Hardcore techno is a type of electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal

Atonality

Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...

 industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

-like beats and samples. The tempo of various kinds of hardcore techno ranges from about 95 beats per minute (Belgian "New Beat

New Beat

New Beat is a term that was used in the 1980s to refer to two different genres of electronic dance music. It also refers to an underground 1980s Belgian music style.- Terminology :...

" and rave

Rave music

Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...

/techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

), to over 300 bpm ("speedcore

Speedcore

Speedcore is a form of hardcore techno that is characterized by a high rate of beats per minute and aggressive themes. The name originates from the high BPM rate, which rarely drops below 300 BPM. Earlier Speedcore tracks averaged at about 250 BPM, whereas more recent tracks sometimes exceed 1000 BPM...

"), with the more popular styles ranging from about 150 bpm to 200 bpm.

Production techniques

Hardcore techno is usually composed using music sequencer

Music sequencer

The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...

s, and many earlier tracks were produced on home computers with module

Module file

Module files are a family of music file formats originating from the MOD file format on Amiga systems used in late 1980s...

 tracker software. Some examples of the software used are FL Studio

FL Studio

FL Studio is a digital audio workstation developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface based on a pattern-based music sequencer...

, Ableton Live, Cubase, Logic, Nuendo and Reason. The wide availability of computers, combined with the absence of financial remuneration, means that many hardcore musicians write for their own enjoyment and the pleasure of innovation.

Styles of hardcore

Hardcore has also spawned several subgenres and derivative styles including:

• Breakbeat hardcore
  Breakbeat hardcore
  Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
  
   (Also known as Old School Rave music) - This retrospective
  Retrospective
  Retrospective generally means to take a look back at events that already have taken place. For example, the term is used in medicine, describing a look back at a patient's medical history or lifestyle.-Music:...
  
   term is usually reserved for tracks produced in the early 90's, a large period of growth for the UK Rave scene. These tracks are characterized by piano sections, bouncy basslines, breakbeats, and high-pitched vocals.
• Happy hardcore
  Happy hardcore
  Happy hardcore, also known as happycore, is a genre of music typified by a very fast tempo , often coupled with solo vocals and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of hardcore techno, which tend to be "darker". It is typically in...
  
   - Form of dance music known for its high tempos, usually around 165-180 bpm, often coupled with male or female vocals and sentimental lyrics. Popular in the UK, Australia and Spain, amongst other countries.
• Makina
  Makina
  Mákina, originated in Spain, similar in sound to UK Hardcore, but with certain elements of Bouncy Techno and Trance music among other differences...
  
   - Fast electronic dance music from Spain, fairly similar to happy hardcore.
• UK hardcore
  UK hardcore
  UK Hardcore is a broad term to describe the evolved sound of Happy Hardcore Rave music which emerged around the end of the 1990s and grew in strength during the 21st century...
  
   - Modern form of happy hardcore, characterized by a less childish feel and supersaw leads.
• Freeform hardcore - Hardcore with strong influence of psytrance, mainly instrumental.
• Trancecore - Hardcore with a strong influence of Anthem Trance.
• Hardcore Breaks
  Hardcore Breaks
  Hardcore breaks is a genre of electronic music written in the style of old skool rave music or breakbeat hardcore using modern technology. The music is composed of from looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, melodic piano lines, staccato synthesizer riffs, and...
  
   - A genre written in the style of breakbeat hardcore and produced using modern technology and production techniques.
• Gabber
  Gabber
  Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....
  
  
  • Early hardcore - Popular in the Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
    
    , Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
    
    , Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
    
    , Belgium
    Belgium
    Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
    
     & Scotland
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
    
    , characterized by a heavy bass drum sound, usually distorted, and generally 150-220 bpm.
  • Mainstream hardcore aka New style - Modern form of gabber, often melodic, with more complex sounds. Generally 160-180 bpm.
• Darkcore (Not to be confused with Darkcore Jungle
  Darkcore
  Darkcore is a subgenre of jungle that became popular in the United Kingdom hardcore rave scene in late 1992. It is recognized as being one of the direct precursors of the genre now known as drum and bass...
  
  ) - Broad category characterized by dark musical themes. Emerged in response to the happy party sound of UK hardcore.
• Doomcore - Specific microgenre of downtempo darkcore. Characterized by reverb, basslines, eerie synth pads and a brooding atmosphere reflecting melancholy and apocalyptic expectations. Usually 130-160 BPM.
• Industrial Hardcore - Hardcore influenced by industrial music
  Industrial music
  Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
  
  , characterized by harsh beats and technoid programming.
• Digital Hardcore
  Digital hardcore
  Digital hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk incorporating influences from electronic music. Digital hardcore fuses elements of hardcore punk with various forms of electronic music...
  
   - Hardcore punk/hardcore techno fusion. Closely related to Noise music.
• Breakcore
  Breakcore
  Breakcore is a style of electronic music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and Intelligent dance music. Its sound is largely characterized by a high-tempo, well-timed mingling of distorted kick drums , break beats arranged from samples of the Amen break, and audio samples from a...
  
   - Uses distorted, fragmented breakbeats and sampling to create a hectic effect.
• Speedcore
  Speedcore
  Speedcore is a form of hardcore techno that is characterized by a high rate of beats per minute and aggressive themes. The name originates from the high BPM rate, which rarely drops below 300 BPM. Earlier Speedcore tracks averaged at about 250 BPM, whereas more recent tracks sometimes exceed 1000 BPM...
  
   - A genre of Gabber that's usually 300 bpm-500-600 bpm, often with heavy distortion. Not to be confused with Thrashcore
  Thrashcore
  Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...
  
   or Speed metal
  Speed metal
  Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
  
  . Faster forms of speedcore are: splittercore, speedcore of 700-800 BPM, and extratone, when the tempo exceeds 1000 BPM and the beats become tones.
• Terrorcore
  Terrorcore
  Terrorcore, terror is a music genre. It originated in Frankfurt in 1994 with the birth of the record label Kotzaak . For a short time, terrorcore artists began to appear in Europe, with Netherlands and Germany having the largest terror scenes. Terrorcore is a faster variant of hardcore techno...
  
   - refers to a faster and more extreme version of gabber, with a highly aggressive theme, modern tracks using same bass drum sound as gabber.
• Frenchcore - Originated in the French rave scene of the early 90's. Involves the re-creation of a distorted bass drum sound with a synthesizer. It is also considered a type of Free Tekno. Frenchcore achieved wider recognition in 1998 with the release of Micropoint
  Micropoint (band)
  Micropoint is a French industrial hardcore duo composed of French DJs Daniel Técoult and Denis Cohen-Scali . Micropoint began producing hardcore techno in 1995 releasing tracks under record labels such as B.E.A.S.T. Records and Dead End Records. Their early records were well received with a total...
  
  's first album Neurophonie.

Often, certain subgenres of hardcore are classified by the city or country in which they are produced, such as the Frankfurt sound, the French sound, the Tokyo sound, etc.

Notable producers

• 3 Steps Ahead
• Acen
• Altern-8
  Altern-8
  Altern-8 is a British rave duo, featuring Mark Archer and Chris Peat. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was loud electronic tracks with a heavy bass line. On stage, Altern-8's members wore facemasks and chemical warfare suits...
  
  
• Angerfist
  Angerfist
  Danny Masseling , best known as Angerfist, is a hardcore techno/gabber musician and DJ. He is one of the most popular and widely recognized performers in the genre.-Career:...
  
  
• Baby D
  Baby D (dance group)
  Baby D is the name of a UK breakbeat hardcore and house music band, best known for their single "Let Me Be Your Fantasy", #1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994.-Career:...
  
  
• Bang!
  Bang! (hardcore)
  Bang! are a British Happy Hardcore group from the late 1990s originally consisting of producer Nick Arnold, Tom Orton and female vocalist Donna Grassie. Nick Arnold and Tom Orton had previously been a members of the band Smart E's, who reached 2 in the UK in 1992 with their cover of the theme tune...
  
  
• Mark Breeze
  Mark Breeze
  Mark Breeze, also known as DJ Breeze , is a UK Hardcore producer based in the United Kingdom. He is most known for his songs "Let's Fly" and "Jump A Little Higher", and frequently contributes DJ mixes to hardcore compilation series such as the Clubland X-Treme Hardcore series.He is mostly known in...
  
  
• Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo
  Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo
  Charlie Lownoise & Mental Theo are a DJ duo from the Netherlands. They are best known for their successful happy hardcore songs, but have also produced gabber records.-History:...
  
  
• Delta 9
  Delta 9
  Dave Rodgers, better known as Delta 9, is a hardcore techno DJ/producer from Chicago.The name "Delta 9" comes from delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , the main psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant....
  
  
• Darren Styles
  Darren Styles
  Darren James Mew , better known as Darren Styles, is a British record producer, disc jockey and singer-songwriter from Colchester, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & The Evolution, Darren found success during the 1990s as one half of Force & Styles...
  
  
• DJ Misjah
  DJ Misjah
  DJ Misjah is a Dutch DJ.He broke onto the DJ scene in 1991 under the name "Dyewitness" and has since enjoyed international success. He is known for his varied style, using records as tools to create new music. He is also noted for using three turntables...
  
   (Dyewitness)
• DJ Paul Elstak
  DJ Paul Elstak
  DJ Paul Elstak is a Dutch hardcore/gabber and happy hardcore DJ and record producer...
  
  
• Dougal
  DJ Dougal
  DJ Dougal is a British UK Hardcore and happy hardcore artist and DJ.He first became involved with the dance music scene at the age of 15, while setting up sound systems for some of the first acid house parties, as part of work experience assignment to a music shop.His style is a mix of euphoric...
  
  
• Endymion
• Gammer
  Gammer
  Gammer is a UK hardcore and Hard Dance producer and DJ.Gammer made his first appearance in the Hardcore scene during 2002 and since he has gone on to be a very successful and prolific producer, being best known for his extensive discography on the revamped Essential Platinum label...
  
  
• Hixxy
  Hixxy
  Hixxy or DJ Hixxy, born Ian Hicks, is a British UK Hardcore and previously happy hardcore DJ and musician from Portsmouth, England....
  
  

• The Horrorist
  The Horrorist
  Oliver Chesler , better known by his stage name The Horrorist, is an electronic music artist from New York. He is the owner of the Things to Come Records. He has live performances all around the world but a hotspot is Germany. Many remember him as the punk styled kid in D.A. Pennebaker's concert...
  
  
• Korsakoff
• Lords of Acid
  Lords of Acid
  Lords of Acid is a Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the controversial new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988...
  
  
• Luna-C
  Luna-C
  Luna-C is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He made up a third of the rave group Smart E's in 1992, which had a number 2 hit in the UK with a remix of the Sesame Street theme song .Luna-C founded the Kniteforce Records label in 1992, which has...
  
  
• Manix
  Manix
  Manix was both the title and main character of a comic strip serial published in the British comics anthology Eagle. The serial first appeared in issue 24 ....
  
  
• Manu le Malin
  Manu le Malin
  Manu le Malin, a stage name literally meaning "Wily Manu", is a French musician and one of representatives of the hardcore techno genre.Born in France as Emmanuel Dauchez, Danchez played for a few years on the European techno scene as it widened...
  
  
• Mescalinum United
• Mike Di Scala
  Mike Di Scala
  Mike Di Scala , also known as Re-Con, is a British electronic musician, record producer, disc jockey and singer-songwriter from Liverpool, England. Di Scala began producing records as Re-Con in the late 1990s and he first emerged as the producer of English dance group Rezonance Q and was also the...
  
   (Re Con)
• Nasenbluten
  Nasenbluten
  Nasenbluten were a Newcastle, Australia recording and performance group, who pioneered hardcore techno, gabber, amigacore and cheapcore music. The group was founded in the early 1990s by Mark Newlands, Aaron Lubinski and David Melo...
  
  
• Neophyte
  Neophyte (band)
  Neophyte is a hardcore, or gabber, group formed in 1992 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The three original members are Jeroen Streunding , Danny Greten and Robin van Roon....
  
  
• Nosferatu
• Ophidian
• Party Animals
  Party Animals (musical group)
  Party Animals are a pop-gabber group from The Netherlands. The band was created by producers Jeff Porter, Jeroen Flamman together with vocalists MCs Remsy, Evert van Buschbach, Patrick de Moor, Dennis Adam and Paul Grommé...
  
  
• Paul Elstak
• Praga Khan
  Praga Khan
  Praga Khan is a Belgian techno musician, primarily in the new beat style.-Overview:Praga Khan is one of the pioneers of the new beat / acid house / rave sound, and has contributed to the theatrical scene with his musical collaborations in The Next Dimension and Code Red.In the late 1980s, he...
  
  
• The Prodigy
  The Prodigy
  The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
  
   (early 1990s)

• QFX
  QFX (band)
  QFX are a dance music group, partly from Hawick, Scotland formed in 1992. Their music style was a mix of happy hardcore and bouncy techno.-Career:...
  
  
• Radium
• Rotterdam Terror Corps
  Rotterdam Terror Corps
  Rotterdam Terror Corps is a Dutch gabber group formed in 1993 that is known for its hard beats and is considered by many as a pioneer in the genre, for instance they created landmark songs such as, "God is a gabber", "Masters of Hardcore", "Unleash Hell" and "Rotterdam Hooligan"...
  
  
• Scott Brown
  Scott Brown (DJ)
  Scott Alexander Brown is a Glasgow-born Scottish DJ and music producer, now living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Brown produces and plays a variety of genres commonly called rave. Although he is most associated with bouncy techno, his music ranges from happy hardcore, through hard trance, to...
  
  
• Technohead
  Technohead
  Greater Than One is an English electronic music band, founded by husband and wife Lee Newman and Michael Wells in 1985. They released many albums under this name, and also under the names Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Signs of Chaos, T.D.5, Salami Brothers, Killout Squad,...
  
  
• Sharkey
  DJ Sharkey
  Sharkey is a British record producer, disc jockey, and rapper. Sharkey co-created a style of hardcore techno known as freeform or freeform hardcore.-Career:...
  
  
• Shut Up And Dance
  Shut Up And Dance
  Shut Up and Dance are an English music duo that fused hip hop, house and hardcore, and are best known for their single "Raving I'm Raving", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1992.-Career:...
  
  
• SL2
  SL2
  SL2 was the name of a hardcore/rave music act in the early 1990s from London, England. They also recorded, remixed or produced under the names Slipmatt & Lime and T.H.C.-Background:...
  
  
• Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era
• Tommyknocker
  Tommyknocker
  Tomasso Marra , best known as Tommyknocker, is a Hardcore producer and DJ.-Career:Tommyknocker began his career in 1995 when he began performing in some Underground parties organized in Rome....
  
  
• Top Buzz
  Top Buzz
  Top Buzz are a British DJ / MC team, which performed at rave events in the 1990s.Top Buzz was originally formed in 1988 by MC Patrick McPhee and DJ Mikee B, playing at house events, before being joined by DJ Jason Kyriakides several years later...
  
  
• Venetian Snares
  Venetian Snares
  Venetian Snares is the main performing alias of Canadian electronic musician Aaron Funk .From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Funk is known for making electronic music often in odd numbered time signatures...
  
  

See also

• Digital hardcore
  Digital hardcore
  Digital hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk incorporating influences from electronic music. Digital hardcore fuses elements of hardcore punk with various forms of electronic music...
  
  
• Four to the floor
  Four to the floor
  Four-on-the-floor is a rhythm pattern used in disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4/4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat in common time...
  
  
• Gabber
  Gabber
  Gabber , is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend"....
  
  
• Hard dance
  Hard dance
  Hard Dance is an umbrella term that refers to a group of Hard electronic dance genres which aren't hard enough to be classified as hardcore. The term usually includes genres such as Hard House, Hard NRG, Hard Trance, and Hardstyle...
  
  
• List of electronic music genres

External links

• "Classic Hardcore Techno Glossary" – Various sounds/instruments used in the production of hardcore techno are explained