Schranz
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Schranz [ʃʁʌnts] is the name given to European (especially German) hard techno, a style of techno typically around 150-170 BPM and based around massively bass-heavy kick drums, driving percussion and distorted, looping synth noises. The music can however be slower.
Origin of the term: The term originated in 1994 when Frankfurt-based DJ Chris Liebing used it to describe a certain type of techno when searching for records at the now closed "Boy Records" store in Frankfurt. The next time he visited the shop, the owner had a selection of harder techno records filed under "Schranz". -- "For me personally, since that day in 1994, "Schranz" is a description for various dark and distorted sounds in Techno" (Chris Liebing 2002). To this day, there still remains speculation about the meaning of the word "Schranz" within the Techno scene. While many believe it to simply imitate the sound of a crunchy lo-fi percussion loop, there are other interpretations. For one it is a surname found predominantly in Austria. Also, "schranzen" means to eat loudly and voraciously in Dutch slang. There are speculations, however, that it was meant as a contraction of the two German verbs schreien (scream) and tanzen (dance), i.e. "schr-anz".
Style: The "original" Schranz sound is a harder, uptempo Techno style inspired by Detroit Techno, but with reduced melodic elements (often just single synth stabs or atmospheric sweeps) and emphasis on percussion. A trademark of the style are heavily compressed and filtered loops, combined with Roland 909 kick drums, snares and hihats. A prime example of this are Chris Liebing's records "The real Schranz 1-3" and the "Stigmata" Series.
Current trends: After reaching the peak of its popularity in 2001, Schranz evolved into an even faster style generally referred to as Hardtechno and running at 150 or more bpm and sometimes even crossing the line to Hardcore Techno. That style is most prominently represented by DJs/producers DJ Amok, DJ Rush, Frank Kvitta, Sven Wittekind, ViperXXL, Robert Natus and UK DJ Geoff Nugent, whereas Chris Liebing has not followed this move and indeed now hovers around 130 bpm in his DJ sets.
Other important producers in the genre beside Chris Liebing were and are DJ Amok, DJ Rush, Scott Kemix, Sven Wittekind, Cari Lekebusch, Andreas Kremer, L-U-K-M, Tom Hades, Mario Ranieri, Patrik Skoog, Lars Klein, Robert Natus, Seema, Yhunykx, Leo Laker, ViperXXL, O.B.I. aka Tobias Lüke, Energun 22, Boris Schalk, Sandy Warez, Adam Beyer, Thomas Krome, Luke Slater, Glenn Wilson, Mark EG, André Walter aka. Andrew Wooden, Marco Bailey, Redhead, Chris McCormack, and Ade Fenton
[edit] External links
- http://www.schranz.lt (Lithuania)
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