Minimal techno: less is more

Subtracting instead of adding

Most music is built by adding layers. Minimal techno works the other way round: it removes everything that isn't essential. What remains is rhythm, a few sounds and repetition. Tension comes from small changes: a filter opening slightly, one extra hi-hat, something dropping out for a moment. On the dancefloor these changes work like a trance.

Robert Hood: the Detroit architect

Robert Hood, a former member of Underground Resistance, released "Minimal Nation" on the Axis label in 1994. Many consider it the founding statement of the genre. Hood described his style as techno reduced to the basics: drums, bass and groove, without showing off. He later founded his own label, M-Plant, and remains one of Detroit's most respected artists.

Richie Hawtin and Plastikman

Across the river, in Windsor, Canada, Richie Hawtin was recording as Plastikman. His TB-303-based tracks such as "Plasticity" were dark, psychedelic and very sparse. Hawtin founded the Plus 8 label with John Acquaviva, and later Minus, which in the 2000s launched a whole generation of minimal artists, including Magda and Troy Pierce.

Minimal in the 2000s

Around the turn of the century minimal became fashionable in Europe. In Cologne the Kompakt label blended it with melody and pop. In Berlin and Frankfurt a sound emerged built from tiny elements: clicks, crackles and single notes. Ricardo Villalobos played sets lasting many hours, with tracks running well over ten minutes. Isolée's "Beau Mot Plage" showed how delicate and playful this music could be.

Minimal today

After peaking in the mid-2000s, the word "minimal" came to be associated with boredom and was mocked. But the idea survived. Hypnotic techno, which gets its own lesson, is in many ways minimal's child: long tracks, repetition and patience.