP, crest factor 8–11 dB.

Common mistakes

Modern over-compression; strings too bright and digital; no shuffle; modern sub that's too heavy.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Rhythim Is Rhythim — Strings of Life (1987)
• Inner City — Good Life (1988)
• The Aztec Mystic — Knights of the Jaguar (1999)

Reference listening

• Cybotron — Clear (1983)
• Model 500 — No UFO's (1985)
• Rhythim Is Rhythim — Strings of Life (1987)
• Inner City — Good Life (1988)
• The Aztec Mystic — Knights of the Jaguar (1999)