A question....what do you define as hard?

[Phil B]

Obviously everyone has their own opinion as to what they class as hard....but what is it? Is your opinion based on just the genre you listen to or in dance music as a whole?

[Louise]

dont start another "thats not hard IMO" war

[Jimmy]

at the end of the day its all down to a matter of opinion and not everyone is gonna think something is as hard as the other.... but I think techno is the hardest form of dance wether it be hardcore techno or your usual ignition technician type techno.

[Phil B]

I'm not, this is a genuine question, I'm just asking for peoples views on what ' they' class as hard, that's why I also asked how their opinion was based!

[CreamyC]

Phil_B said:

A question....what do you define as hard?

 

Channel X on Sky Digital.

[Phil B]

[Mr_Happy]

for me, hard music isnt about the BPM. granted faster music is genrally harder, but not always.

 

i think hard music is crisp music. lots of hi-end crisp noices and choppy percusion. also a solid heavy bassline.

 

i dont find hardcore that hard at all as its full of breakdowns (which breaks the flow of the tune) and tends to be very 'fluffy' with the samples (ie lacks that crispness that NRG or techno has).

 

theres some electro tunes that i would descibe as hard even though the bpm is probably half of what sarah pvc listens to.

[tommy]

yppaH_rM said:

theres some electro tunes that i would descibe as hard

 

Happy !! I always agree with you about things musical, but electro ?!?!?!

 

My defenition of hard would be record labels such as Tresor and producers such as Fumiya Tanaka. Proper noisy techno. It gives the impression of being faster than it is coz there's so much going on in the tune.

 

I do think that there are loads of genres of music which have tunes that are really hard tho, like gabba, drum & bass even rock music !!

[LiquidEyes]

My opinion on what makes a track hard:

 

* Intense texture (heavily layered, highly compressed "noisy" sounds, the perceptual "loudness" and punchiness of the track)

* Intense rhythm: a barrage of sound (i.e. not just a "bosh" on the offbeat!)

* Relatively atonal (i.e. not tuneful) or in a dark-sounding key/mode; although there is a fine line before it just sounds mindless!

* Dark/serious sounding (anything with hoovers, or with too high a BPM, just sounds silly/cheesy to me)

* Energetic: not just the BPM, but the intensity of the bassline and percussion, and the "roll" of the groove (that sense of drive you get from an ingeniously crafted techy loop)

* Minimal (to me, minimal tunes always sound tougher-edged)

 

Of course there is a compromise between "hardness" and "musicality". Anyone can make a "wall of noise" which is hard in the terms I've defined. However to make something which is also great music - something that unravels/progresses in an interesting way, something with a spark of originality, something with crisp production, something that still has that essential ingredient of funk & drive - is much harder.

[LiquidEyes]

Agreed Tommy. I would class some relatively slow tech-house as "hard", despite also being very funky: because it is really intense, has a real sense of drive to it, and has really nasty/[censored] up sounds in it!

 

BTW I agree with Mr Happy, I've got an electro CD which is pretty hard in places.

[tommy]

liquideyes said:

Agreed Tommy. I would class some relatively slow tech-house as "hard", despite also being very funky: because it is really intense, has a real sense of drive to it, and has really nasty/[censored] up sounds in it!

 

BTW I agree with Mr Happy, I've got an electro CD which is pretty hard in places.

 

Deffo agree with the funky techno; Jel Fords' latest release on Tortured is quite nasty in places whilst still having that funky flava. Deffo recomend it.

 

Iv'e got quite a bit of electro, got some dark stuff but not anything I'd class as being hard. Wouldn't mind trying some tho, if either of you have any recomendations ?

Happy: is that Billy Nasty CD quite hard ?

 

*Off to make some hard-as-nails euro pop*

[Phil rr]

most stuff played at an insomniacz night/morning

 

oh and two words:

 

NO BREAKDOWNS

 

 

[LiquidEyes]

Dunno about "no breakdowns", but yes, relentlessness is the key!

 

I would sooner say "fewer and less predictable/formalaic breakdowns", and "breakdowns which keep the pace going".

[BenRW]

how does no breakdowns make a track hard. Surely a driving hard as fook bassline and stormin non trancy tune makes it hard.

[LiquidEyes]

Because the last thing you want, when you're really getting into a relentless, energetic, pounding track, is an anti-climactic breakdown!

 

Worse still: really predictable, formulaic breakdowns, where you know exactly how many bars it's going to be until the beat comes back in... a lame snare roll and 4 crashes ... yawn!