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High tech soul names Detroit techno's core identity: Black electronic music with soul

Fact L2First instrument O · Culture, history & theoryB · Sound design & synthesis

When asked by an audience member what ‘high tech soul’ means, May defines it as ‘black electronic music with soul’ — a descriptor the Detroit originators wanted applied so their work would not be assimilated into a generic techno identity that ‘went south’. As commercial techno grew and some Detroit artists began playing the same material as European or mainstream producers, May and others fought to keep the music connected to its soul-music ancestry. The phrase locates Detroit techno in an African American musical lineage (funk, soul, Motown) even as the sounds were entirely electronic.

Examples

The 2006 documentary ‘High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music’ (dir. Gary Bredow) takes its title from this concept. Kevin Saunderson’s ‘Big Fun’ reached 5 million albums via the ‘Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit’ compilation.

Assessment

Define ‘high tech soul’ in your own words as May uses it. What does the phrase signal about Detroit techno’s relationship to African American musical traditions?

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Sources

“High tech soul is more or less, I'd say, an offspring of techno music. I think the original concept of what we always wanted people to understand what we were doing was black electronic music with soul.”
corpus · derrick-may-it-is-what-it-isn-t-rbma-lecture-2006 · chunk 9

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