| Hardcore | |
| Stylistic origins | Techno, Industrial, Acid House, New Beat |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany |
| Typical instruments | Distortion Pedal, Synthesizer, Drum machine |
| Subgenres | |
| Acidcore, Dancecore, Darkcore, Doomcore, Gabber, Happy Hardcore, Happy Gabber, Nu Rave, Speedcore, Techcore, Terrorcore, UK Hardcore, Uptempo Hardcore | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Amigacore, Breakbeat Hardcore, Breakcore, Chipcore, Crosscore, Digital Hardcore, Freeform Hardcore, Futurecore, Hardtek, Industrial Hardcore, Moombahcore, Psycore, Trappy Hardcore | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Belgium Hardcore Techno, Frenchcore, J-Core | |
| Local scenes | |
| Rotterdam, Frankfurt | |
| Other topics | |
| Electronicore, Hardcore Hip Hop | |
Hardcore is a subgenre of EDM that is characterized by a high tempo (175-250 bpm) four on the floor synthesized bass drum loop, complimented by synthesizer riffs and sample stabs. The bass drum is saturated, heavily distorted, and compressed, forming the basis for hardcore's harsh and aggressive sound.
Hardcore was originally known as hardcore techno (and in some countries still is) and this defines its origins. Hardcore is definitively an extension and derivative of techno. As techno artists continued to expand the sound leading to new genres a small but collective group of artists were committed to pushing the genre in one way; hardness. What defines a genre as hard in the electronic music sphere is typically the use of speed and distortion. Hard Techno was one of the first genres to do this with early artists using guitar distortion pedals to create synths and drums that were harsh and heavy. These committed hard Techno artists however were not satisfied with leaving it there, however. An arms race was created to find the hardest sound and songs kept getting harder and harder; so much so a new genre was created to differentiate hard techno from this even harder sound; hardcore techno.