Help Identifying Late 80s - Early 90s Minimal Techno song

also, aphex twin's "xtal" is not too far off, albeit the aphex song is much more gauzy and distant, this was a tad more polished, those easily much more minimal and ambient than anything else played those days.

thank you for the recommendations, i will check them out.

I'm not sure if it was ever popular though; this was pre-"Go"

the first 45 secs of "Papa New Guinea (Main Path)" sounds very similar to the keyboard melody texture that I was describing, that very echo-ey percussive "bell"-like tone.

thanks, i'll keep looking.

similar to LFO-LFO(Leeds Warehouse Mix) (but think more mainstream dance club 1990)

the melody rhythm is very similar as the low pitched melody that runs almost the whole song (not that whiny high pitched one though). It's not as Warp Records-y as "xtal" or "lfo" but definitely shares a common texture with them.

the melody was on the beat but it was like 1 full then 2 half then 2 half then 1 full for each four bar measure. so like 6 notes per bar (4/4).

michael wells, i'm not sure that's it, i'm sure this was a fairly huge dance single from somewhere in between 1989-1991. It's MUCH more catchy/accessible/"pop" than a lot of the suggestions so far if that's any clue, it's a simple repetitive almost "bubbly" melody (repeat: repetitive)...

if anyone could post some of the HUGE ambient/minimal YET "pop" techno from the time period, = it basically could open some more doors for me.

thanks for all your help, keep the obvious "DUH!" answers coming, i have a feeling that's where the answer lies.

other key facts: "american" (although this was played in mexico) dance club south of the republican national axis of ORANGE COUNTY/SAN DIEGO aka "Bushies".

hmmm.... any other guesses? youtube is helpful

ok everybody

fluxland - fluxland

http://www.zshare.net/audio/157906425f31f59c/

i just talked to dude on aim & this isnt it (plus according to discogs its from 93) but i have on mr shasta's word it uses the same exact tone anybody know what sounded like this back in 1990??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goTSp_M55Kg

same exact keyboard tone but melody is different. a little more pop and ambient/subtle maybe?

we're sure this isn't voodoo ray, right?

voodoo ray has the same rhythm but the song i remember is far less plonky. that keyboard tone in fluxland has got to be the same tone as the song I remember.

what is that tone TOMBOTREKMAN?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clsakeIC90E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BPn8oC0ScA

that tone is like in 60% of all house tracks made between 1988 and 1992, I'm pretty sure it's a yamaha DX preset

(shamefully I have never owned a true DX series myself)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ZZo3ft4Sg

^ orbital - belfast

lol amon that is like a straight rip of mr fingers' can u feel it

i was just thinking mr fingers .... i have a mr fingers album with that keyboard tone all over it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK8wSuBLCmw

mr fingers - amnesia

at the very least this thread is turning into a great collection of minimal house

Before you guys dig too deep, please think more "popular dance club just south of the border so that underage kids can drink and dance til 6am". I really have a feeling this may have been a more popular song...

frankie knuckles - the whistle song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJZ12iKDMBE

totally instrumental, not as "classic" or "unclassic" as this thread has turned.

voodoo ray is pretty damn close, and that keyboard tone of fluxland is key. that tone with a different melody. Texture of track is not very tech, kinda warm but not lush, still spare.

OKAY!!!

Say you had a song where you took the whistle melody of "the whistle song" and replaced it with the keyboard tone used on "fluxland". what would that get you?

You know what the percussion organ sound could kinda be construed as sounding like 'Nude photo'. Could it be some early detroit thing like that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh1vJBLSbIM

Actually, the Wikipedia article is wrong, the preset sound is called "Organ2", as demonstrated on this page:

http://www.synthmania.com/m1.htm

I'm pretty sure it's "Show Me Love" that popularized this sound in house in 92/93, but since the Korg M1 had been in production ever since 1988, it's possible some earlier tune uses it too. "Nude Photo" was released in 1987 though, so it can't be the M1 on it, though of course other synths could've been used to produce a similar sound.

I'm glad this pivotal sound finally has a thread (unofficially) in its honor.

"Show Me Love" is one of my favourite house tracks.

Yeah, mine too. I guess it's possible the tune we are looking for is an instrumental version of "Show Me Love", but it seems unlikely any mainstream DJ would've played that instead of the vocal version, which was a big hit and all.

!!!!

Wow, thanks Tim F. It is an instrumental version of "Show Me Love" but i don't know how it could have been later than 91 at the latest because i got a fake ID and stopped going to TJ. Then again it was a long time ago...?

Discogs dates the first release of "Show Me Love" to 1992, so it's not that far off. And theoretically there could've been white label/DJ only versions of it around even earlier.

I guess that would also explain why the DJ played an instrumental version, because I think the vocal version only became a big hit in 1993.

So the riff I remember is exactly the Organ2 preset of the Korg M1 (see the first bar of the sample here):

http://www.synthmania.com/Korg%20M1/Audio/Factory%20preset%20examples/Programs/17%20Organ2.mp3

described as "Very, very famous preset - House music of the early 90s basically lived on this preset and the TR-909, at some point."

What was the first song to use that preset, do you really think "Show Me Love" was the first to use that sample?

"Perc Organ2" I believe is the proper preset.

In case it's not clear, the riff on the Synthmania page is someone playing the melody of "Show Me Love", it's the sound that's preset. And "Show Me Love" certainly is the tune that popularized that sound, I can't think of any pre-1992 tunes using it. Though like I said, it is possible such a tune exists, since the M1 hit the markets in 1988.

(x-post)

Ha! Well it stands to reason - it's definitely the kind of track where the central riff might stay in yr head for 15+ years.

Actually according to Discogs it was first released in 1990 not 1992! I didn't know that.

http://www.discogs.com/release/778785

Supposedly the same preset is used on "Please Don't Go" by Double You, also 1992, although it doesn't feel quite as distinct as on "Show Me Love" - softer, for one.

"Plastic Dreams", which is also from 1992, has a similar organ sound, but I don't think it's the same preset (or even the same synth), it's closer to a traditional electric organ sound.

(x-post)

I'm not sure if the original version of "Show Me Love" has the same organ riff, I remember reading somewhere that it's the "Stonebridge Mix" (which only came out in 1992) that added it to the tune. Then again, I don't think I've ever even heard the original version of the tune, the Stonebridge Mix is the one everybody knows.

The discogs entry for that 1990 release has this to say:

One of the singles with the very first version of "Show Me Love", released in 1990. Except for the vocals, everything is different from the most famous 1993 version.

Has anyone heard this original version?

Kudos to all of you. It is a shame that gygax! isn't with us today to celebrate this but it is a rather large victory for ILM nonetheless.

How do you know this is the same tune Gygax was after?

He hummed it to me on his deathbed.

Ironically, "gygax" probably heard the vocal version when he was at that FCUK shop and mentally discounted it due to the vocals.

Truth!

haha.

good result. it's great when this happens.

Tim,

more like 1:29-on here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFwhVjaL5kI

i don't quite remember it being quite as slamming with the break, but you're right it's probably like a dub.

the melody line sounds sort of like the opening synth rhythm and TONE (slowed down though) of N-Joi's "Anthem" (and of course, it's no crappy Diva House).
-- gygax!, 5. helmikuuta 2003 5:14 (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:)

I mean, it turned out to be "crappy diva house" after all, didn't it?

A radio edit of that version (the Steve Angello/Laidback Luke bootleg mix) has been all over the radio in Australia this year - the best thing that mersh electro-house dudes on the radio play, and it's not even as good as the proper original Stonebridge remix (though the stuttery beat works surprisingly well).

Sadly the same does not hold true for the loathsome update of "Something Good" by Van She Tech.

People at the beginning of the thread thought gygax/steve wanted "The Bells"!!!

Next week, we track down that obscure piece of proto-Aphex Twin ambient IDM: Guru Josh's "Infinity".

it's all techno bobbins to me guv

I think this was a fun thread, maybe we should start a separate thread on the history of specific sounds in electronic music? I mean, everybody knows the 303 story, but it'd be fun to track sound the source of some less known sounds, like we did here.

'Techno/House bobbins of the past' thread would be good for select sounds discussion imo

I actually think specific threads are better for this kind of thing. Catch-all threads are totally derailed by multiple discussions, random recommendations, flame wars etc.

I'm glad this thread has happened because I love the organ sound in "Show Me Love" but would have been flummoxed if I'd had to describe it accurately to anyone else.

The history of specific sounds in electronic music

Model 500 - The Chase
^
The "guitars" here are synths? How do they get that strummed sound?

plectrum

In your remix of Robin S. "Show Me Love” it has been said you used Korg M1 synthesizer to create the special sound that's significant for that song - a sound that has been copied many time since then. How did you know you wanted to add that sound to the track?

“I had no idea about what sound to use, but from an earlier remix I had the bass line programmed with preset No 16 in the M1, which is called Pick Bass. The label didn't like the mix and I decided to do a new mix and the first thing I did was to change the bass sound, incidentally to preset 17, the organ. Completely accidental and this taught me that accidents are good so I switch a lot of sound to things that shouldn't work and get interesting results."

You know what's totally crazy?

This thread was started less than 24 hours after this one:

C/D: Robin S "Show Me Love"

Okay, I downloaded the original version of "Show Me Love", and indeed it has nothing in common with the more popular Stonebridge remix besides the vocals. The original has a much fuller disco/R&B sound, it's not very housey at all besides the beat and the bassline. So you can definitely credit Mr. Stonebridge for that specific sound.

Woah, I think I found an example from 1990: Scram's "The Revelation". Although the organ-bass comprises only one section alongside acid house, clonking techno, proto-tribal percussion... What an amazing track!

http://www.discogs.com/release/69102

lol my ringtone is the synth line, always certain to cause laughter when it goes off in public.

I love this thread!

i bought this 12" recently and my dj partner told me if he could veto me from playing any one song, it would be this :(

When I was over in Perth for a visit about six months ago at this massive gay bar a DJ dropped this (possibly pitched up slightly) and the place went totally wild. There was an absolutely gorgeous guy there who danced particularly enthusiastically to it, which made me love it just a little bit more than I already do.

Never not play this song jaxon.

Also never not play K-Klass' "Let Me Show Ya Love".

this one too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSzpOUwiLkc

trying to remember the name of an early 90s uk techno tune. has vocals and is kinda melancholy and depeche-y. it's not nexus 21 but the name of the group kinda sounds like that

bigod 20?

i'm pretty sure these guys were from the uk

male vocals

ubik?

although i can't think of any ubik "songs" so probably not.

i found it, it's "always" by midi rain!

not sure how i made the nexus 21 link

YSI?

such a great tune.

I think this is from the late 90s, BUT it could be 80s...or even early 2000s This is a song heard in a store over their music system in 2000-2002. They used the Westwood One service.

Urban sounding song with a strong beat. Mostly instrumental....except for a few times where a guy speaks a few lines. Sketchy memory, but I remember him saying "North South East West"...although it could have been in a different order. And I think he says "Let's go get Sally"....but that could be totally wrong!

This song is driven by a piano riff (repeating over and over). Strong drums....almost hip-hop-ish drums...BUT NOT REALLY. Kinda funky, but really more urban. When the guy speaks, it is done in that compressed sound....like you're hearing him over the telephone.....know what I mean? And it's spoken in cadence: "North South East West....da da Da da DA da DA...."

I have included a dropbox link to an mp3 of me trying to play the melody on a piano. I am not a musician and do not have perfect pitch. The song could be in a different key or I could be a little off. I am not musical at all. But this is the general melody and the cadence of the riff.

Been looking for this one since 2002. I will be forever indebted to anyone who can help with this! This is my last "holy grail".

LINK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xgxorbxhe71c3dv/Unknown_New.mp3?dl=0