Hard Techno
Techno · 1993 · 145 to 165 BPM · also known as Tekno, Free Tekno, Teknival
Techno pushed to extremes of speed and pressure, running from 140 to well over 160 beats per minute, built on distorted kicks and percussive function above all else. It has had its own ages: the warehouses of the 1990s, the schranz of the 2000s, and a 2020s revival that has brought it back to the center of Europe's biggest clubs, faster than ever before. Melody is a rare luxury here, the kick drum is the raw material to be sculpted.
10 reference tracks
- Sp 23: Untitled (A2) (1993)
- Morph: Stormwatch (1994)
- Spiral Tribe: Probably Taking Drugs (1995)
- Dave Clarke: Red 2 (Wisdom to the Wise) (1994)
- Arkus P: Hardtechno (2003)
- I Hate Models: Warehouse Memories (2019)
- Creeds: Push Up (2022)
- AnD: On Never Ending Fire (2023)
- Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Vini Vici, Armin van Buuren, Push: Universal Nation (2024)
- Maddix (4) & Basswell Feat. Fēlēs: My Gasoline (Hard Edit) (2024)
At a glance
- Tempo: 145 to 165 BPM
- First appeared: around 1993
- Machines: Roland TR-909, Ableton Live, Xfer Serum, Steinberg Cubase
- The sound: Kicks distordus et compressés, Roland TR-909 saturée, Boucles percussives, Distorsion et clipping maîtrisés
- Labels: Tresor, Downwards, KNTXT, Exhale, PCP, Verknipt
- Key artists: The Mover, Regis, Charlotte de Witte (période récente), Amelie Lens, 999999999
Producing Hard Techno
Work between 140 and 160 BPM, centered on 150, straight and unswung since any humanization turns to blur at this speed. Build a three-layer kick: a sub sine near 41 Hz, a pitch-modulated body sine a semitone above it for a slow internal beating, and an air layer above 15 kHz, with its tail kept under 300ms. Add an electronic tom just after kicks 1 and 3, a metallic impact at the same spots, a clap locked to the kick with varied velocities, an off-beat snare, and hats on every off-beat with quiet ghosts before 2 and 4. The kick's sub often is the bass, boosted with Drum Buss, or add a rumble by sending the kick into a long, filtered, saturated reverb sidechained to it.
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 Hard Techno?
Techno pushed to extremes of speed and pressure, running from 140 to well over 160 beats per minute, built on distorted kicks and percussive function above all else. It has had its own ages: the warehouses of the 1990s, the schranz of the 2000s, and a 2020s revival that has brought it back to the…
What tempo is Hard Techno played at?
Between 145 and 165 BPM.
Who are the key Hard Techno artists?
The Mover, Regis, Charlotte de Witte (période récente), Amelie Lens, 999999999.
