What’s the best scale for techno?
This is actually a serious question delivered in a facetious way.
Minor 
It’s fun to experiment with others obviously but the minor scale is simply one that can work always within techno. So depending on your definition of best, I’d say it’s the best.
2 Likes
not sure if you really need scales for techno.
would use minor or phrygian for example
3 Likes
Yes you do and also no, you don’t.
4 Likes
If you had to pick a scale, for example for random pitches, what’s the one that mostly would produce the least discordant combinations?
A pentatonic scale will do this for you.
1 Like
That was my initial thinking (as a guitar player!) but I wondered if there were any others.
For techno, I’d say embrace discordance (that almost spells disco dance).
13 Likes
It’s a pretty diverse genre. You can use any scale you want, most grand and opulent or just use pure drums.
Whatever scale I’m using I always love me some passing tones, hence why I never use scale tools.
For Techno, it’s the chromatic scale.
Unless one wants to impress people at a Coffee Klatsch.
4 Likes
Any minor scale between F# and A.
Techno (and a lot of electronic music) is heavily based around the kick.
Kicks sit best at their fundamental/root frequency between F# (46Hz) and A (55Hz), and translate best across all different listening environments (cars, earphones, headphones, PA speakers, etc)… if you want them to sound full/heavy that is.
If you tune your kick to the key of your track, it locks it in… even if you keep your decay short and don’t actually hear the pitch, it still works.
Also, I don’t make techno, but I’m a big fan of Phrygian mode for minor vibe music.
10 Likes
I’m sorry, you’ve lost me.
Wat?
12 Likes
The “badum-tish” response among bass players would be the Richter scale
8 Likes
A-minor. Kick fundamental tuned to D, or E. I have spoken.
1 Like
Phrygian and aeolian. But don’t sleep on the whole tone scale, it can give some interesting results
1 Like
Tune the bass of the kick so it harmonizes with the scale. Either the 1st or the 5th are good options. Whether it’s beneficial will depend on how long the decay of the bass is
The whole magic of this track
is, that the kick is tuned a half step (minor second) higher than the bassline.
Or, keeping the octaves into account, that’s eleven steps (major seventh) lower than the bassline.
In short, one can’t be more out of key than that.
And this is what makes this song so exciting, a play with tension and release.
Techno was always about doing things differently and explore what else there is.
19 Likes
Agreed, what I said is the conventional way to do this, but there are no rules for dope
1 Like
The best scale is Minor.
The best mode is E Phrygian Dominant.
That is all.
Jeff Mills at work. Scales and Modes can go home and cry together.
10 Likes