Hardstyle

Hardstyle, sometimes referred to as hardbass, is a sub-genre of trance music that is closely related to nu style gabber and hard trance. Being a fusion of both Hard Trance and Hardcore Techno (as in gabber), Hardstyle is grouped in the Hard Dance section. Its sound is usually characterized by a four to the floor kick beat and an off-beat gabber style bass line, trance like synth stabs and sweeps and miscellaneous samples. Tracks often feature excessive reverb and/or other effects, breakdowns and occasionally small breakbeat sections. The average tempo is between 140 and 150 bpm, around 30 slower than nu style gabber. Many hardcore artists produce hardstyle songs, which sound very similar but are more accessible. Hardstyle is generally played alongside Nu-NRG and gabber in the UK and alongside hard trance or hardcore in the rest of Europe.

Current status

Hardstyle is a European music style and is mainly produced by artists from The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, yet other producers from around the world are starting to pick up the sound.

Hardstyles

Currently, the scene is booming in various countries around the world besides being popular in the founding countries. Notable scenes include those in Germany,United States,Netherland, Israel, Belgium, Spain, Poland,Portugal, Peru, Sweden, Finland, Norway,Estonia, Denmark, South Africa and the United Kingdom - notably Scotland and Wales . It is also popular in Australia and Malaysia where hardstyle is popular due to the Melbourne Shuffle, also known as shuffling.

Currently the Hardstyle Category is split into the following subcategories:

• Dutch Hardstyle - Typically harder and darker than other hardstyle, mostly known for its hard off-beat reverse bass line, wicked kicks, dirty vocals and soft synths.
• Italian Hardstyle - More serious, usually has a bigger melodic breakdown and typically 'gangsta'-themed lyrics. The synths are much harder than dutch hardstyle.

• Nu-Style - Usually a softer bass line then normal hardstyle, mashed out with samples and lower use of reverse bass and/or reverb.The kick is filterd and distorted to create a grungey overdriven bass drive. Many of hardstyle's biggest DJs, especially those from Holland, have evolved into Nu-Style.

One more notable Event Group in the hardstyle scene is Q-dance, arranging massive events in football stadiums, sports grounds, public arenas and airports.

A dance that is popular mainly in Europe and often confused with hardstyle by laymen is 'Jumpstyle'.

Notable events

• Sensation Black
• Q-dance events
• Qlimax

Notable Artists

• Zany
• Lady Dana
• Tatanka
• Technoboy
• Andrew Townsend
• Headhunterz

Record labels

• Fusion Records
• Q-dance
• Scantraxx

See also

• Hard dance
• Sensation Black