Hardcore Gabber Music

From Amsterdam to Rotterdam:
Rotterdam’s specific sound also was created as a type of reaction to the more snobby and pretentious Amsterdam house scene. And since Rotterdam was a city of a gritty working class, this particular type of house music fit extremely well. Even though Frankfurt’s very own Marc Acardipane house productions were similar to the style of Rotterdam, it was the music’s popularity within the Netherlands that made Rotterdam the Hardcore Gabber cradle. The gabber sound’s essence is a sound of a distorted kick that is so overdriven it has reach a point where it turns into a square wave and make a highly recognizable melodic tone.

Very often, the Roland Alpha Juno or either the Roland TR-909 kick was used in order to create this sound. Typically, the gabber tracks included synthesized melodies and samples that had a typical tempo that ranged from one hundred and fifty beats per minute to two hundred and twenty beats per minute. Profanity, drugs and violence were all common themes among the hardcore gabber music genre, this was perceptible through its lyrics and samples, often pitch shifted, screamed or distorted.

Hardcore Gabber Music Style:
The hardcore gabber music genre can be characterized by its sound of the bassdrum. Essentially, it stems from taking a bassdrum that is normally synthesized and heavily overdriving it. The sample that is almost sinusoidal begins to clip right into a squarewave that consists of a falling pitch, which results in several effects - first of all, the spectrum frequency spreads out which achieves a more aggressive, louder sound. It also begins to change the amplitude envelope of the particular sound by rising the sustain.

Because of the distortion, the drums are known to also develop into a melodic tone. It isn’t uncommon for the pattern of the bassdrum to change the pitch throughout the song in order to follow the bassline. Gabber track’s second component that is frequently used is the hoover which is a patch of the well known and popular Roland Alpha Juno which is a synthesizer. Typically, a hoover is a grainy, distorted, sweeping sound that when it is played with a low key can created a brooding and dark bassline. However, when it is played at the higher pitches, it becomes a shrieking and aggressive lead. Often, the faster gabba tracks apply to the hoover patterns that are extremely fast.