page_title: Hardstyle
hierarchical_section_title: Hardstyle
caption_attribution_description: English: This is the Red Stage from DEFQON.1 Weekend Festival 2018
context_page_description: Hardstyle is a Dutch electronic dance genre mixing influences from techno, trance and hardcore.
  No one knows when Hardstyle originated. It was created when DJs pitched down gabber tracks to 140-150 BPM in 1999 and 2000. Qlass Elite's Houseqlassics was an event where Hardstyle took its baby steps. Hardstyle ended up borrowing elements from Hardcore, Hard Trance, Techno and Acid. First Step by Hennes & Cold was probably the first Hardstyle song, because it was the first song to use a reverse bass.
  Early hardstyle typically consisted of an overdriven and hard-sounding kick drum, often accompanied by an offbeat 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 melodic 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 kickdrums. By using what is known as a pitched kick, hardstyle producers are able to play complex basslines by using only the kick itself.
context_section_description: Hardstyle is a Dutch electronic dance genre mixing influences from techno, trance and hardcore.
  No one knows when Hardstyle originated. It was created when DJs pitched down gabber tracks to 140-150 BPM (beats per minute) in 1999 and 2000. Qlass Elite's (now Q-Dance) Houseqlassics was an event where Hardstyle took its baby steps. Hardstyle ended up borrowing elements from Hardcore, Hard Trance, Techno and Acid. First Step by Hennes & Cold was probably the first Hardstyle song, because it was the first song to use a reverse bass.
  Early hardstyle typically consisted of an overdriven and hard-sounding kick drum, often accompanied by an offbeat 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 melodic 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 kickdrums. By using what is known as a pitched kick, hardstyle producers are able to play complex basslines by using only the kick itself. A pitched kick is primarily created through a series of distortion, equalization and layering (among other methods). Hardstyle is typically produced at 150 BPM.
  The genre gained commercial acceptance in the 2010s, with hardstyle artists performing on the biggest stages in EDM worldwide.
  Hardstyle influenced other styles of electronic dance music such as big room house, which shares similarities with hardstyle like structures, rhythms, and later, pitched kicks. Hardstyle also played a large influence in frenchcore music, which became popular in the late 2010s with the hardstyle audience after producers applied hardstyle production techniques and melodic styles to the genre.
caption: The Red stage at Defqon.1 in 2018, the world's biggest hardstyle festival
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