Breakbeat hardcore

{{Short description|Subgenre of breakbeat and UK rave music genre}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{About|the UK 1990s rave genre|the later European genre|Breakcore}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Breakbeat hardcore | stylistic_origins= {{hlist|Breakbeat|house|new beat|Belgian techno|acid house|hip hop|hip house}} |cultural_origins= Late 1980s – early 1990s, United Kingdom |derivatives={{hlist|Darkcore|jungle|drum and bass|4-beat|happy hardcore|big beat}} |subgenrelist= |fusiongenres= |regional_scenes= |other_topics= }} '''Breakbeat hardcore''' (also referred to as '''hardcore rave''', '''oldskool hardcore''' or simply '''hardcore''') is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=96|loc="1990 also saw the genesis of a distinctively British rave sound, 'hard core', which decisively broke with the mould of Detroit and Chicago, and ended the dependency on American imports. By 1991 this underground sound – actually a confederacy of hybrid genres and regional styles – was assaulting the mainstream pop charts."}}

== History == === Early 1990s: origins === {{Main|Rave}} thumb|Fantazia Summertime rave, May 1992 The rave scene expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth, Shelley's Laserdome, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in Warehouses and in the open air attracting 10–25,000 whether put on legally from promoters such as Fantazia, Dreamscape, and Raindance, or unlicensed by free party sound systems such as Spiral Tribe.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=118|loc="Between 1990 and 1992, a circuit of commercial mega-raves evolved: Amnesia, Raindance, Kaos, Eclipse, World Dance, Heaven on Earth, Elevation, Fantazia, Dreamscape, Vision, and many more. These massive events drew crowds ranging from 10-25,000 plus to dance all night inside giant hangars or under circus-sized tents in the open countryside."}} These events featured the popular rave DJs such as Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Top Buzz, and Slipmatt, as well as live PAs from rave acts including Shades of Rhythm and Bizarre Inc.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=118|loc="At these multi-arena events, the line-up included not just the big name DJs - Top Buzz, Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Ratpacl, Ellis Dee, Slipmatt - but also artist PAs. The bands - N-Loi, Bizarre Inc, The Prodigy, Shades of Rhythm - had sets choc-a-bloc with crowd pleasing anthems."}} Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from new beat and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to house and acid house, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and reggae culture.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|pp=96–97|loc="Between 1990 and 1993, hardcore in Britain referred by turns to the Northern bleep-and-bass sound of Warp and Unique 3, to the hip-house and ragga-techno sounds of the Shut Up And Dance label, to the anthemic pop-rave of acts like N-Joi and Shades of Rhythm, to Belgian and German brutalist techno, and, finally to the breakbeat-driven furore of hardcore jungle...Influenced by reggae and hip hop, hardcore producers intensified the sub-bass frequencies, used looped breakbeats to funk up house's four-to-the-floor machine-beat, and embraced sampling with deranged glee. Following the lead of the bombastic Belgians and Germans, UK producers deployed riff-like 'stabs' and bursts of glaring noise." }}

Amongst the influences from within the rave scene itself upon which this strain of hardcore drew were such acts as Manix, The Hypnotist, Ravesignal, and T99.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=120|loc="On the outskirts of the Top Forty, tracks by Manix, T99, the Hypnotist, Quadrophonia, Ravesignal, A Split Second, Congress and UHF exacerbated the sense of a barbarian horde waiting to overrun the pop citadel. In terms of hit rate, this 'golden age of hardcore' compares with the punk/New Wave period of the late seventies."}} From outside of the rave scene, the sped-up breakbeats of UK rap acts such as Hardnoise, MC Duke, Demon Boyz, and Hijack were highly influential, with some of these including Duke, The Criminal Minds, and Liam Howlett (of Cut 2 Kill and who would go on to form the Prodigy), making the transition into hardcore. Pioneering the fusion of sounds from acid house, hip hop, and reggae were late 1980s UK hip house veterans like Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse, and Shut Up and Dance, becoming pivotal contributors to hardcore and its derivative genres like jungle.{{sfn|Warwick|2020}}

The huge increase in producers was also driven by the increasing availability of cheap home computer-based studio setups, particularly Cubase for the Atari ST.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=96|loc="The proliferation of cheap computer-based home-studio set-ups and sampler/sequencer programs like Cubase fomented a do-it-yourself revolution reminiscent of punk."}}

=== Mid-1990s: fragmentation === By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore started to fragment into a number of subsequent genres: darkcore (piano rolls giving way to dark-themed samples and stabs), hardcore jungle (where reggae basslines and samples became prominent), and happy hardcore (retaining piano rolls and more uplifting vocals).{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=266|loc="Back in 1993, when hardcore plunged into the 'darkside', a breakaway faction of DJ-producers like Seduction, Vibes and Slipmatt continued to make celebratory, upful tunes based around hectic breakbeats. By the end of 1994, happy hardcore had coalesced into a scene that operated in parallel with its estranged cousin, jungle."}}

=== 2000s: revival === In the 2000s, the style experienced a revival as part of the nu-rave scene in '''hardcore breaks'''. Hardcore breaks is inspired by the sound and characteristics of breakbeat hardcore, while being fused with modern production techniques that distinguish the genre from the classic hardcore breakbeat sound.{{sfn|Hulyer|2016}} The music is composed of looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, melodic piano lines, staccato synthesizer riffs, and various vocal samples (mostly taken from old house records). The speed of this genre typically fell between the range of 145–155 bpm, while the speed may variate on live sets. Originally being produced by a small group of artists with the vision of carrying on where oldskool hardcore left off before the jungle and happy hardcore split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions.{{sfn|Rolt|2018}} By the late 2000s, hardcore breaks tend to be produced and played at a bit faster tempos, often between 160–180 bpm. Therefore, it is often played at UK hardcore, freeform hardcore and drum and bass events.

==See also== * Darkcore * Jungle * Happy hardcore

==References== {{Reflist}}

===Sources=== {{Refbegin|30em}} *{{cite web|url=https://www.dummymag.com/10-best/the-10-best-rave-tracks-according-to-2-bad-mice/|author=Dummy Mag|title=The 10 best rave tracks, according to 2 Bad Mice|work=Dummy Mag|date=2 June 2016}} *{{cite web|url=https://fourfourmag.com/50-greatest-rave-anthems-time/|title=The 50 greatest rave anthems of all time |work=Four Four|last=Greenwood|first=Sam|date=10 May 2018 }} *{{Cite web|date=20 July 2016|last=Hulyer|first=Jake|title=Lone Resists the Rave Revivalist Title on "Levitate"|url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/lone-interview|access-date=23 March 2021|website=Bandcamp Daily}} *{{cite web |title=Adventurous Transmissions from the 12th Isle |author=If-Only|url=https://ifonlyuk.com/10-adventurous-transmissions-from-the-12th-isle/|date=24 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123113343/https://ifonlyuk.com/10-adventurous-transmissions-from-the-12th-isle/|archive-date=23 January 2021|url-status=usurped|website=If-Only UK}} *{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|editor-last=Larkin|editor-first=Colin|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1998|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0252-6}} *{{cite web|url=https://djmag.com/content/10-ultimate-rave-anthems-chosen-acid-house-heroes-altern-8|last=McCallum|first=Rob|title=10 ultimate rave anthems chosen by acid house heroes Altern-8|work=DJMag|date=24 August 2018}} *{{cite web|url=https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/10-lost-rave-classics|last=McQuaid|first=Ian|title=10 great lost rave anthems|work=RBMA|date=23 May 2019}} *{{cite web |last1=Middleton |first1=Tom |last2=Pritchard |first2=Mark |title=Global Communication |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2012/03/global-communication-interview|date=March 2012|location=Fuschl|website=Red Bull Music Academy |publisher=Red Bull GmbH}} *{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon|author-link=Simon Reynolds|title=Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture |date=1998 |publisher=Picador |location=London |isbn=0330350560}} *{{Cite web|date=24 October 2018|title=Calling The Hardcore release first compilation|last=Rolt|first=Stuart|url=https://www.bn1magazine.co.uk/calling-the-hardcore-release-first-compilation/|access-date=23 March 2021|website=BN1 Magazine|language=en-GB}} *{{Cite web |last=Warwick |first=Oli |date=19 November 2020 |title=Systems Overload: Britcore and the UK underground |url=https://internationalorange.io/systems-overload-britcore-and-the-uk/ |website=International Orange}} *{{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2012/06/03/20-best-hardcore/|title=20 best: Hardcore records ever made|author=Richard X|work=FACTmag|date=3 June 2012}} *{{cite web |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon |author1-link=Simon Reynolds |title=Lunar personality: an interview with Acen - The Wire |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/lunar-personality-an-interview-with-acen |website=The Wire |access-date=14 August 2025 |language=en |date=January 2021}} {{Refend}}

==Further reading== * Simon Reynolds, ''Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture'', Picador 1998 ({{ISBN|0-330-35056-0}})

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakbeat Hardcore}} Category:Breakbeat hardcore Category:Rave Category:20th-century music genres Category:Breakbeat genres Category:Hardcore music genres Category:English styles of music Category:1990s in music