Free tekno

Free tekno is the name given to the music predominantly played at free parties in Europe. The spelling of the word tekno is made to deliberately differentiate the musical style from that of techno. The music is fast, normally 180 to 200 bpm and characterised by a pounding repetitive kick drum.

History

Tekno evolved in tandem with the teknival movement in the early 1990s since many of the teknival organisers and DJs were also making music. The music drew on influences such as hardcore, rave, jungle, gabba and techno, with the producers taking the sound in a darker, more organic direction. An emphasis is placed on samples from TV shows, films and popular culture which are placed at strategic moments in the tracks. The music was produced with whatever was available: drum machines, synthesisers and keyboards as well as computer programs such as Cubase. In recent years there has been a trend using laptops for live performances, because the capabilities of both the hardware and software are improving very fast.

Tekno producers come from different places including Great Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, France, and the Czech Republic. Since the free party movement is very large in France in terms of numbers, there are many French artists and records labels. As the genre evolved it has come to be known by a number of names, including spiral tekno, hardtek, enimatek, tribetek and French hardcore (Frenchcore). Some well-known producers are Crystal Distortion, 69db, FKY, Jack Acid, Spukkin Faceship, Les Boucles Etranges, Yale, Ixy, Psychospores, Curley and Sensory Overload.

The Network 23 record label started by members of the Spiral Tribe sound system has become hugely influential. Other well-known labels include Hokus Pokus, Passe Muraille, Perce Oreille and Foxtanz.

A complete history is made difficult by the very nature of the genre:
* Artists are not interested in fame or money so they will often use pseudonyms and change record labels frequently.
* The free party movement is against stars and profit-making.
* The genre is still evolving today.
* Part of the appeal of the movement is its underground nature.

Recently interest in tekno has decreased, as artists begin to explore other genres such as breakcore, speedcore and hip hop; perhaps because of an increasing boredom with the 4/4 beat or because artists find these genres more extreme.

ound systems

*Spiral Tribe
*Network 23 (record label)

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3647649 Free Party article at h2g2]
* [http://www.freetekno.org/ Freetekno.org website]
* [http://www.tekalombre.net/ North French tekno website (almost all in French)]
* [http://parties.are.free.fr/ French tekno website (almost all in French)]
* [http://www.tekalouest.org/index.php West France tekno website (in French)]
* [http://www.defcore.net French free tekno website (in French)]