Free tekno, also known as freetekno and hardtek, 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 170 to 200 bpm and characterised by a pounding repetitive kick drum.
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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, early hardcore and techno, with the producers taking the sound in a darker 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 audio/MIDI sequencers and Trackers, sometimes even hitting a random table with a pen. Starting from year 2001 there has been a trend using laptop and laptops for live performances, because the capabilities of both the hardware and software were improving very quick.
With the evolution of the genre it has come to be known by a number of names, including spiral tekno, hardtek, tribetek, tribe and lately evolved in many other subgenres like pumping tek, hardfloor and French core which is a sort of mixture between mainstream Hardcore and Hardtekno, with funny and pumping samples taken from different media supports.
Tekno producers come from numerous places including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Austria and the Czech Republic. Some of the most active artist who from the early 90's up till the mid 2000s were Spiral Tribe, Crystal Distortion, Lego, Liqitex, 69db, Ixy, Kaos, Jack Acid, Curley, Unit Moebius, Les Boucles Etranges, Yale, FKY, Babyon Joke, Arobass, Gotek, Floxytek, Suburbass, Zone-33, Mat Weasel Buster, Narkotek, Kernel Panik, Revolt99, Infrabass, Vinka, Banditos, Diablo (LSDF), Teknambul, Spiralheadz, Asphalt-Pirates, Aya Soundsystem, Puissance K, Guigoo, Billx, Maissouille, Key Gen, Psychospores.
Many record labels contributed spreading the sound mostly via underground distribution operated mostly by record shops / labels such as Hokus Pokus (Paris) and Toolbox Records (Paris), and record labels such as Tek No Logique (TNL), Narkotek and Astrofonik. Here a list of some of the most active record labels Network 23 record label Spiral Tribe sound system, Hokus Pokus, Passe Muraille, Perce Oreille, Infrabass, KGB Records, OQP Crue Production, dSP records, Tek No Logique, Narkotek, Astrofonik, Le Diable Au Corps.
Artists within this genre usually follow a very different ideology when compared to more modern and mainstream producers: