Schranz

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Schranz is a hard, minimalistic and fast (mostly between 140 and 160 BPM ) style of electronic dance music . It is characterized by the frequent use of noises and machine-like sounds and by repetitive, distorted percussion loops and a mostly monotonous character. Schranz is thus a variant of tool and loop techno and can be described as a forerunner of hard techno.

history

The term was originally in 1994 by the Giessen producer, radio host and DJ Chris Liebing with the Frankfurt DJ Toe in Frankfurt made record store BOY Records popular and as a party theme several flyers of the Frankfurt techno clubs Omen printed (Birthday Schranz) and in 1999 as the name of one of his Records used (The Real Schranz). From 1999 onwards, Schranz events were held weekly every Friday in U60311 (Frankfurt), which enormously promoted the spread of the genre through the formation of a fan base. Chris Liebing explained in an interview that schranzen was created as a synonym of shredding , which his friend spontaneously called out , which he used before the term was created to describe hard songs that "sound crass, overdriven and dirty" without a specific one Describing speed or hardness.

The word grew in popularity over time. Today the term Schranz is no longer only used in its country of origin, Germany , but more and more describes the sound of hard German techno all over the world. From a buzzword that describes monotonous and percussion-laden techno from various directions (monotonous, progressive techno ), Schranz has become an independent genre name .

The music style, which is often equipped with gloomy sounds, is mostly based on loops of drums , rattles or factory noises, accompanied by hard, driving bass (which, however, are not in the foreground) or even continuous bass lines (for example the well-known sawtooth synthesizers ). Since the differences in this music (tone, rhythm or effects) are very subtle, Schranz is often perceived as monotonous. Therefore, cupboard panels are mainly used in clubs to increase the mood and the speed of the individual set.

The rapid spread of Schranz in the club scene contributed to the fact that Schranz got a lot of influences from other directions of electronic music. Sets of the directions electro or house are often played on Schranz . This means that the often monotonous Schranz opens up to other genres of techno, which makes it more interesting for a larger audience. DJs do z. B. to use melodies or passages from known songs and tracks to create remixes that have a recognition value .

Examples of Schranz DJs and producers

Individual evidence

  1. Chris Liebing: Schranz - What is it? April 2002, archived from the original on March 18, 2016 ; Retrieved April 1, 2009 .
  2. a b Interview with Chris Liebing: Chris Liebing explains Schranz. August 2009, accessed November 5, 2009 .
  3. Discogs: Chris Liebing - The Real Schranz. Retrieved April 1, 2009 .
  4. In the English-speaking world in particular, there are various theories about the origin of the term. The English Wikipedia leads z. E.g. the assumption that it is a combination of scream and dance . However, the verb schranzen is used earlier. For example, Goethe's friend Merck wrote about his move to Weimar in 1776: “What the devil does Wolfgang think of joking around at court in Weimar [...]. Is there nothing better for him to do? ”(Quoted from Stephan, I. (2008): Kunstepoche. In: Beutin, W. et al. (Ed.): Deutsche Literaturgeschichte. From the beginnings to the present . Seventh, extended edition. Stuttgart & Weimar: JB Metzler, pp. 182–238. Here: p. 189.)