Nortec, or nor-tec (a mix of "norteño" and "techno"), is a type of electronic dance music created in Tijuana, a city near the border in Baja California, Mexico. It became popular in 2001. Nortec music uses strong, rhythmic beats and includes sounds from traditional Mexican music, such as Banda sinaloense and Norteño. These sounds often include loud, recognizable horns.

Individual artists make nortec music. There is also a group called "Colectivo Visual," which includes designers and VJs who handle the visual parts of live nortec performances. The word "nortec" combines "norteño" (meaning "from the North") and "techno," but it mainly describes how electronic music mixes with the sounds, styles, and culture of norteño and tambora, two traditional music styles from northern Mexico. Norteño music uses accordions and double bass. Tambora music uses tubas, clarinets, horns, and loud bass drums. Both styles also use unusual drum patterns and fast, rhythmic drum rolls. These elements together create a sound that is closely connected to Tijuana.

History

Nortec began in 1999 when Pepe Mogt started using pieces of old banda sinaloense and norteño music recordings. He changed these pieces using a computer or special music machines called analog synthesizers. He learned about this style by listening to the rhythmic and sharp sounds of tambora and norteña music played at a family gathering. With help from people connected to recording studios in Tijuana’s Zona Norte area, Pepe collected separate instrument tracks from old multitrack recordings of tambora and norteño music that had been left behind at the studios. He made copies of these tracks on CDs and gave them to friends, asking them to create new music using the material.

The first collection of these early tracks was called "Nor-tec Sampler," the first release from Mil Records. This was followed by "The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1" and then "The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3."