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Juan Atkins Treated Synthesizers as a New Vocabulary, Not a Substitute for Real Instruments — and the Community He Built Is Mourning Him
Juan Atkins, widely regarded as one of techno's originators, died at 64 on November 1, 2026. With Cybotron, Model 500 and the Metroplex label, Atkins treated synthesizers and drum machines as tools for inventing a new musical vocabulary rather than imitating existing instruments — a founding idea of Detroit techno that outlived every piece of gear he used to make it.