..Hardcore Techno

Hardcore techno, often referred to as just "hardcore", is a style of electronic music that originated in the early-to-mid-1990s in multiple locations including Rotterdam, New York City and Newcastle, Australia. The style is typified by a fast tempo.) and the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples.

Production techniques

Hardcore techno is usually composed using music sequencers, and many earlier tracks were produced on home computers with module tracker software. The wide availability of computers, combined with the absence of financial remuneration, means that many hardcore techno musicians write for their own enjoyment and the pleasure of innovation.

Styles of Hardcore

As Hardcore continues to grow each different type of hardcore (each subgenre) begins to attract a larger fanbase and more support from producers. As new sub-genres grow they can become extremely different than other subgenres that are also referred to as "Hardcore."
Hardcore has also spawned several sub-genres and derivative styles including:
* Old Skool - This retrospective term is usually reserved for tracks produced in the early 90's, a large period of growth for Hardcore. Lots of piano rolls, bouncy basslines and breakbeats and plenty of cheesy female vocals and classic "rave" sounds. * Breakcore - Combines hardcore with elements of breakbeat and glitch music. Often played at extremely high tempo. * Freeform - Not so much an offshoot of Hardcore as much as an intersection of multiple genres of electronic music. Freeform is most frequently called hardcore due to its similarities in tempo and rhythm but it also has elements that show influences from other genres such as acid house and drum and bass. * Gabber - Most popular in The Netherlands, Italy and Japan, 150+ bpm. * Happy Hardcore is probably the best known, and best selling variant. Happy hardcore focuses on being positive and high energy. * Noisecore - Very noisy hardcore. * Hardstyle - Characterized by hard synth riffs and the 4 to the floor bass line. Usually has a sample that is played multiple times through the song, looped or chopped. * Industrial Hardcore - Normal Hardcore based style with a lot of darker/harder beats influesed with a lot of industrial elements. * New Beat - The genre that started it all. Unlike most of it's hardcore bretheren this music is generally slow. New Beat originated when a DJ accidentally played a record at 33 RPM (compared to the standard 45 RPM). This made the music sound harder and sinister, essentially influencing electronic hardcore. Tracks range from 80 bpm to 120 bpm. * Speedcore - With tracks can range from 250 bpm all the way up to 1000 bpm. * Terrorcore - Terror from Holland which employs the use of 'scary' or 'evil' sounding samples and sounds to give the tunes a frantic "terror" feel. Popularized in Rotterdam, Holland in the mid to late 1990s. * Trancecore - A style of hardcore based on speeding up Trance music. The first Trancecore tracks to be produced were literally timestretched trance songs. Later tracks have been produced by utilizing riffs, melodies and other elements taken from trance with the bassline and high tempo of hardcore.
The Hardcore community is close-knit and there are many names and definitions that are used differently in different areas. Often certain substyles of hardcore are classified by the city or country in which they are produced, such as the Frankfurt sound, the French sound, etc.
Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/