From Wikipedia:
Instruments utilized by the original techno producers based in Detroit, many of which are now highly sought after on the retro music technology market, include classic drum machines like the Roland TR-808 and TR-909, devices such as the Roland TB-303 bass line generator, and synthesizers such as the Roland SH-101, Kawai KC10, Yamaha DX7, and Yamaha DX100 (as heard on Derrick May's seminal 1987 techno release Nude Photo). Much of the early music sequencing was executed via MIDI (but neither the TR-808 nor the TB-303 had MIDI, only DIN sync) using hardware sequencers such as the Korg SQD1 and Roland MC-50, and the limited amount of sampling that was featured in this early style was accomplished using an Akai S900.
So how do you recreate that classic techno sound without splashing out thousands on over-priced retro hardware?
Well, as a starting point, you could do a lot worse than downloading Propellerheads ReBirth and snagging yourself two TB-303s, a TR-909 and a TR-808 for free.
Or, for a more open approach, you can grab a lot of the kit in VST form:
Claw - a good freebie 303 emulation.
Drumatic & Drumatic VE - 808 and 909 sims.
Novinyl.net's SH-101 emulation.
Expo - an FM synth with many of the famous DX100 presets.
Onyx - a decent match for the DX7 sound. Probably the best you'll get for free at least.
Short Circuit - a decent free sampler. Couple this with the Time Machine bit-reducer from Jeroen Breebart (for that old-skool crunch) and you've got a decent Akai emulation.
Then you'll need a step sequencer to recreate the way those guys were working, so try Subliminal's Stepchild or MidiSeq 1.2.
Now keep it deep, keep it funky and most of all keep it Detroit.
And if you need any inspiration, why not watch "Hi Tech Soul" a history of Detroit techno:
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