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. 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 along side Nu-NRG and gabber in the UK and aside 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 and Germany, yet other producers from around the world are starting to pick up the sound.

Currently, the scene is booming in various countries around the world besides being popular in the founding countries. Notable scenes include those in United States, Israel, Belgium, Spain, Poland, 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 tremendously popular due to the Melbourne Shuffle, also known as shuffling.

Currently the Hardstyle Category is split into 3 subcategories:

Dutch Hardstyle - Typically harder and darker than other hardstyle, mostly known for its hard base line, wicked kicks and dirty vocals
Italian Hardstyle - More serious, usually has a bigger melodic breakdown and typically 'gangsta'-themed lyrics
Nu-Style - Usually deeper and more complex than early hardstyle, mashed out with samples and lower use of reverse bass and/or reverb.The bass is fillterd and distorted to creat a grungey bass drive. Many of hardstyle's biggest DJs, especially those from Holland, have evolved into Nu-Style

The Leading Event Group in the hardstyle scene is Q-dance, arranging massive events in football stadiums, sports grounds, public arenas and airports. Most events are held in the Netherlands. BIONIC is a cardiff based event however branch out into events such as Westfest.

A dance that is popular mainly in Europe is 'jumpstyle'. Originating in Belgium this is now becoming more popular amongst the newer hardstylers, but once again mainly in Europe. In the Netherlands, however, jumpstyle is thought too commercial by many hardstyle and hardcore fans. Some of these fans are learning the Melbourne Shuffle that originates from Melbourne, Australia, and has a tremendous popularity among nearly all ages from 10-30 in both Melbourne, and Sydney, as well as the rest of Australia. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is also home to the shuffling team Hardstyle Republic, and many Europe dwellers are learning to shuffle from this incredibly popular group, mainly to hardstyle music. Stomping is also a form of the shuffling, and is done to hardstyle music too.

Hardstyle

Current status

Notable events

Notable Artists

Record labels

Radio stations

See also