Gabber

For other meanings of gabber, see gabber (disambiguation).

Gabber
Stylistic origins	Hardcore techno Industrial Industrial hip hop Techno house
Cultural origins	Early 1990s, Netherlands
Typical instruments	Keyboard, synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, sampler
Mainstream popularity	Low - Moderate
Subgenres
Speedcore, frenchcore, terrorcore
Regional scenes
Netherlands

Gabber ( /ˈɡæbər/; Dutch: [ˈxɑbər]), is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore techno. "Gabber" is a slang word of Yiddish origin (cf. chaver) that means "mate", "buddy" or "friend".

The music got its name from an article in which the Amsterdam DJ K.C. the Funkaholic was asked how he felt about the harder Rotterdam house scene. He answered "They're just a bunch of gabbers having fun". DJ Paul Elstak from Rotterdam read this article and on the first Euromasters record (released through Rotterdam Records), he engraved in the vinyl "Gabber zijn is geen schande!" translating as "it's not a sin to be a gabber!". The word gained popularity in the Rotterdam house scene and people started to call themselves 'gabbers'.

Although a house variant from Detroit reached Amsterdam in the late 1980s, it was the producers and DJs from Rotterdam who evolved it into a harder house variant which is today known as "Gabber".

The specific sound of Rotterdam was also created as a reaction to the house scene of Amsterdam which was seen as "snobby and pretentious". Though house tracks from Frankfurt's Marc Acardipane were quite similar to the Rotterdam style, it was the popularity of this music in the Netherlands which made Rotterdam the cradle of Gabber. The essence of the gabber sound is a distorted bass drum sound, overdriven to the point where it becomes clipped into a distorted square wave and makes a recognizably melodic tone.

Often the Roland Alpha Juno or the kick from a Roland TR-909 was used to create this sound. Gabber tracks typically include samples and synthesised melodies with the typical tempo ranging from 150 to 220 bpm. Violence, drugs and profanity are common themes in gabber, perceptible through its samples and lyrics, often screamed, pitch shifted, or distorted.

Gabber is popular in many countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Italy. It also has a newfound popularity in urban areas of Australia, particularly in Sydney amongst the 'lad' subculture. In Germany, Gabber parties often take place in the Ruhr area, as well as Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt.

Origins

The origins of the gabber sound

The most commonly used logo for Early Hardcore.

The style was first conceived in the late 1980s, but some claim that it was diluted in 1995 by happy hardcore and, for hardcore fans, by commercialization which resulted in a younger crowd being attracted to the scene. The commercial organization ID&T helped to make the music popular by organizing parties (most notable are the Thunderdome parties) and selling merchandise. The name gabber is used somewhat less these days to describe this music style, especially due to this stigma created in the mid 1990s. After surviving underground for a number of years, in 2002 the style regained some popularity in the Netherlands, although the sound is more mature, darker, and industrial.

Mainstream hardcore

There was a somewhat decisive split in the hardcore scene starting in the late 1990s. Some producers started embracing a slower style characterized by a deeper, harder bass drum that typically had a longer envelope than was possible in the traditional, faster style. This newer sound was referred to as "Mainstream" and "New Style" and as the tempo got slower and slower it began to become similar to hard house. Many hardcore enthusiasts hated hard house and the club scene it typified, and frequently DJs would be booed by one group of fans and cheered for by another at the same party, depending on the tempo and style of music they were playing. This is similar to the rivalry and mutual dislike that surfaced earlier between fans of "regular" hardcore and happy hardcore. Eventually the two styles met in the middle, and most gabber today is produced in a range of 160-180 bpm. This style is typically a bit slower than the Rotterdam style of the mid-1990s.

Style

Gabber is characterized by its bass drum sound. Essentially, it comes from taking a normal synthesized bass drum and over-driving it heavily. The approximately sinusoidal sample starts to clip into a square wave with a falling pitch. This results in a number of effects: the frequency spectrum spreads out, thus achieving a louder, more aggressive sound. It also changes the amplitude envelope of the sound by increasing the sustain. Due to the distortion, the drum also develops a melodic tone. It is not uncommon for the bass drum pattern to change pitch throughout the song to follow the bass line.

The second frequently used component of gabber tracks is the "hoover", a patch of the Roland Alpha Juno synthesizer. A "hoover" is typically a distorted, grainy, sweeping sound which, when played on a low key, can create a dark and brooding bass line. Alternatively, when played at higher pitches, the hoover becomes an aggressive, shrieking lead. Faster gabber tracks often apply extremely fast hoover-patterns. The use of the hoover has evolved over the years, and in Nu Style Gabber, most tracks rely on a cleaner, detuned supersaw lead, similar to trance.

The aforementioned two sub-genres of gabber differ in essentially one thing: the tempo.

• Old school gabber, staying true to its mentality, defines "hardness" in speed; tracks rarely go under 180 BPM, and bass drum rolls often go up to a speed where the beats themselves are hardly distinguishable from each other.
• Mainstream hardcore, formally known as Nu style gabber, slows the speed down, but extends the length of the bass drum so the bass-frequency resonance keeps on longer. In this aspect, this new form of gabber obviously cannot be considered less powerful than its precursor. Often melodic, the beats are divided into triplets and synth notes are played in a short, staccato-like fashion, giving the song a march-like feel.
• Industrial hardcore influenced by industrial music, characterized by harsh beats. This style is closely related to Mainstream hardcore.

Recent developments

In the 2000s, some producers produced neither Nu Style or oldschool gabber. They focused again on speed, with tracks normally go over 200 bpm. Subgenres have developed where scenes exhibit certain musical traits and are mainly defined by their kick drum sound. These subgenres include:

• Terrorcore uses same highly distorted kick drum as gabber. Tracks are normally minimalistic and non-melodic, and the themes are normally highly aggressive. Artists include DJ Plague, Noisekick, m1dy, DJ Chucky, Dj Smurf, Superius and Paperboyz & Psybermind.

• UK Gabber removes the distortion from the kick drum, in favour of a more natural heavy reverb sound, which is usually affected by a filter. There's usually influence from breakcore, which uses distorted breaks over the 4/4 kick, and a lot of tracks have ambient sounds and a progressive feel. Artists include Hellfish, DJ Producer, Bryan Fury, Deathmachine, Teknoist, and Scott Brown. Occasionally, UK Hardcore producers try their hand at producing UK Gabber, such as Gammer and Brisk & Vagabond. Some UK Hardcore producers also like to put small sections of gabber within their tracks. Fans of this include Hixxy and Re-Con. Other UK Gabber artists such as the 'Gabba Surgeons' draw from a whole myriad of genres including drum & bass, electro and house.

• Speedcore - A faster type of gabber usually 300 bpm or faster. The term "splittercore" is usually used for speedcore tracks of 500-900 bpm. The term "extratone" is used for tracks of over 1000 bpm; though the usefulness of this distinction is debatable due to the capacity of human ears to detect the differences in such high beats per minute.

• Cybergrind is a mixture of Gabber and Grindcore, performed by The Berzerker.

Misconceptions

In the early 1990s, gabber gained a following in the neo-fascist rave scenes of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and the American Midwest. However, most gabber fans do not belong to the aforementioned groups, and many producers have released tracks that vocally speak out against racism. In addition, many prominent gabber DJs and producers are not white; examples include The Viper, Nexes, Bass-D, Loftgroover, DJ Gizmo, The Darkraver, Bass Technician and HMS.

See also

• List of gabber artists
• Hakken

Record labels

• Deathchant Records
• Enzyme Records
• ID&T
• Masters of Hardcore
• Motormouth Recordz
• Mokum Records
• Neophyte Records
• Psychic Genocide
• Rebelscum
• Rotterdam Records
• Horror Decibel
• Strike Records
• The Third Movement
• Traxtorm Records
• Canadian Speedcore Resistance
• K.N.O.R. Records
• Cenobite Records
• Ruffneck Records
• Babyboom Records
• Terror Traxx
• Industrial Strength Records
• Pengo Records
• Forze Records

External links

• Gabber at the Open Directory Project