Micro Techno
Minimal · 1994 · 125 to 132 BPM · also known as Microtechno, Click Techno
Micro techno reduces techno to its smallest grains, a current that applies the precision of micro sound to techno's own structures, somewhere between Thomas Brinkmann's mathematical variations and the duo SND. It favors bare digital textures and millimeter precise rhythms, with absolutely no fat left on them. It is laboratory music built from clicks and sine tones, and yet it keeps a real groove, austere but still physical, precise rather than cold.
7 reference tracks
- Robert Hood: Minus (1994)
- Pole: Raum (1998)
- Dan Bell: Losing Control (1998)
- Thomas Brinkmann: Isch (2000)
- SND: Travelog (2002)
- Alva Noto: Xerrox Phaser Acat 1 (2007)
- Rrose: Please Touch (2019)
At a glance
- Tempo: 125 to 132 BPM
- First appeared: around 1994
- Machines: Max/MSP, Native Instruments Reaktor, Ableton Live
- The sound: DSP et granulation, Séquences mathématiques, Sinusoïdes et clics, Éditions extrêmes
- Labels: Raster-Noton, Max Ernst, Mille Plateaux, Raster
- Key artists: Thomas Brinkmann, SND, Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda (frange rythmique)
Producing Micro Techno
Micro techno runs 125 to 135 BPM, faster and straighter than microhouse, with a bare grid and no swing, its movement coming from motifs of five. The kick shrinks to a short fifty to eighty millisecond sine on every beat or just one and three, with no snare, replaced by digital clicks generated from a filtered impulse on beats two and four. The bass is a pure forty five or fifty five Hertz sine with no harmonics, playing a pulse with a very short envelope, joined by a second sine an octave up playing its own step cycle for a low polyrhythm. Built with DSP and granulation rather than traditional synths, the palette adds crackling granular textures and static harmonic sines, reverb avoided except as a deliberate choice.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Micro Techno?
Micro techno reduces techno to its smallest grains, a current that applies the precision of micro sound to techno's own structures, somewhere between Thomas Brinkmann's mathematical variations and the duo SND. It favors bare digital textures and millimeter precise rhythms, with absolutely no fat…
What tempo is Micro Techno played at?
Between 125 and 132 BPM.
Who are the key Micro Techno artists?
Thomas Brinkmann, SND, Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda (frange rythmique).
In the same family
- Minimal Techno
- Tech House
- Microhouse
- Clicks & Cuts
- Minimal Tech
- Minimal Prog
- Ro-Minimal
- Minimal Wave
- Deep Tech
- Fidget House
Listen to Micro Techno in the atlas · Cette page en français
