Hardstyle

Hardstyleis anelectronic dancegenre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in theNetherlands,BelgiumandItaly.Hardstyle mixes influences fromtechno,new beatandhardcore.

Hardstyle
Stylistic origins	Techno new beat hard house hard trance industrial mainstream hardcore trance
Cultural origins	Late 1990s–early 2000s, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium
Derivative forms	Big room hardstyle
Other topics
Hardcore (electronic dance music genre) dubstep jumpstyle electro house progressive house

Early hardstyle was typically written at 140BPM(beats per minute); however, modern hardstyle is faster, produced around 150 BPM. It consisted of overdriven and hard-sounding kick drums, often accompanied by an offbeat bass, known as a "reverse bass". As the genre grew, the production techniques and songwriting changed to be suited to a more commercial audience. Modern hardstyle can be recognized by its use of synthesizer melodies and distorted sounds, coupled with hardstyle's signature combination ofpercussionandbass.The genre is particularly known for itsharmonicuse of kickdrums. Due to the sustained nature of a hardstyle kick, producers are able to play basslines by using only the kick itself, which becomes a distinct bass tone through a series ofdistortion,equalizationand layering (among other methods). This technique is known as "pitching" a kick.

The genre gained commercial acceptance in the 2010s, with hardstyle artists performing on the biggest stages inEDMworldwide.

Hardstyle influenced other styles of electronic dance music such asbig room house,which began sharing similarities with hardstyle like structures, rhythms, and later, pitching kicks became popular in big room too. Hardstyle also played a large influence infrenchcoreandhappy hardcoremusic, which both became popular in the late 2010s with the hardstyle audience after producers started applying hardstyle production techniques and melodic styles to the genres.

History

Origins

The exact origin of hardstyle cannot be specifically defined; however, it is clear the characteristic of hardstyle originates from hard trance (notably hard trance's 'reverse bass', and artists such as German deejayScot Project)with influence from other genres such as hardcore, this genre is what is now known as early hardstyle. As it progressed, the genre gathered characteristics from other electronic music genres and refined its own sound and identity. Over time, the BPM of hardstyle music increased, from a range of 135 to 150 to a range of 150 to 160. Some hardcore producers brought hardstyle elements back to the hardcore scene, which made modern hardstyle and hardcore very similar and often indistinguishable in some cases, only differing in BPM.

The first event credited as a hardstyle event was Qlubtempo,which took place in the year 2000 inZaandam.Qlubtempo was the first event produced byQ-dance,a Dutch event company which would later go on to produce hardstyle festivals in other countries inEurope,Australia,North America,South AmericaandAsia.In 2001, Q-dance produced the first edition ofQlimax.Q-dance trademarked the term "hardstyle" on the 4th of July, 2002, after both Qlimax and Qlubtempo proved to be successful. Since its inception, Q-dance has guided the evolution of hardstyle music with its events and is often involved with hardstyle artists on a creative level. In 2003, Q-dance hosted the first edition ofDefqon.1.

The first few years of hardstyle were characterized by a tempo of around 140–150BPM,a distorted kick drum sound, vocal samples, dissonant synth sounds known as "screetches" and the use of a "reverse bass", a hard kick distorted offbeat bass within the same beat. Around 2002, more hardstyle labels emerged. Fusion Records (withDJ Zanyand others) andScantraxx(founded byDov Elkabas) were the two largest Dutch Hardstyle labels in that period. At this point in time, hardstyle artists were primarily from either theNetherlandsorItaly.

Subgenres

Early hardstyle

Early hardstyle is a modern name for what was at the time called "hardstyle", the genre is focused mostly on reverse bass kicks, which can still be found in songs today as a pre-drop.

Nustyle

Euphoric hardstyle

From roughly 2010 onwards, the move towards a more melodic emphasis from older hardstyle evolved into the subgenre "euphoric hardstyle", characterized by highly emotional melodies and heavy pitch-shifting of kicks.

Trapstyle

The Trapstyle is a sub-genre of the hardstyle scene linked totrapwhich appeared in the mid- 2010s. It was pioneered by Pittsburgh DJ, Black Daddy, CEO and Founder of Hardstyle Family.

Dubstyle

In early 2010, a new variation in hardstyle, named dubstyle was introduced.Dubstyle is the name given to the genre fusion of hardstyle anddubstep.Dubstyle tends to have reversedwobble basslinesand takes the kick styling of hardstyle tracks, while combining them with the rhythm, groove and dubstep tempo and effects a fusion of elements of hardstyle with a dubstep rhythm, usually a2-stepor abreaksteprhythm.

Notable related events

• Defqon.1
• Mysteryland
• Qlimax
• Reverze
• Sensation Black
• The Qontinent
• Decibel Outdoor
• Intents Festival
• Rebirth Festival
• Knockout Outdoor
• BassconWasteland
• Electric Daisy Carnival(Basscon Stage)
• Tomorrowland
• Shockerz

Notable labels

• Dirty Workz
• Fusion Records
• Q-dance
• Scantraxx