1. 303

    The TB303 was originally released by Roland in the early 80s intended to replace a bass player so a lead guitarist or singer could practice alone, similar to the thinking behind the drum machine. However, it never took hold in that market and was discontinued by the company.

    However, its story was not over as innovative musicians started to explore what sounds it could make and how they could be used, freed of the constraints of what it was designed for and created the classic acid sound.

    Today the original, discontinued run of 303s sell for over £3000 and there are many clones on the market as well as devices capable of doing acid sounds in their own way.

  3. Acid

    That sound that came out of rave. The result of a duff bass emulator and creativity, the TB303. Probably one of the few genuinely new sounds to be created in the last century.

    Today the sound still appears across numerous sub-genres of techno while also having made the jump into the general pool of sounds meaning it appears in alt-rock, industrial-metal and even pop music.

  5. Amen

    A popular drum loop used in jungle and breakbeat as well as being used extensively in other genres to add rhythmical interest or provide a rhythmical structure behind a break in a 4/4 based track.

  6. Amplification

    Amplification is the overall process of increasing the strength of a signal which can occur at any and also multiple places along the signal path. As a signal travels along cables it attenuates and may need amplifying to make this up. It may also be that the signal is too quiet and need amplifying to increase this. Attenuation is the opposite of amplification. It's worth noting that both amplification and attenuation have uses in other signal paths as well as both using the decibel unit controlled via a gain pot.

  7. Attack

    In an envelope attack, A in ADSR, is the length of time the parameter takes to reach its peak. It can be instant or take a much longer time.

  8. Attenuation

    Attenuation is the opposite of amplification

  9. Audio/Audible

    A sound is audible if it can be heard and inaudible if it cannot. When talking of frequencies the range of adult human hearing is roughly 25hz - 15000hz.

  10. Bass drop

    A term used to describe headphones and speakers where the bass tails off - more often used with headphones that display the problem more prominently.

  12. BPM or tempo

    BPM is Beats Per Minute and is the standard way to describe the speed of a dance music track. Related to time-signature the BPM describes how many beats would fit into one minute. Tempo describes the same thing although there are also a number of older words from classical music that give a rough idea rather than an exact BPM. Where BPM meets RPM has it's own section.

  13. BPM meets RPM

    With vinyl you have two different oscillations that sit in roughly the same area. For example: 33.33RPM matches exactly into 66.66 [2], 99.99 [3 - waltz], 133.32 [4 - many techno records are at this speed], 166.65 [5], [6] 199.98 and so on with some headfuck time signatures possible. Have fun. Play it on the wrong speed.

    Such time signatures also allow for effects like lock grooves to be possible and visible on the vinyl along with various spirals as the BPM moves gradually from the RPM.

  14. Break

    A pause in the music of some sort. Anything from single beats or bars to big, epic trance build-ups.

  16. Clap

    A hand clap is a simple percussive sound often included in standard on drum machines, as likely to be sampled synthesized.

  19. Compressor

    A compressor is a form of signal processing that works by measuring how much a peak in volume goes above a user defined threshold then reducing that peak based on a ratio that the user also sets. Then make-up gain can be used to raise the volume of the whole sound which has been compressed.

    A ratio of 1:1 has no effect, the peak would not be reduced, whereas a ratio of 2:1 would reduce the peaks to 1/2 of the amount they were above the threshold. Limiting is an extreme form of compression which works with a ratio of ∞:1 effectively stopping anything going above the threshold at all.

  20. Crash cymbal

    A crash cymbal is typically a large cymbal used for single large hits although as with all instruments creative options emerge unexpectedly in the right hands.

  21. Dampening

    Dampening is the act of muting the full sound of an instrument by some means. The term is broad and can effect timbre, duration (ADSR) or frequency.

  24. Detroit

    Detroit, Michigan, US is recognised as one of the earliest places techno became popular. Where people would choose to go out and listen to it specifically and where artists developed who provided the earliest sounds that would become techno.

  25. Detroit techno

    Detroit Techno is a sub-genre of techno that generally tries to stay true to the roots of the music, characterised by the original soulful influences

  29. Donk

    A specific type of bouncy hard-house / hardcore like style typified by a synth noise known as a donk. Best heard to be understood.

  31. Drum

    A drum is a percussive instrument that involves the striking of a membrane stretched over something that creates a note. They are usually tuneable. Drum noises are also emulated by drum machines.

  32. Drum machine

    A drum machine is an electronic instrument designed to emulate the sound of drums. Designed originally so bands or individual band members could practice without needing a drummer they have subsequently taken their own distinct space within musical history. Classic examples include the 909 and Linn Drum machines.

  33. Ear drum

    The first part of the ear that picks sound waves from the air. This organ reacts to those waves and starts the process that converts them into what the brain recognises as sound.

  34. Envelope

    An envelope is common in synthesis and describes how a parameter changes over time. A common example is ADSR applied to volume, which can be used to make a sound short and snappy or long or even infinite.

    Envelopes can be broadly applied and are often found being used to control compressor application and filter effects.

  35. Filter

    A filter is a tool that enables the controller to attenuate or amplify portions of the frequency range. This can be done for musical or technical reasons. The filter can be manipulated during live performance to develop a piece over time or can be played more impactfully like solo. It can also be automated in various ways.

  36. Frequency

    Frequency is broadly used to describe how rapidly things repeat and can be measured in hz or repetitions per second. In music the frequency is often called tone and tends to be above 15hz.

  39. Hard House

    Highly hoover-driven bouncy-by-kilo poppers-fueled punching thumping acid to the rafters with InThe Hall of the Mountain King thrown in for good measure. Burnt out after about two years. Still by far the most gay music ever, in the most beautiful way.

  43. Headshell

    The headshell is the lump at the end of the record player tone arm that houses the needle. Like needles, there's a huge range defined by style of play and preference. Professional headshells detach, with different players often using their own.

  44. Hearing

    The process that occurs between the ear drum and the brain enabling us to convert sound waves into what we perceive as sound, musical or not.

  46. Higher mid range

    The higher mid range covers frequencies from 2000hz - 4000hz and includes the higher end of standard instruments. From 4000hz there are only two more octaves to go before the frequency becomes inaudible for most adult humans.

  50. Kick (kick-drum related)

    A kick drum, or bass drum in techno often comes with a punch or kick that isn't wholly bass driven. This can be achieved in endless ways, upping the mid range frequencies in the drum sound for more hard attack energy.

  51. Kick drum

    The main beat in the typical techno track. In it's most basic form the kick drum is played equally four times per bar, for a 4/4 time-signature. Often called bass drum. kick in relation to this drum is subtly different.

  54. Linn drum

    LinnDrum are a make of drum machine that started in the 1980s and are recognised as classics.

  55. Lock groove

    A lock groove is a groove cut into a vinyl record which is circular like the central groove that catches the needle but that contains sound, creating a repeating loop, useful for DJs, particularly if using three decks.

  57. Loud

    CONTENT REQUIRED

  58. Lower mid range

    The mid range splits into three sections with the lowest sitting at 240hz - 500hz. These frequencies are approaching the middle of the audible octave range. The frequency around which much tuning occurs is for A at 440hz.

  59. Mid range

    Mid range frequencies as a whole start roughly at 240hz up to 4000hz or so with a central segment at 500hz - 2000hz which can be considered the true mid range.

    Within that higher mid range is at 2000hz - 4000hz and the lower mid range is at 240hz - 500hz.

  60. Needle

    In the headshell on a record player the needle is held precisely so it can read the undulations in the groove of the record. The needle itself is usually made of some extremely hard substance, which is why care is needed concerning the pressure of the needle against the vinyl. Needles, especially on higher end, pro kit are detachable separately from the headshell.

    Needles come in various designs and shapes depending on the intended use: for example, heavy scratching hip-hop turntablists prefer a needle designed for rougher nature of that playing style when compared to the flowing smooth blend one might hear from a top-tier progressive house DJ.

  63. Peak

    The highest that a parameter represented as a waveform can go without clipping. Typically this an audio waveform but theoretically it could be other parameters. The opposite is a trough and follows the same clipping rule.

  64. Parameter

    A general purpose term for any component part of a sound, such as delay time, filter cutoff or distortion amount. Most can have an envelope applied.

  65. Percussive

    Something that is percussive is something that is struck in order to create its musical noise. Instrumentally the list is huge, including all the drums, instruments like woodblocks and xylophones and pianos, which achieve the note by striking a string.

  66. Pressure waves

    The way sound moves through materials including air. Speakers create pressure waves in the air which we then hear. The waves move at different rates through different materials, with a basic rule that the denser the material the faster the wave moves and the more energy it loses.

  67. Pot

    A politer word for "knob" probably not preferred in the UK.

  70. Release

    Release, the "R" in the common abbreviation ADSR describes the length of time the parameter takes to reduce to 0.

  72. RPM

    CONTENT REQUIRED

  75. Scratching

    Scratching is manual manipulation of the record to create a new sound by affecting the tempo movement of the needle of the record. It is done using the hands directly on the surface of (usually) 12" vinyl.

  76. Set

    A set what any artist plays on stage. Usually there is a set time when they start playing and a length of set. There might also be a set list.

  78. Signal

    The general term for the audio that follows the signal path. This may physical motion, such as needle movement, electronic or other ways to transfer sound information.

  84. Sustain

    In an envelope sustain, S in ADSR, is the length of time that the parameter remains constant at the level set by decay before it enters the release portion of the envelope.

  87. Three decks

    A good DJ would typically be able to manage three decks when mixing, perhaps using DJ tools like lock grooves. The effect is impressive and output can have more depth when it's done well.

  88. Time signature

    The typical way used in music to describe how many beats make a bar and the size of those beats. The top or first number describes the number of beats in a bar and the second the length of those beats. Techno is mostly 4/4, or 4 beats, each of which is 4 in length, in one bar

    Another example is the 3/4 time signature, often used in waltz, a much older form of dance music. Here there are only three beats in the bar with each one being 4 long. 4 is considered to be one beat in the BPM or tempo of the music. 8 would be twice the BPM, 2 half the BPM and so on.

  89. Track

    A full piece of music

    The word track is often used to refer to a full piece of music, for example, an EP might contain three tracks. This usage is somewhat more colloquial to techno or dance music. The word "tune" might be heard more often amongst producers of different genres.

    One of a set that goes together to make some whole

    The simplest version would be tracks on a mixer. A DJ mixer with two tracks, one for each deck or a studio mixer, perhaps with 24, where there can be 24 individually manipulated and recorded sources.

    The actual groove on a vinyl

    The groove cut into vinyl that guides and instructs the needle is also called a track, the needles tracks along the groove, starting a fascinating string of events that convert scratched plastic into the movement and joy of the dance floor.

  90. Trough

    See peak. A trough is essentially the opposite.

  92. Turntablist

    "Turntablism" is an offshoot of classic DJing that defines the player of the record deck themself to be closer to an instrumentalist than a DJ who plays the works others without even necessarily mixing.

    A turntablist uses the deck and mixer themselves like instruments, as well as performing tricks while playing. A deck can be used percussively by tapping it and allowing that vibration to be picked up by the needle. Scratching is also heavily used.