The History Of Techno Music Production - Sample Packs and Presets

History of Techno Music - The Synths And The Samples PT II

July 4, 2021

Part II - 1990s to 2000s

The Growth And Evolution Of Techno Music Production.

From samples to synthesis. Building on the previous decade's foundations in pioneering electronic music, the 90s saw an explosion of music technology, going from a largely analogue, hardware-based setup to digital synthesizers, romplers and digital "analogue modelling" synths, alongside computer-based MIDI sequencers which were starting to gain traction.

As technology trickled downwards, the previous decade's 'new' became this decade's second-hand, lowering the entry price for many new and existing musicians.

Advances in memory chip production and falling costs also saw a new breed of sound source become mainstream: the dedicated sampler.

With the ability to sample seemingly any sound, save it and build libraries of samples (aka sample packs), a new market opportunity arose. It started with friends sharing WAV samples and libraries on floppy disk, and grew into commercial outlets catering to early Techno producers looking for high quality samples.

Techno sample packs, along with Trance, Hip Hop and many other genres, began to appear from dedicated sample pack producers such as Zero-G, established in 1990, and distributors such as Time and Space, established in 1997. Both were early pioneers of the aftermarket sample pack industry and led the way through the 90s sample pack revolution.

Whilst sample packs were still in their infancy through the decade, they became an extra commercial outlet for musicians, brought producers new sounds to experiment with, and made it easier for amateur and bedroom producers to get started in Techno music production.

It was a decade of huge transitions in equipment. New synthesizers, samplers and methods of music production, responding to (or creating) changes in public culture and audiences, saw many spin-offs from Techno, including House, Rave, Jungle, later Drum & Bass, the now ubiquitous Trance genre and eventually the Big Beat of the late 90s and 2000s.

Sampling, along with synth and sample workstations, provided a wider palette of sounds to draw from, bringing in pads, strings and pianos and helping push Techno into different territories.

Let's explore some of the key players in Techno production through the 90s.

Roland TR-909

The history of electronic music and samples packs

The TR-909 entered the market just a few years after the TR-808. Often marketed as a true replacement drummer, it fell out of favour with traditional bands, and TR-909s were quickly snapped up second-hand by aspiring electronic musicians.

Not as rounded or disco sounding as its 808 brother, the TR-909 had a sharper character to its sounds. That cemented its Techno credentials, earned it a place as dance music's favourite drum source, and later it literally defined the drum sound of House and Trance.

Unlike the TR-808, the TR-909 also came with full MIDI implementation, with MIDI in, out and thru. That further expanded its possibilities and later helped bring electronic music production into the coming-of-age computer-based setups.

Get the sound: D16 Drumazon 2 recreates the 909's voices and step sequencer. It's the drum machine half of most techno records in plugin form.

Akai S900 / S950

Akai S950 samples and sample pack

Professional level sample quality and rates, relatively good sampling time, MIDI, synth-like envelopes, a built-in floppy drive for saving and loading samples, and direct sampling inputs.

The Akai S900, and later the S950 with its enhanced memory and room for 99 samples, introduced a new world of sound sources to electronic music producers. It let them save their own sounds and load other people's sample libraries and sample packs.

This new breed of sampling instrument set the standard for all the samplers that followed and spawned a whole industry of aftermarket sample packs and libraries.

Producers could now borrow sounds from others or sample records directly, helping Techno and genres such as Trance, House and Hip Hop rip through the clubs and popular culture of the 90s.

Get the sound: TAL-Sampler has an S1000 converter mode (the S950's bigger brother) alongside Emu II emulation, so your own samples pick up that gritty vintage colour. For the same vibe on anything already in your project, D16 Decimort 2 accurately recreates the downsampling of low-spec vintage converters.

Atari ST

Atari ST for Music Production and Midi sequencing

As prices of new and used computers came down, a popular choice for early 90s music production was the Atari ST. Its built-in MIDI ports allowed direct sequencing of drum machines and synthesizers, and dedicated sequencing software such as Emagic Notator and Steinberg Cubase created a new breed of Techno producer, with more flexibility and more ways to generate and harness their sound.

Later, the PC would go on to take the lion's share of computer-based sequencing, whilst dedicated sequencers such as the Akai MPC kept a relatively large foothold, particularly in Hip Hop circles.

Roland Juno-106

Roland Juno 106 Sample Pack

While it has virtually the same synth engine as the Juno-60, the 106 added extensive MIDI control, making it one of Roland's first MIDI-equipped synthesizers.

With its digitally controlled oscillators, it was amongst the last analogue synths bridging the late 80s and early 90s shift from true analogue to analogue "modelling", ushering in the trend towards digital machines.

Polyphonic, 6 voices
1 DCO per voice: pulse, saw and square
1 LFO
High pass and low pass filter
ADSR, level and gate
Memory - 128 patches

Get the sound: Cherry Audio DCO-106 is modelled directly on the 106, chorus and all, with reverb, delay and unison the original never had.

Roland Alpha Juno 1 / 2

Following on from the Juno-106's success, the Roland Alpha Juno played a huge part in Techno throughout the 90s, with digitally controlled oscillators and, crucially, 64 user patches you could save and load.

It later became synonymous with the hard house hoover sound.

Polyphony - 6 voices
Oscillators - 1 DCO per voice: pulse, sawtooth, sub and noise waveforms; 1 sub-oscillator
Effects - portamento, chord memory, transpose, chorus
Memory - 64 user, 64 preset, with backup to cassette
24dB analogue lowpass filter
ADSR envelopes
Bend and LFO modulation

Get the sound: u-he Diva builds its sound from components modelled on classic vintage synths, including Roland's Alpha Juno. Our Diva bundle comes with free SOUND7 Diva packs.

Roland W-30 Sampling Workstation

With expansive MIDI capabilities and a wealth of sounds, both built in and from the aftermarket, the W-30 served as master keyboard, sound source, sampler, sequencer and synthesizer in one, and was an early instrument of choice for groups such as The Prodigy.

Alongside the Roland D-50, it was a definite enabler of the sample pack industry's growth.

Korg M1

history-of-techno-music-sample-packs-sound7

An excellent variety of sounds, but most notable were those M1 Techno chords, pianos and strings. It provided PCM sample-based sound sources with synth-like flexibility and control.

It also came with full MIDI implementation and its own sequencer, so it could sync and sequence with other gear.

Specs:

Polyphonic with 16 voices
Oscillators - 4MB PCM waveforms including 144 multi-sampled sounds
Digital multi-effects: reverb, delay, overdrive, EQ, chorus, rotary speaker
Filter - variable digital lowpass filter
3 independent ADSR envelopes

Novation Bass Station

In an era largely dominated by digital synthesizers, Novation released the analogue Bass Station in 1993. It was a return to the old ways, with true analogue filters and digitally controlled oscillators (DCOs).

The Bass Station could emulate many of the fabled analogue synths of the previous decade, such as the Minimoog, the TB-303 and the Sequential Pro-One, and featured hands-on controls, modulation and saveable presets.

Two years later Novation released a rack version with more features and preset locations, and in 1997 the Super Bass Station, with a sub-oscillator, ring modulator and noise generator.

Specs:

Monophonic
Oscillators - 2 DCOs with pulse and sawtooth
1 LFO (random, triangle and sawtooth waveforms)
2-pole or 4-pole switchable resonant low-pass filter
2 ADSR envelopes: Env 1 controls the VCA, Env 2 controls the VCF
7 user patches

Roland JP-8000

Roland JP-8000 Synthesizer and Preset Packs

Roland's JP-8000 was built on DSP analogue modelling technology, combining what Roland described as the big sound of vintage analogue synths with the flexibility of digital technology and full MIDI capability.

It had 38 front-panel knobs and sliders for real-time control, and a unique 'Supersaw' oscillator which emulated the sound of multiple detuned sawtooth oscillators.

The Supersaw underpinned the JP-8000's popularity in Techno circles, and it did for Trance what the TB-303 did for Acid back in the late 80s and early 90s. With a built-in arpeggiator too, it oversaw the evolution of Techno and offshoots such as Trance.

The synth also had onboard FX and patch memory, and aftermarket JP-8000 presets and patches became popular in their own right.

Specs:

Polyphonic, 8 voices
2 oscillators: saw, square, triangle, Supersaw (7 detuned saws), triangle mod, feedback osc and noise
Filter - resonant 12/24dB/oct low pass / band pass / high pass; ring modulator
Effects - onboard digital delay and chorus
128 preset patches, 128 user patches, 64 performances, 64 user performances

Get the sound: u-he Diva has a Digital oscillator with a Multisaw waveform, so it can handle those big supersaw-style pads and leads too.

Access Virus A

Access Virus Synthesizer - Preset packs

Made in Germany and first released in 1997.

With an edgy, robust, almost dark sound, high quality onboard effects and multi-timbral functionality, it became the mainstay for many a Techno and electronic music producer.

The first of many iterations, the A was an instant classic and featured on countless Techno and electronic tracks of the late 90s.

Polyphonic, 12 voices
2 oscillators per voice plus 1 sub-oscillator: sine, tri, saw, variable width pulse, oscillator sync; 1 FM mode with 64 digital FM spectral waveforms
2 LFOs per voice with tri, saw down, square, sample/hold
2 independent resonant filters: lowpass, highpass, bandpass, band reject; parallel, split and 2 serial modes with up to 36dB/voice (6-pole), overdrive/saturation
2 ADSTR envelopes per voice
Effects - up to 22 simultaneous effects: 4 chorus effects, global reverb/delay, vocoder

Propellerhead ReBirth RB-338

Rebirth RB-338 303 software samples

A pioneer of early software synthesizers, ReBirth by Propellerhead Software paved the way for software synths for 90s electronic music producers.

Released in December 1996, it offered highly authentic recreations, for its time, of the Roland TR-909, TR-808 and TB-303: the quintessential Techno producer's toolbox.

It was a hit, putting Propellerhead on the radar of many electronic musicians and becoming popular amongst bedroom producers who still couldn't afford costly hardware setups.

ReBirth laid the groundwork for the many software synths that followed and was instrumental in establishing another industry: the software sampler and synthesizer.

Get the sound: ReBirth's toolbox lives on. D16's Phoscyon 2, Nepheton 2 and Drumazon 2 cover the 303, 808 and 909 between them, and the 303 alone sounds better than ReBirth's entire box ever did.

In Part III we move into the 2000s, following the journey of hardware synthesizers, exploring the growing software synthesizer industry and looking at the impact expanded sampling and sample packs had on Techno and Electronic Dance Music.