Hardstyle
An electronic dance genre that emerged in the Netherlands. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, Belgian new beat, and hardcore. Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM and consisted of overdriven and hard-sounding kick drums, often accompanied by an off-beat 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 of percussion and bass. The genre is particularly known for its harmonic use of kick drums. Due to the sustained nature of a hardstyle kick, producers can play basslines by using only the kick itself, which becomes a distinct bass tone through a series of distortion, equalization, and layering (among other methods). Modern hardstyle is faster, produced around 150 BPM. 2000– .