Hardstyle is an electronic dance music (EDM) genre mixing influences from trance, hardcore and rave music. The average tempo is between 140 and 160 bpm (beats per minute), though this may vary considerably from one hardstyle DJ to another.
The hardstyle sound typically consists of various musical elements: a "heavy" sounding kick, intense reverse basslines, and "adrenaline-rushing" melodies which often take place at the middle of the song. It bears some similarities to hard trance, but still upholds a unique sound. Many hardcore artists produce hardstyle tracks as well.
Hardstyle is mainly produced in the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Malaysia and Australia.
HistoryHardstyle originated from hard trance,
gabber and rave music with influences from
UK hard house and
jumpstyle. The place of origin is believed to be
the Netherlands,
[citation needed] where the first hardstyle events started near the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000.
[citation needed]In 2007 the style started becoming popular in several countries in the world, including:
Belgium,
Poland,
Estonia,
Denmark,
Australia,
South Africa and
United Kingdom. However, in the Netherlands,
United States,
Spain,
Canada,
Malaysia and
Germany trance was and is still more popular.
The English sound was very popular in the Netherlands for a short time,
[when?] but it soon appeared that the Dutch public preferred a harder bassline. Artists like
Dana, and Pavo &
The Prophet combined the English sound with new productions. This sound also gained some popularity in
Germany, where it was picked up by the German label Tracid Traxxx (who defined their own sound as a combination of
trance and
acid), and later also by
Blutonium Records and Resident E Recordings.
Afterwards,
[when?] hardstyle productions briefly became popular in
Italy, and later in
Germany.
Q-Danceorganised a monthly event in the (known today as the North Sea Venue)
under the name Qlubtempo, an event which could be called the melting
pot of the Hardstyle. Nowadays hardstyle events are very common in
Dutch clubs. Artists who had never performed in the Netherlands before
were flown over to bring there the new sound. Artists such as
Akira Monthienvichienchai, Super Marco May, and
Gary D acquired a large reputation in the Netherlands this way.
Examples of renowned hardstyle tracks include Builder's "Hardbeat Market" and The Prophet's "Hardstyle Baby".
Nu-StyleNu-style is very popular subgenre of hardstyle. Nu-Style kick is
usually separated to two parts, punch and bass. These are played at the
same time. Bass is pitched with the melody, but the punch part stays in
same frequency. There is a very destinct template that nu-style
follows, Intro-Verse-Breakdown-Melody-Verse-Outro, While not every
Nu-style song follows this template, it seems to shine through.
Nu-Style is usually criticized because many artists are using the same punch sample for kicks, which is called to hardkick 10.
Examples of Nu-style
Headhunterz - The Power Of The Mind Noisecontrollers - Crump