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Bouncy techno
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Bouncy techno (also known as happy gabber, funcore, tartan techno- see terminology) is a rave hardcore dance music style that developed from around 1992, mostly emanating from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Originally, it was influenced by the music found in the scene in the north of the United Kingdom (Scotland, North East England and Northern Ireland), where European (mostly from Belgium and Italy) produced techno was widely played.
A combination of techno staccato riffs with off-beat stabs at a fast tempo, this basic sounding hardcore music popularized by record producer Scott Brown was prominent in the north United Kingdom rave scene and soon in the Netherlands, with the Dutch similarly producing large quantities of this lighter more melodious gabber-like style.
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Encyclopedia
Bouncy techno (also known as happy gabber, funcore, tartan techno- see terminology) is a rave hardcore dance music style that developed from around 1992, mostly emanating from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Originally, it was influenced by the music found in the scene in the north of the United Kingdom (Scotland, North East England and Northern Ireland), where European (mostly from Belgium and Italy) produced techno was widely played.
A combination of techno staccato riffs with off-beat stabs at a fast tempo, this basic sounding hardcore music popularized by record producer Scott Brown was prominent in the north United Kingdom rave scene and soon in the Netherlands, with the Dutch similarly producing large quantities of this lighter more melodious gabber-like style. By the mid-1990s, this music would change the English happy hardcore breakbeat-driven style away from its breakbeat hardcore origins, more or less becoming a happier variant of bouncy techno.
Characteristics
Typical characteristics would be for compositions to be around a tempo of around 160 to 180 BPM (beats per minute) using a 4/4 signature. Drum instruments will be minimal, usually consisting of a bass drum, sharp open hi-hat, hand clap, snare drum, ride and a splash cymbal, using the like of a TR-909 or DrumStation drum machine. Bass drum kicks would either be straight or possibly with some light distortion, and would be arranged in a strict four-to-the-floor manner.
Its most distinguishing feature would be the off-beat stab, effectively the bouncy part. This would likely be reinforced with similar off-beat snare, clap and hi-hats. Despite the style name, this actual part was minor and only found briefly during an entire track, perhaps not even featured at all. This off-beat note and off-beat drum combination was cited by Simon Reynolds as recalling klezmer or oom-pah music.
A techno-sounding staccato riff is used as the hook for the track - its key feature. This sound would be the only major part that could distinguish different songs from one another due to their similar structure to one another. A second variance of the notes likely occurs towards the remainder of the track. These notes may perhaps be altered through time using resonance filters. Tracks would be either instrumental or perhaps use a short sample, cut and repeated through various points of the track. Overall, tracks would be basic with a number fitting to the same layout structure and techniques.
History
Origins
With a variety of music coming into raves during the early-1990s, the north of the United Kingdom would prefer European techno to be played. This was in contrast to the main rave scene found in the south of the United Kingdom where their own emerging breakbeat hardcore style was being produced in great quantities. This division would cause the scene in the north to differ musically from the south, thus evolve differently. Scott Brown, one of the most prolific names in the hardcore dance music scene, concurred that "there was a definite musical divide between the north and the south [of the United Kingdom], the north preferring it a lot harder..."
Apart from any southern based DJs playing in the north, the south based breakbeat hardcore style received little or no coverage on the radio or magazines dedicated to the Scottish rave scene. The few Scottish based breakbeat DJs found it very difficult to promote this music, even with Scottish ravers going to such extremes to shun them by way of petitions. DJ Kid, the original Scottish breakbeat stalwart said that "when trying to introduce the all new breakbeat sound to Scotland - nobody liked any of the records I played. I constantly pushed the breakbeat sound whilst the other DJs played underground techno". DJ Kid once stormed offstage at a Scottish rave when objects were thrown at him by disgruntled ravers during his breakbeat set.
Much like other rave scenes, the emerging Scottish scene created its own network of DJs and artists, eventually carving out a sound akin to the particular tastes of its own listening audience, most noticeably Scott Brown. Cumbernauld based Brown had formed various acts including Bass X, with their Hardcore Disco (Shoop!, SHOOP 2, 1993) release considered to be amongst the first - if more quintessential sounding - bouncy techno releases from early-1993. The track was hugely successful across the north of the United Kingdom and soon heralded many similar sounding tracks from Brown, with other local artists soon following his formula. The music on pioneering labels such as Shoop! was exported into mainland Europe and beyond.
Growth
Amongst other emerging releases from Brown was Bass Reaction - Technophobia (Shoop!, SHOOP 8, 1993) release. The track proved popular in the Netherlands scene, something that Brown said, "helped shape the Dutch and Scottish scenes for years."
With the music being much played at Dutch events, various Dutch producers such as Paul Elstak picked up on the hardcore sound made popular by Scott Brown. New Dutch labels such as Babyboom Records, Dwarf Records, Pengo Records and others, released their own similar sounding material. Dutch artists were in-demand at Scottish raves - and vice-versa. The two scenes running in tandem with each other.
As the Scottish scene grew, the Rezerection promotion - synonymous with the rave scene - threw its weight behind this north and south musical diversity, declaring "New Year's Eve 1993 proved to be a watershed event for Rezerection, as 1994 saw the demise of the traditional London style breakbeat sound favored by regular Rez DJs like Grooverider, SS and Seduction... as hard trance, bouncy techno and gabba dominated the Scottish scene." The hardcore music scene peaked in 1995, with Rezerection drawing 17,000 people in Edinburgh for their 20-hour Event 3: Equinox rave extravaganza on September 2, for what was primarily a bouncy techno dominated event.
In southern England, where previously the bouncy techno music was normally only found in second alternative rooms, the breakbeat happy hardcore DJs started to integrate bouncy techno music into their mix sets at raves by the mid-1990s. The music soon appeared alongside happy hardcore on compilations. By then, happy hardcore artists started to use bouncy techno mannerisms in their productions. Happy hardcore's inherent breakbeats were lessened (or dropped) in favour of bass drums and off-beat techno stabs, effectively becoming a hybrid of the two styles in varying ways. Several new English-based labels including Bounce!, Digital International Techno, and Techno Tunes pushed bouncy techno music outright, though the majority of productions found elsewhere tended to be a mixed fusion style on already established labels. Due to its new found similarity, the happy hardcore music made in-roads into the Scottish scene.
On another tangent during the early-1990s, Ultra-Sonic, one of the various Scottish live music rave acts, had topped the Scottish record charts with Annihilating Rhythm (Clubscene Records, CSRT015, 1993). Their Live In UV City (Clubscene, V-CSR001, 1993) VHS release even outsold the much hyped The Jungle Book in its debut week in Scotland. Annihilating Rhythm was re-licensed in 1994 around Europe, selling 56,000 units in Germany. Ultra-Sonic soon played around the world in countries such as Australia, Japan, Hungary, Poland, and also at the prestigious Mayday in Germany of 1994. The combination of the group's energetic live stage performance, distinct music, along with high volume sales for something with no prior publicity, was picked up on by German music moguls as something they could capitalise on.
A local band specifically for a German audience was sought. Annihilating Rhythm was soon re-incarnated by the newly formed German act Scooter with their much marketed Hyper Hyper (Club Tools, 006073-0 CLU, 1994) release. The imitation was a European chart hit - selling 700,000 units in Germany - and brought about similar Ultra-Sonic-influenced tracks by Scooter. This in turn kick-started the German scene, derived from the Scottish sound intertwined with the pre-existing commercial German Eurodance. Ultra-Sonic said, "Annihilating Rhythm was a ground-breaking track which changed the face of dance music. You just need to look at tosspots like Scooter who had top 40 hits out of copying our style. I can name countless groups who copied our style..."
Decline
Ever since the drug related deaths at Hangar 13 in 1994 - with the issue being raised in the British House of Commons - it gave the rave scene a disreputable image in the news media, linking it to hard drugs. It soon prompted a clampdown by authorities. Hanger 13 and other clubs had their licenses suspended or rejected, and events such as the pre-scheduled Safer Dance on November 1995, at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre were cancelled. Hardcore music stronghold venues including the Metro and FUBAR made the jump to supporting house music. The influential Trevor Reilly, DJ from the Hanger 13 venue, similarly moved over to the house scene, along with others. The Rhythmic State, one of the various Scottish live performance rave acts, captured the feeling with their No DS Allowed (Clubscene Records, CSRT044, 1995) release, a tirade against the Drug Squad who maintained an intimidating presence at raves.
Radio programmes started to chance their music. George Bowie's popular GB Experience on Clyde 1 moved away from hardcore and into the growing house scene. On its change, Bowie said "the show has always been a reflection of the Scottish dance scene. I did play a lot of hardcore, although at that time the sound was really kicking off here to that 160 BPM Scott Brown sound, well, bouncy techno, really. It was rave, then techno, now house." Unlike Tom Wilson's hardcore oriententated Steppin' Out programme found only on Forth FM, the GM Experience was syndicated on five commercial radio stations around Scotland - the first nationwide Scottish dance music show - and reached a far greater audience than Steppin' Out.
By 1996, the music being played in the hardcore scene was changing. Music allegiances had been switched from Netherlands to England, with their happy hardcore music growing as a result. Happy hardcore was introduced to move the scene away from its hardcore single-mindedness, but the music was not popular with all the existing hardcore contingent. Remaining events closed due to the lack of interest and decline in numbers due to this new musical direction.
The hardcore scene was devastated when the almighty Rezerection rave promotion, the last remaining stalwart of a once thriving scene, went into liquidation following the collapse of the ticket agency, TOCTA. Whilst a factor in Rezerection's demise, as with other promotions, they no longer attracted the same numbers as before. Their last event on May 31, 1997, had only one of the three advertised music tents in place due to low ticket sales.
Upon this news, Scott Brown wrote in his monthly M8 Magazine column that it "will always be looked upon as the month the Scottish hardcore scene died. I have expanded my horizons by producing more commercial dance and gabber, but for me, Scottish bouncy techno is almost a thing of the past." Through 1997, M8 Magazine would more-or-less drop any remaining hardcore coverage - something that they had greatly covered and supported since their launch in many ways - in favour of other music.
Through demand from the die-hard remaining fan base, Brown hailed the return of new bouncy techno music in August, 1998, by launching the fittingly named Bouncy Techno Records label. It did not see past the 20th century as the label distributor went out of business. Before the turn of the 21st century, the landscape of the United Kingdom-wide scene had changed due to the rise of the club scene and its inherent music, such as house and trance.
Present day
Through its musical ancestry, bouncy techno's musical qualities remain similar to UK rave-based hardcore music, in-part due to Scott Brown being at the forefront of a new sound: UK hardcore. Indeed, bouncy techno tracks from the early 1990s have seamlessly been adapted to the mid-2000 UK hardcore sound. Also, the original 1990s versions are usually included in releases. Despite their musical similarities some fans, disillusioned with the current UK hardcore sound, demanded a return to bouncy techno. By 2008 a new type of bouncy techno called Scouse House, also known as Bouncy House or "Donk" (Pipe-sounding mid-beat), had surfaced. The new genre has more in common with Happy Hardcore than the original Bouncy Techno. The genre has proved especially popular in the north of England and some parts of Scotland. Proponents of the style include DJs such as DJ JMS and DJ Ben Trengrove, and night clubs such as The Pleasure Rooms, Wigan Pier, and Maximes.
The early music itself is still actively played, far more so in the United Kingdom than the Netherlands. Not only is it found at dedicated old school themed events in the United Kingdom, it also crops up as part of the main arena scene, something usually reserved for new music. The use of the internet means that it is possible to download live mixes from past events (originally ripped off a tape) or custom made mixes enable to keep old music popular. Even some Bonkers have had Bouncy Techno tracks in 'old style' mixes such as Hixxy's 'Old Skool Killa Kutz' on Bonkers 13 and Hixxy & Re-con's mix of Best of Bonkers. It is also found in the North American hardcore DJ circuit, with the Los Angeles based Baco Brothers releasing a "throwback happy gabber" track in 2005 (Undercover Records Limited, UDL001, 2005).
Terminology
Bouncy techno is derived from crowds bouncing to music at raves. Amongst early uses, DJ ZBD described the Scottish group Q-Tex record release as "this bouncy techno cut should do their reputation a power of good" in the December 1992, issue of Clubscene magazine. Bouncy hardcore is more-or-less an alternative name to the original term, that fits in better with the hardcore lingo, whilst shorter less descriptive terms such as techno and hardcore are also used.
Happy gabber tends to be used for the Dutch side of productions, which started during the mid-1990s. The Dutch artists introduced lyric samples lifted from old pop and rock songs into the already existing bouncy techno format in ever increasing ways, more so than the original Scottish productions that tended to be quite sparse and basic in comparison. Some more commercial Dutch tracks may have had 'Hardcore remixes' which were a lot harder and faster than the radio edit but kept the main vocals and similar riff. This was often the case on the Dutch Pengo Records. American, German and Italian artists also had more happier versions of Gabber tunes and often released material off Scottish or Dutch labels. Funcore is another alternative word, first used on the Dutch based Babyboom Records, along with others. These terms have existed since 1995.
Tartan techno is a term more directed to the overall Scottish rave music scene, of which hardcore music is one component, albeit the far greatest in quantity and popularity. The term has existed since 1994. An article in the October 23, 2004, edition of the Daily Record tabloid citing indigenous words based on popular culture in Scottish society that could be entered in a Scots language dictionary listed tartan techno as their choice for 1994; only highlighting the scale of the scene at that time.
Selected information
Artists: -
Bass Reaction, Bass X, Brothers In Crime, Casio Brothers, Dance Overdose, Davie Forbes, DJ Gizmo, DJ Isaac, DJ Waxweazle, Gordon Tennant, Hyperact, Infernus, Marc Smith, Paul 'Donkster' Lawson, Q-Tex, Scott Brown, Technosis, The Rhythmic State, TTF, Ultra-Sonic, Scooter, Paul Elstak, DJ Weirdo & DJ Sim, Technotrance, Ultimate Buzz, Sonicdriver.
DJs: -
Bass Generator, Dj Brisk, Buzz Fuzz, Carl Cox, DJ Rab S, DJ JMS, DJ Ten, DJ Tizer, DJ Vince, Marc Smith, Scott Brown, Vertical Drop, Technotrance, The Nightraver, Tom Wilson, DJ X-ray, Forze DJ Team, DJ Pagan
Raves: -
Awesome 101, Colosseum, Dance Concept, Dreamscape, Fantazia, FUBAR, Hanger 13, Hellraiser, Helter Skelter, Hysteria, Intelligence, Judgement Day, Futureglow, Mayday, Metro, Nightmare in Rotterdam, Nosebleed, Rezerection, Kontor Records, Sheffield Tunes
Record labels: -
Bouncy Techno (the label), Babyboom Records, Bass Generator Records, Breeze Records, Clubscene Records, Dwarf Records, Evolution Records, Forze Records, Global Records, Great British Techno (G.B.T.), Happy Traxx, Jolly Roger Records, Massive Respect Records, Pengo Records, Poosh, Rave Records, Screwdriver Records, Shoop!, Twisted Vinyl, Waxweazle Records, Quosh, Steven caroll records
Well known releases: -
- Bass Reaction - Technophobia (Shoop!, SHOOP 8, 1993)
- Bass X - Hardcore Disco (Shoop!, 1993)
- Bass X - Bass X (1994)
- MIC - Bounce, Bounce, Bounce (Bass Generator Records, GTX 015, 1994)
- The Scotchman - Mayhem (Dwarf Records, DWARF 001, 1994)
- Hyperact - House Aggression (Dwarf Records, DWARF 003, 1994)
- Scott Brown vs DJ Rab S - Now Is The Time (Evolution Records, EV 015, 1994)
- The Scotchman - Happy Vibes (Babyboom Records, BABY 002, 1995)
- Infernus - Funcore (Babyboom Records, BABY 005, 1995)
- Denztrax - Lost Denz (Poosh, Poosh 3, 1995)
- Scott Brown - A New Feeling (Screwdriver Records, SCREW 6, 1995)
- Technopia - Ultimate Response (Bass Generator Records, GTX 043, 1996)
See also
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